Paradise Lost: The relationships between neurological and psychological changes in nicotine-dependent patients

The neural reward circuit and cognitive distortion play an important role in addiction; however, the relationship between the two has not yet been addressed. In this article, we review recent findings on nicotine dependence and propose a novel hypothesis. Previous research using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has shown that while activation of the reward circuit (ventral striatum) appears in response to tobacco-related rewards in nicotine dependence, responses to rewards other than tobacco (e.g. food and money) are reduced. Moreover, this change is observed at the very early stages of smoking, even when a person has smoked fewer than 10 cigarettes in his/her lifetime. Thus, we propose the following hypothesis, called the Paradise Lost theory: given addicts’ lower ventral striatal responses to non-tobacco rewards, nicotine addiction disables smokers from sensing the pleasures of ordinary life (the Paradise Lost state). However, since smokers do not notice this, they produce an overestimation of tobacco (cognitive distortion), such that they do not have many pastimes other than smoking or feel that quitting smoking would reduce the happiness and pleasure and increase the difficulty of life. Cognitive distortion thus makes it difficult for smokers to take the initiative to quit smoking and even causes relapse after smoking cessation. This theory furthers our understanding of addiction and could improve our approach to the prevention and treatment of addiction.