Abstract:

The changes of brain reward system caused by chronic substance use are considered central to the development and maintenance of addiction, and those pathological changes adversely affect regulation of reward system, inducing deficits in cognitive performance and daily function. In recent years, numerous fMRI studies have suggested that there are progressive changes in the ventral striatum and reward circuitry related to monetary reward processing in people with history of substance abuse, and the change of reward-related activation of the striatum can be used as a predictor of treatment outcome, indicating the degree of functional recovery. It has been shown that drug-induced dysfunction in the reward processing system can be recovered to some degree following abstinence. Further research in this area should address the specificity of reward processing associated with substance use, and investigate reward processing of individuals with family history of substance dependent and the effects of monetary reward on executive function, using event related potentials (ERPs).

Key words: substance addiction, monetary incentives, reward processing, reward circuitry