Carrots and sticks fail to change behavior in cocaine addiction

Abstract

Punishment doesn't work in cocaine addicts Addiction is extremely difficult to treat, particularly cocaine use disorder. Animal experiments have led to the concept of drug addiction as abnormal goal-directed learning and habit formation. Ersche et al. found that overtraining with positive reinforcement such as rewards made cocaine-addicted patients less sensitive to the outcome of their actions. In contrast, overtraining on a punishment paradigm had no effect. Thus, habits may determine the behavior of cocaine users. Science , this issue p. 1468