Genes and the Motivation to Use Substances

Human beings have been using intoxicating substances for millennia. But while most people have used psychoactive substances without becoming dependent on them, a significant minority develop substance use disorders. The question remains: why does addiction occur in some and not others? The 61st installment of the Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, Genes and the Motivation to Use Substances probes the complex role of genetics in substance use and abuse across diverse methodologies, research organisms, levels of analysis and disciplines. Its combined lifespan/motivation approach to individual differences sheds necessary light on genetic vs. environmental factors in vulnerability, addiction risk, the relationship between behavioral disinhibition and substance use and the motivation to quit. While alcohol use/abuse is the focus of much of the book, its chapters provide scientific and clinical insights into substance abuse in general as well as implications for treatment. And an intriguing conclusion discusses the need to bridge the gap between genetics and neuroscience and the best scientific conditions in which this integration may thrive. Included in the coverage: • Rodent models of genetic contributions to the motivation to use alcohol. • The adolescent origins of substance abuse disorders • The developmental matrix of addictive behavior • The genetics of cannabis involvement • The DNA methylation signature of smoking • Genomics of impulsivity: integrating genetics and neuroscience. Reflecting the current state of knowledge in a field with groundbreaking potential, Genes and the Motivation to Use Substances is a fascinating resource for psychologists, psychiatrists, geneticists, neuroscientists, social workers, policymakers and researchers in addiction.

About the Author

Dr. Stoltenberg holds a PhD in psychology with a focus on behavior genetics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He proceeded to do a NIAAA funded postdoctoral fellowship in human alcoholism genetics at the Addiction Research Center at the University of Michigan. He then joined the University of Michigan research faculty in the Psychiatry Department, where he continued to conduct research into the genetics of alcoholism. In 2004, he took a more teaching-oriented position at Black Hills State University before coming to University of Nebraska in 2009.