Addiction and Motivation

When the brain is rewarded unexpectedly the Reward System takes note in order to
remember how to repeat the positive experience. This is a key learning mechanism. Thus
though the Reward System is iresponsible for feeling of pleasure, it does this in service of a
higher goal: learning, memory and motivation.
Drug abuse alters the structure and function of the Reward System. Thus, drugs dont only
get you high, they also skew normal motivational systems. In particular, the memory of the
positive benefits of a drug high the emotional benefits provide a strong incentive to
repeat that experience. Thats one of the reasons drug users continue to return to taking
drugs. By the time a drug user becomes addicted, the motivation to keep using drugs
becomes toxic.
Because of the significant impact drugs have on learning and memory, addiction researchers
describe the disease, in part, as a memory and motivational disorder. Treatment, they say, is
a lengthy process during which the motivational power of those toxic memories diminishes.
The longer one is sober, the more the power of those memories wanes and cravings become
less robust