{"id":173117,"date":"2024-11-07T13:55:20","date_gmt":"2024-11-07T12:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=173117"},"modified":"2026-02-11T10:40:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T09:40:52","slug":"ingmar-franken-discovered-what-happens-in-an-addicts-brain-sad-and-fascinating-at-the-same-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/11\/07\/ingmar-franken-discovered-what-happens-in-an-addicts-brain-sad-and-fascinating-at-the-same-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Ingmar Franken discovered what happens in an addict\u2019s brain: \u2018Sad and fascinating at the same time\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ingmar Franken investigated what happens in the brains of addicts. \u201cIt fascinated me: what causes people to risk losing contact with their own children?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ingmar Franken is professor of Clinical Psychology at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences and head of the Centre for Substance Use and Addiction Research. His research focuses on the neurocognitive aspects of addiction and substance use.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

The wonder<\/h2>

\u201cIt was sad: when I worked as a psychologist in addiction treatment, I saw my patients throw away relationships, jobs, and health for the sake of a stupid high. \u2018Why, despite proper treatment, do addicts keep relapsing?\u2019, I wondered. I was young and brash, believing that I\u2019d figure out things that would make people better.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew brain scanning techniques, such as fMRI and EEG, made it possible to examine the brain. I enjoyed that. And while it was sad, it also fascinated me. I experienced parents being denied parental authority because they were severely addicted. What causes people to risk losing contact with their own children? The craving for that high is so strong. It must be something in the brain, I thought.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018I experienced parents being denied parental authority because they were severely addicted\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

The research<\/h2>

\u201cWe showed addicts pictures of the drug they were addicted to, for example pictures of a line of coke, while they were hooked up to a scanner. The results? The brain regions that are also responsible for attention became very active. Those brain regions immediately released dopamine when addicts were exposed to addictive stimuli, making them very focused.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also tried to hide the drugs. For example, we showed some lines on the screen, with a picture of the drug in the background. Participants had to count the number of lines as rapidly as possible. We wanted them to keep their attention on the lines, but the drug users didn\u2019t manage that very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The eureka moment<\/h2>

\u201cThose scans confirmed the hypothesis: addiction is driven not only by the chemical rewards of the drug itself, but also by how the brain pays attention to the stimuli that signal the drug. The resulting dopamine production acts as a magnet. This automatically focuses the addict\u2019s attention and behaviour on that which fuels the addiction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big eureka moment wasn\u2019t in the lab, but behind the computer. The tests involved a large group of addicts and, naturally, a control group. When the statistical results came back, the difference turned out to be huge. That was a great moment. That was when I thought: yes, I think this is how it works.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018The big eureka moment wasn\u2019t in the lab, but behind the computer\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

The impact<\/h2>

\u201cThat paper has been cited about a thousand times, so it has been quite influential in the field. And it still is. However, I\u2019d be a very lazy scientist if I thought that was the end of the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a scientist, you have to question everything, including your own models. Since publication, I and others have refined the model, and some things turned out not to be reproducible.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like we fully understand addiction now because of this. Such a mechanism as the one I found explains at best 10 per cent of addiction.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt did affect clinical procedure. Training those attention processes helps a little bit to stay clean, but you shouldn\u2019t overestimate that effect either. A 10 per cent success rate would already be an overestimate; I think it\u2019s closer to 5 per cent. Then again, there are millions of addicts all over the world, so if you can help 5 per cent, it still helps a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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Read more<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t