This Research Topic is the second volume of the 'Community Series in Neurobiological Biomarkers for Developing Novel Treatments of Substance and Non-Substance Addiction'. Please see the first volume here. Many people suffer from substance (from nicotine or alcohol to heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, etc) or non-substance (from gaming/gambling to shopping, internet, smartphone, etc) addiction. Both types of addiction are associated with severe health, economic and social consequences and are far too often result in both familial and personal tragedies. Unfortunately, current treatments are not very effective for either substance or non-substance addiction so novel treatments are desperately needed. For example, for nicotine addiction, despite very well-documented health risks of cigarette smoking and its economic and societal costs, globally, more than 30% of males still smoke, and although many smokers desire to quit, only approximately 5-30% will achieve abstinence with 6 months or more of the best available current treatments. And the story for nicotine addiction is far from unique, presenting a huge challenge for the entire addiction field. Therefore, there is a vital need to improve outcomes for the treatment of both substance and non-substance addictions. Recent work exploring neurobiological mechanisms of the treatment response at the molecular, cellular and systems levels with a broad range of technologies, such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), genetics and genomics, have opened new avenues for developing novel treatments through the detection of neurobiological biomarkers predicting efficacious outcomes in addicted patients.

Drug addiction may be viewed as a form of learning during which strong associations linking actions to drug-seeking are expressed as persistent stimulus–response habits, thereby maintaining a vulnerability to relapse. Disrupting cue–drug memory could be an efficient strategy to reduce the strength of cues in motivating drug-taking behavior. Upon reactivation, these memories undergo a reconsolidation process that can be blocked pharmacologically, providing an opportunity to prevent the powerful control of drug cues on behavior. This conceptually elegant approach still calls for more experimental data. However, an increasing body of evidence suggests that drug taking not only accelerates habit forming, but has long-lasting effects on interactions between memory systems eventually leading to a functional imbalance. The dorsal part of the striatum plays a critical role in habit/procedural learning, whereas the hippocampal memory system encodes relationships between events and their later flexible use. Both humans and rodents studies support the view that the hippocampus and the dorsal striatum interact in either a cooperative or competitive manner during learning, the prefrontal cortex being involved in the selection of an appropriate learning strategy. Chronic drug consumption biases normal interactions between these memory systems. For instance, drug-experienced rodents tend to use preferentially striatum-dependent learning strategies in navigational tasks. These persistent effects seem to occur at cellular, neurophysiological and behavioral levels to promote specific, striatal-dependent forms of learning, to the detriment of spatial/declarative, hippocampal-dependent and more flexible types of memory. Whether cue sensitive and response learners, in contrast to spatial learners, could be prone to drug addiction is an intriguing hypothesis which clearly deserves to be further explored. A loss of flexibility may be uncovered also by imposing changing rules on the subject, such as requiring an attentional shift between different perceptual features of a complex stimulus, as in the attentional set shifting task which was recently adapted to rodents. Working memory is at risk during transition phases, although it remains to be determined whether withdrawal-induced alterations are observed also during protracted abstinence. Drug-induced cognitive biases thus lead to cognitive rigidity which could play a critical, yet overlooked role in different phases of addiction (acquisition, extinction/withdrawal and relapse). They are also likely to preclude the clinical efficiency of treatments. Therefore, the aim of this research topic is to provide an overview of the current work investigating the long-term impact of drug use on learning and memory processes, how multiple memory systems modulate drug-seeking behavior, as well as how drug-induced cognitive biases could contribute to the persistence of addictive behaviors.

Biomarkers, or biological markers, are quantitative measurements that offer researchers and clinicians valuable insight into diagnosis, treatment and prognosis for many disorders and diseases. A major goal in neuroscience medical research is establishing biomarkers for disorders of the nervous system. Given the promising potential and necessity for neuroscience biomarkers, the Institute of Medicine Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders convened a public workshop and released the workshop summary entitled Neuroscience Biomarkers and Biosignatures: Converging Technologies, Emerging Partnerships. The workshop brought together experts from multiple areas to discuss the most promising and practical arenas in neuroscience in which biomarkers will have the greatest impact. The main objective of the workshop was to identify and discuss biomarker targets that are not currently being aggressively pursued but that could have the greatest near-term impact on the rate at which new treatments are brought forward for psychiatric and neurological disorders.

