Research has identified a number of brain circuits that are affected by drug abuse and addiction.
The areas depicted contain the circuits that underlie feelings of reward, learning and memory, motivation and drive, and inhibitory control. Each of these brain areas and the behaviors they control must be considered when developing strategies to treat drug addiction.
Key:
PFC – prefrontal cortex;
ACG – anterior cingulate gyrus;
OFC – orbitofrontal cortex;
SCC – subcallosal cortex;
NAc – nucleus accumbens;
VP – ventral pallidum;
Hipp – hippocampus;
Amyg – amygdala.
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