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. 2014 Sep 28;30(5):765–776. doi: 10.1007/s12264-014-1469-5

Brain dopaminergic system changes in drug addiction: a review of positron emission tomography findings

Haifeng Hou 1,2,3,4, Chunyan Wang 5, Shaowei Jia 6, Shu Hu 6, Mei Tian 1,2,3,4,✉
PMCID: PMC5562592  PMID: 25260796

Abstract

Dopamine (DA) is considered crucial for the rewarding effects of drugs of abuse, but its role in addiction remains unclear. Positron emission tomography (PET) is the first technology used for in vivo measurement of components of the dopaminergic system in the human brain. In this article, we review the major findings from PET imaging studies on the involvement of DA in drug addiction, including presynaptic DA synthesis, vesicular monoamine transporter 2, the DA transporter, and postsynaptic DA receptors. These results have corroborated the role of DA in addiction and increased the understanding of its underlying mechanisms.

Keywords: dopamine, dopaminergic system, drug addiction, positron emission tomography

Footnotes

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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