Progressing from Simple to Multidimensional Models Towards a Biopsychosocial Framework of Addiction.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Addiction Research

Background:

• Addiction models have evolved significantly over 40 years, moving from single-circuit dopamine frameworks to more complex dual-process, tripartite, and multidimensional accounts.
• Current models often fail to fully capture the lived experience of addiction and the influence of developmental, social, and mental health factors on individual risk and outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize the historical progression of neuroscientific addiction models.
• To evaluate the limitations of existing models in accounting for addiction heterogeneity.
• To advocate for more integrative, multilevel frameworks for understanding and treating addiction.

Main Methods:

• Literature review synthesizing decades of neuroscientific research on addiction models.
• Analysis of recent findings on large-scale brain networks and psychosocial factors in addiction.
• Evaluation of emerging interventions, such as psychedelic-assisted therapies, for insights into multilevel change.

Main Results:

• Recent research emphasizes alterations in large-scale brain networks associated with addiction.
• Psychosocial and contextual factors are increasingly recognized as central mechanistic elements in addiction.
• Emerging therapies highlight the importance of multilevel changes (neurobiological, cognitive, affective) in addiction treatment.

Conclusions:

• Viewing addiction through a multilevel, interactive biopsychosocial framework offers a unifying perspective that accommodates diverse pathways and outcomes.
• Integrative models hold promise for advancing mechanistic research in addiction.
• Such frameworks can guide the development of more precise and clinically effective interventions for addiction.