Kent C. Berridge

Encyclopedia : K : KE : KEN : Kent C. Berridge

Dr. Kent C. Berridgehttp://www-personal.umich.edu/~berridge is a professor of psychology (biopsychology) and neuroscience at the University of Michigan.

Berridge conducts research relating to brain systems of motivation, affect, reward “liking”, reward “wanting”, emotion, fear, pleasure, drug addiction, eating disorders, and decision utility. He also studies natural syntactical chains of behavior (e.g. grooming; taste response patterns) in animals with colleague Dr. J. Wayne Aldridge. With Dr. Piotr Winkielman, he has investigated the issue of unconscious emotion in humans

Berridge is known for his work on brain systems for pleasure (“liking”).Berridge, K.C. Pleasures of the Brain. Brain Cogn. 2003 Jun;52(1):106-28. Using an assay for “liking” called Taste Reactivity Analysis developed by taste researchers, Berridge measures facial responses to tastes, which are similar between rodents, primates and humans. When something enjoyably sweet is tasted, licking responses occur. When something aversively bitter is tasted, gaping and head shaking occur. Berridge has helped identify brain sites that coordinate the “liking” of foods and tastes, including the nucleus accumbens and ventral pallidum, and opioid and GABA neurotransmitters there.

Berridge and colleague Dr. Terry Robinson have formulated a contemporary theory of addiction called Incentive Sensitization.Robinson, T.E., Berridge, K.C. The neural basis of drug craving: an incentive-sensitization theory of addiction. Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 1993 Sep-Dec;18(3):247-91. According to this theory, drug addiction develops from a sensitization of the mesolimbic dopamine system. Dopamine normally functions to attribute incentive salience to stimuli associated with rewards like food and sex, and triggers reward “wanting”. Drugs hijack this “wanting” system. Following repeated use of drugs, the dopamine system becomes hyper-responsive and drug cues become hyper-salient. Addicts then become overly attracted to drug stimuli, and this sensitized motivation to take drugs can last for years, and persists long after drug withdrawal has ceased.

Berridge and Robinson helped redefine the role of mesolimbic dopamine in the brain,Berridge, K.C., Robinson, T.E. What is the role of dopamine in reward: hedonic impact, reward learning, or incentive salience? Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 1998 Dec;28(3):309-69. which had previously been viewed as a pleasure transmitter. Dopamine is no longer regarded as a pleasure transmitter, although what it does exactly remains an issue of controversy.

See also

• Addiction
• Dopamine
• Happiness
• Motivation
• Pleasure

Notes