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Zack Lynch Zack Lynch is the executive director of the Neurotechnology Industry Organization (NIO) and co-founder of NeuroInsights. He serves on the advisory boards of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT,Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics, the Center for Neuroeconomic Studies and SocialText, a social software company. He is currently writing a book on how neurotech is shaping business, politics and culture. Please send newsworthy items or feedback - to Zack Lynch.
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« Nature Methods...About Time. | Main | Cognitive-based Neural Prosthetics »

July 7, 2004

Addicted to Motivation

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Posted by Zack Lynch

Addiction expert Howard Fields published a very important paper this month in Nature Reviews Neuroscience. Given the paper's relative technical depth I asked Howard to summarize this research for the rest of us mortals. So he put together the following: (thanks Howard)

"Contrary to the intuitive sense that we passively receive signals from the outside world and that our experience reflects this input, evidence is growing that sensations are usually preceded by a decision process. To carry out this decision process the brain weighs different behaviors on a utility/cost scale and selects the optimal goal. Then it then screens all inputs for those that are task relevant and inhibits those that are not. This process is striking for the pain sensory pathway, which may be completely absent in the face of serious injuries, including bone fractures. The implementation of this phenomenon depends on the release of endogenous opioid peptides that activate a pain suppressing control system, under conditions in which it is not in the individual's interest to respond to such severe stimuli (A life threatening situation or one offering very large rewards)."

Here is the summary for the neuroscientists among you:

Opioid receptors are a family of related G-protein-coupled receptors. Both endogenous and exogenous ligands for these receptors have powerful motivational actions. Opioid actions on nociceptive transmission are exerted through a circuit that connects limbic forebrain and brainstem structures to spinal and trigeminal dorsal horn.

Opioid receptor agonists act at sites that are distributed throughout this circuit to produce analgesia. This effect involves the release of endogenous opioids at serially connected brainstem and spinal sites. This circuit can exert bidirectional control through on cells that facilitate and off cells that inhibit nociceptive transmission.

The action of selective -(KOR) and ORL1 receptor agonists depends on the state of the circuit. When the circuit is in the pain-facilitating on-cell state, both KOR and ORL1 agonists have a pain-reducing effect. When the circuit is in the off-cell (pain suppressing) state, these same agonists reduce analgesia.

The opioid-mediated off-cell state is robustly activated by both aversive and appetitive motivational states. The reversal of placebo analgesia by naloxone indicates that it might be an example of an appetitive state.

The bottom line: Addiction science is advancing rapidly and brings with it profound changes for all aspects of society, including: neurocops, neurocompetitive advantage, and hopefully some less destructive leisure tools.

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