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Friend Of The Devil: Negative Social Influences Driving Substance Use Disorders, Matthew B. Pomrenze, Franciely Paliarin, Rajani Maiya
Friend Of The Devil: Negative Social Influences Driving Substance Use Disorders, Matthew B. Pomrenze, Franciely Paliarin, Rajani Maiya
School of Medicine Faculty Publications
Substance use disorders in humans have significant social influences, both positive and negative. While prosocial behaviors promote group cooperation and are naturally rewarding, distressing social encounters, such as aggression exhibited by a conspecific, are aversive and can enhance the sensitivity to rewarding substances, promote the acquisition of drug-taking, and reinstate drug-seeking. On the other hand, withdrawal and prolonged abstinence from drugs of abuse can promote social avoidance and suppress social motivation, accentuating drug cravings and facilitating relapse. Understanding how complex social states and experiences modulate drug-seeking behaviors as well as the underlying circuit dynamics, such as those interacting with mesolimbic …