From a systems perspective, it is hypothesized that the motivational incentive creates a salience, characterized by increased arousal and attention to the stimulus, in this case alcohol8. This may be compensated for by consumption of more alcohol to achieve the same pleasure. However, in substance addiction, salience may lead to a change in the internal state of the subject to a new pathological “addicted” state11. This pathological state is proposed to be one in which the reward system is suppressed and is hence incompetent to compensate for the salience, thus triggering pathological craving12. This shift in self-referential state is called allostasis and may reflect the brain maladaptively compensating for the dysfunctional reward system11,13.