Interventions for Addiction examines a wide range of responses to addictive behaviors, including psychosocial treatments, pharmacological treatments, provision of health care to addicted individuals, prevention, and public policy issues. Its focus is on the practical application of information covered in the two previous volumes of the series, Comprehensive Addictive Behaviors and Disorders. Readers will find information on treatments beyond commonly used methods, including Internet-based and faith-based therapies, and criminal justice interventions. The volume features extensive coverage of pharmacotherapies for each of the major drugs of abuse—including disulfiram, buprenorphine, naltrexone, and others—as well as for behavioral addictions. In considering public policy, the book examines legislative efforts, price controls, and limits on advertising, as well as World Health Organization (WHO) efforts. Interventions for Addiction is one of three volumes comprising the 2,500-page series, Comprehensive Addictive Behaviors and Disorders. This series provides the most complete collection of current knowledge on addictive behaviors and disorders to date. In short, it is the definitive reference work on addictions. - Includes descriptions of both psychosocial and pharmacological treatments. - Addresses health services research on attempts to increase the use of evidence-based treatments in routine clinical practice. - Covers attempts to slow the progress of addictions through prevention programs and changes in public policy.

Integrating scientific knowledge with today's most effective treatment options, Addiction Medicine: Science and Practice, 2nd Edition, provides a wealth of information on addictions to substances and behavioral addictions. It discusses the concrete research on how the brain and body are affected by addictions, improving your understanding of how patients develop addictions and how best to personalize treatment and improve outcomes. This essential text is ideal for anyone who deals with patients with addictions in clinical practice, including psychiatrists, health psychologists, pharmacologists, social workers, drug counselors, trainees, and general physicians/family practitioners. - Clearly explains the role of brain function in drug taking and other habit-forming behaviors, and shows how to apply this biobehavioral framework to the delivery of evidence-based treatment. - Provides clinically relevant details on not only traditional sources of addiction such as cocaine, opiates, and alcohol, but also more recently recognized substances of abuse (e.g., steroids, inhalants) as well as behavioral addictions (e.g., binge eating, compulsive gambling, hoarding). - Discusses current behavioral and medical therapies in depth, while also addressing social contexts that may affect personalized treatment. - Contains new information on compliance-enhancing interventions, cognitive behavioral treatments, behavioral management, and other psychosocial interventions. - Includes neurobiological, molecular, and behavioral theories of addiction, and includes a section on epigenetics. - Contains up-to-date information throughout, including a new definition of status epilepticus, a current overview of Lennox Gastaut syndrome, and updates on new FDA-approved drugs for pediatric neurological disorders. - Features expanded sections on evidence-based treatment options including pharmacotherapy, pharmacogenetics, and potential vaccines. - Addresses addiction in regards to specific populations, including adolescents, geriatric, pregnant women, and health care professionals. - Includes contributions from expert international authors, making this a truly global reference to addiction medicine.

This book focuses on the similarities and differences between substance and non-substance addictions. It discusses in detail the mechanisms, diagnosis and treatment of substance and non-substance addictions, and addresses selected prospects that will shape future studies on addiction. Addiction is a global problem that costs millions of lives tremendous damage year after year. There are mainly two types of addition: substance addiction (e.g., nicotine, alcohol, cannabis, heroin, stimulants, etc.) and non-substance addiction (e.g., gambling, computer gaming, Internet, etc.). Based on existing evidence, both types of addiction produce negative impacts on individuals’ physical, mental, social and financial well-being, and share certain common mechanisms, which involve a dysfunction of the neural reward system and specific gene transcription factors. However, there are also key differences between these two types of addiction. Covering these aspects systematically, the book will provide researchers and graduate students alike a better understanding of drug and behavioral addictions.

A comprehensive guide to empirical and theoretical research advances in culture and biology interplay Culture and biology are considered as two domains of equal importance and constant coevolution, although they have traditionally been studied in isolation. The Handbook of Culture and Biology is a comprehensive resource that focuses on theory and research in culture and biology interplay. This emerging field centers on how these two processes have evolved together, how culture, biology, and environment influence each other, and how they shape behavior, cognition, and development among humans and animals across multiple levels, types, timeframes, and domains of analysis. The text provides an overview of current empirical and theoretical advances in culture and biology interplay research through the work of some of the most influential scholars in the field. Harnessing insights from a range of disciplines (e.g., biology, neuroscience, primatology, psychology) and research methods (experiments, genetic epidemiology, naturalistic observations, neuroimaging), it explores diverse topics including animal culture, cultural genomics, and neurobiology of cultural experiences. The authors also advance the field by discussing key challenges and limitations in current research. The Handbook of Culture and Biology is an important resource that: Gathers related research areas into the single, cohesive field of culture and biology interplay Offers a unique and comprehensive collection from leading and influential scholars Contains information from a wide range of disciplines and research methods Introduces well-validated and coherently articulated conceptual frameworks Written for scholars in the field, this handbook brings together related areas of research and theory that have traditionally been disjointed into the single, cohesive field of culture and biology interplay.