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Feeding the addiction: Narrowing of goals to habits.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Breedon, JR 
Ersche, KD 

Abstract

Whilst the initiation of cocaine use is typically goal-directed and motivated by the rewarding effects of the drug, drug-taking can become habitual over time, rendering the user less sensitive to cocaine's hedonic value. Experimental studies suggest that patients with cocaine use disorder (CUD) are particularly prone to develop habits, even in non-drug related contexts. CUD patients have previously been shown to consume higher levels of high-calorie foods and report more uncontrolled eating, suggesting a tendency towards habitual or dysregulated food-related behaviours. We investigated this in CUD patients compared with healthy controls. Participants were presented with a series of food images and asked to rate their willingness to pay for, and their motivation to consume the foods. Self-reported motivations for food choices were collected using a validated questionnaire. Our data suggests CUD patients display goal-narrowing towards cocaine, as well as habitual tendencies towards both cocaine and food. These findings stress the importance of addressing non-drug related behaviours when treating CUD patients. Further, they suggest that habits may provide a novel and additional target for psychological interventions, for example, through the retraining of maladaptive habits. Whilst research into the feasibility and efficacy of habit retraining is certainly required, the potential for a new avenue of treatment should not be ignored.

Description

Keywords

Cocaine, Compulsion, Drug addiction, Food, Goal-directed, Habits, Cocaine, Cocaine-Related Disorders, Goals, Habits, Humans, Motivation

Journal Title

Eur Neuropsychopharmacol

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0924-977X
1873-7862

Volume Title

42

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Rights

All rights reserved
Sponsorship
Medical Research Council (G0701497)
This research was funded by a Medical Research Council grant (G0701497), financially supported by the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, and conducted within the Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute (BCNI). The funder had no influence on the study design, the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, and in the writing of the report. KDE was supported by an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for senior researchers (GBR 1202805 HFST-E). JS was partly supported by the NIHR CLAHRC East of England and by the Charles University PRVOUK programme P38