The Science of Craving

Finally a popular press article wanting that digs deeper than the old fables about dopamine. For more in-depth information Berridge has a big list of review articles:

http://www.lsa.umich.edu/psych/research&labs/berridge/public...

It's a great article but also long so here is a tl;dr

paraphrased:

    Berridge stumbled upon evidence in 1986 that dopamine did not produce 
    pleasure, but in fact desire. In early 1990s, after rigorous research, 
    that he felt bold enough to go public with his new thesis. The reward  
    system, he then asserted, has two distinct elements: wanting and
    liking (or desire and pleasure). While dopamine makes us want, the
    liking part comes from opioids and also endocannabinoids (a version of
    marijuana produced in the brain), which paint a “gloss of pleasure”,
    as Berridge puts it, on good experiences. His most telling discovery
    was that, whereas the dopamine/wanting system is vast and powerful, 
    the pleasure circuit is anatomically tiny, has a far more fragile
    structure and is harder to trigger."

    Potential clinical applications are always on his mind. His revelation
    that desire and dread share the same brain operations, like two sides
    of the same coin, could help ease schizophrenia symptoms. Iggy Pop
    1998 album “Live on the King Biscuit Flower Hour” was used in
    conjunction with bright lights to generate dread in the rats for these
    experiments. (It worked.) A trial drug has had some success in
    reducing delusions by restricting a certain dopamine neuron that
    produces fear.

It goes on with an interview with and text about Berridge and his research. Including details of how his 1986 study started with "failed" lab tests. Further there are discussions with Kringelbach and his collaborations with Berridge and own research.

    In spring 2014, Kringelbach and colleagues from Oxford and Aarhus
    released a research paper on groove –music that makes people want to
    get up and dance and is, as the study puts it, “frequently observed
    in…funk, hip-hop and electronic dance music”.

They discuss Kringelbach Baby likeness test which splits on gender under one condition but equalizes under a less subjective condition. It briefly mentions the Stanford Lust and Loathing study (quote from study[1]):

    We show how being “jilted”—that is, being thwarted from obtaining a
    desired outcome—can concurrently increase desire to obtain the
    outcome, but reduce its actual attractiveness. Thus, people can come
    to both want something more, yet like it less

1. https://faculty-gsb.stanford.edu/khan/documents/jilting.pdf

"A trial drug has had some success in reducing delusions by restricting a certain dopamine neuron that produces fear."

Wow, that is fascinating. So, could this help explain why smart people can still believe crazy things ("dysrationalia" as Keith Stanovich calls it)? [1]

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysrationalia

The science of anti-craving: http://focusr.co