Publications
Publication details [#11652]
Zullino, Daniele F. and Yasser Khazaal. 2008. The "rut metaphor": A conceptualization of attractor-shaping properties of addictive drugs. 11 pp.
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English
Keywords
addictive behavior | conceptualization of drug addiction | drug addiction | excitatory glaminoacid | glutamate receptor | linear model of drug addiction | metaphors for drug addiction | neurotransmitter | NMDA receptor | non-linear model of drug addiction | psychiatry | rut metaphor | use of metaphor in psychiatry
Abstract
The development of nonlinear models might yield better insight into the dynamics of substance use-related disorders than linear models. Nonlinear models are, however, not always easily intelligible. A metaphor is presented illustrating a nonlinear conceptualization of the development of drug addiction based on recent findings on neural plasticity. Ruts are described as correlates of especially strong mnesic traces, which function as attractors, and hegemonize cognitions and behavior toward drug use. Dopaminergic activity of addictive drugs is proposed to represent the weight of vehicles tracing ruts.
(LLBA, Accession Number: 20237506, (c) CSA [2008]. All rights reserved.)