How Neuroscience Can Assist With the Treatment of Addiction Case Study

Neuroscience is the study of brain mechanisms, how they function, how they are constructed, and how they relate to behavior (Kuhn & Koob, 2010). Neuroscience is a broad field that scrutinizes these brain mechanisms at all levels from the molecular and genetic levels all the way to the higher-order psychological processes and even to the understanding of clinical conditions. Because of its scope and its relevance to all aspects of behavior, neuroscience offers several unique contributions to understanding issues like addiction from multiple levels of analysis.

John is a 60-year-old male with no prior history of addictive behavior or mental illness and no family history of substance abuse who developed a substance use disorder to alcohol and the benzodiazepine Valium. The clinical case of "John" is not unique; however, the case offers an example of how little science can help understand, assess, and treat addictions. In the treatment of addiction clinicians follow a three stage process: assessment, intervention, and treatment of the addictive behavior. Neuroscience can assist the process at all three levels.

Assessment

Neuroscientists are finding links to biological variations in the human brain that increase or even reduce the risk to develop a substance use disorder. Moreover, genetic neuroscience is finding associated genetic links that increase the risk for addictive behavior.

Typically the assessment of a substance use disorder is achieved via a clinical interview that includes the person's history, family history, self-report of the current problems, possible collaboration with friends or relatives, and possible adjunctive information such as reports from work, police reports, incarceration history, etc. (Samet, Waxman, Hatzenbuehler & Hasin, 2007). Clinicians may also administer paper and pencil assessment inventories that can be completed by the subject, the subject's friends or relatives, or others. The clinician will then develop a formulation based on self-reports, collaborative reports, and any other documentation available in the case. There is a need for -- clinical measures that can differentiate patients who meet the clinical criteria for substance use disorders for the same addictive agent while at the same time having different backgrounds, responses the prior treatment, and so forth.

Neuroscience has identified potential biomarkers that can be extremely useful in the assessment of a particular substance use disorder and help to understand the vulnerabilities and current neurobiological substrate of the person in question (Wilson, Thomas, & Iacono, 2015). Although still in their infancy, the techniques of neuro-imaging, EEG assessment, and biofeedback can be useful in differentiating these issues (Wilson et al., 2015). At this time it appears that using these instruments to help assess such things as the executive functioning ability of the individual, neural responses to certain types of incentives such as addictive substances or addictive activities, genetic associations that are associated with high probabilities to developing substance use disorders, and the valence of a person's emotional responses to specific types of stimuli can be useful in conjunction with the traditional assessment tools to help to assess the particular issues and etiology of an individual's problem as well as to outline specific types of treatment interventions, personal vulnerabilities, and specific goals of treatment for the individual in question (Wilson et al., 2015). Certain neuro-imaging techniques may be expensive; however, other techniques such as genetic testing, EEG analysis, biofeedback, etc. are less costly and offer the possibility of empirically validated neurological/biological assessment indicators.

In the case of John such techniques would have been useful in identifying particular vulnerabilities and biological indicators that suggest future risk factors.

Intervention

Neuroscience offers a unique opportunity to develop early prevention and early intervention programs based on the research regarding the findings of the vulnerability of certain individuals to substance use disorders/drug usage (Nutt, McLellan, Crome, Kimberley & McLellen, 2014). The research has outlined how the initial…