Chunk #54 — SUD Prevalence and qEEG Changes — qEEG and ERP Abnormalities in Addiction: Psychopharmacological Effects or Trait Markers? — Heritability and Neurotransmitter Considerations in Substance Use Disorders
There has been a consistent drift in addiction research between the psychosocial, cognitive and behavioral aspects of addiction and the biological and genetic emphasis. In much of the present data relating to genetics and animal models (Blum et al. 2006; Porjesz et al. 2005; Ryabinin and Weitemier 2006; Samochowiec et al. 2006), studies suggest that a genetic predisposition for SUD is an accepted concept. Much of the genetic research addresses the influence of alleles thought responsible in coding for genes that express phenotypic neurotransmitter production and distribution; mainly involving endorphins, dopamine and serotonin. These neurotransmitters, dopamine in particular, are also suspect in other appetitive and mood disorders and psychopathologies, of particular note, Reward Deprivation Syndrome (RDS). RDS is described as a dysfunction in the Brain Reward Cascade and proposes that abnormal craving behavior is a consequence of defects in the DRD2 and D1, D3, D4 and D5 dopaminergic receptor genes (Blum et al. 2006).
