Mecanismos neurobiológicos de la adicción a drogas

Zusammenfassung

Objective: the aim of this article is to review the behavioral, neurochemical, neurophysiological and molecular aspects of brain function that are involved in drug dependence. Material and methods: we have attempted to analyze the implication of rewarding pathways and other neurobiological systems in each stage of the addictive process. Moreover, the neurobiological mechanisms of drug withdrawal syndrome are reviewed, with emphasis on the role played by the noradrenergic system. Results: drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease that is induced by disturbances in the neurobiological mechanisms of brain function. The use of substances for recreational purposes is based on the fact that they cause rewarding effects through mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic pathways. Chronic drug abuse, however, is associated with a range of adaptive changes in brain physiology. These alterations, which appear to be both intrinsic and extrinsic to the rewarding pathways, gradually lead to the addictive disorder. Conclusions: the individual vulnerability for precipitation of an addictive process depends on pharmacological factors and also on genetic and environmental elements.