Limited human studies have directly tested the dissociation between wanting and liking with human substance users, a core tenet of the Incentive Sensitisation Theory (IST). The aim of this study is to test the dissociation between wanting and liking in humans across two commonly used licit substances, alcohol and caffeine. The STRAP-R (Sensitivity To Reinforcement of Addictive and other Primary Rewards) questionnaire was administered to 285 alcohol users (mean age=33.30, SD= 8.83) and 134 coffee users (mean age=33.05, SD=8.10) ranging in their levels of substance use to assess wanting and liking. Findings showed that in high risk alcohol users wanting may drive alcohol consumption more so than liking, compared with low risk alcohol users. However, wanting and liking did not significantly dissociate as alcohol consumption increased. These findings partially support IST. Additionally, IST was not supported in coffee users. It is possible that caffeine functions differently at the neurological level compared with alcohol, perhaps explaining the lack of dissociation emerging in coffee users as caffeine use increased. Nevertheless, the current study makes several contributions to IST research. Future studies should focus on utilising the STRAP-R with a clinically dependent sample to test the dissociation between wanting and liking.
AddicottMAYangLLPeifferAM. (2009) The effect of daily caffeine use on cerebral blood flow: How much caffeine can we tolerate?Hum Brain Mapp30: 3102–3114.
2.
AnselmePRobinsonMJ (2016) “Wanting,” “liking,” and their relation to consciousness. J Exp Psychol Anim Learn Cogn42: 123–140.
3.
BassareoVCuccaFCadoniC. (2013) Differential influence of morphine sensitization on accumbens shell and core dopamine responses to morphine-and food-conditioned stimuli. Psychopharmacology (Berl)225: 697–706.
4.
BecharaA (2005) Decision making, impulse control and loss of willpower to resist drugs: A neurocognitive perspective. Nat Neurosci8: 1458–1463.
5.
BerridgeKCRobinsonTE (1995) The mind of an addicted brain: Neural sensitization of wanting versus liking. Curr Dir Psychol Sci4: 71–76.
BerridgeKCValensteinES (1991) What psychological process mediates feeding evoked by electrical stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus?Behav Neurosci105: 3.
8.
BerridgeKCZajoncRB (1991) Hypothalamic cooling elicits eating: Differential effects on motivation and pleasure. Psychol Sci2: 184–189.
9.
BerridgeKCRobinsonTEAldridgeJW (2009) Dissecting components of reward: ‘liking’, ‘wanting’, and learning. Curr Opin Pharmacol9: 65–73.
10.
BudneyAJLeeDCJulianoLM (2015) Evaluating the validity of caffeine use disorder. Curr Psychiatry Rep17: 1–6.
11.
CauliOMorelliM (2005) Caffeine and the dopaminergic system. Behav Pharmacol16: 63–77.
12.
ClarkJJBernsteinIL (2006) Sensitization of salt appetite is associated with increased “wanting” but not “liking” of a salt reward in the sodium-deplete rat. Behav Neurosc120: 206–210.
13.
Di ChiaraGImperatoA (1988) Drugs abused by humans preferentially increase synaptic dopamine concentrations in the mesolimbic system of freely moving rats. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A85: 5274–5278.
14.
EvansAHPaveseNLawrenceAD. (2006) Compulsive drug use linked to sensitized ventral striatal dopamine transmission. Ann Neurol59: 852–858.
15.
FerréS (2016) Mechanisms of the psychostimulant effects of caffeine: Implications for substance use disorders. Psychopharmacology (Berl)233: 1963–1979.
16.
GalavernaOGSeeleyRJBerridgeKC. (1993) Lesions of the central nucleus of the amygdala I: Effects on taste reactivity, taste aversion learning and sodium appetite. Behav Brain Res59: 11–17.
17.
GoldsteinRWoicikPMoellerS. (2010) Liking and wanting of drug and non-drug rewards in active cocaine users: The STRAP-R questionnaire. J Psychopharmacol24: 257–266.
18.
GrantSContoreggiCLondonED (2000) Drug abusers show impaired performance in a laboratory test of decision making. Neuropsychologia38: 1180–1187.
19.
HobbsMRemingtonBGlautierS (2005) Dissociation of wanting and liking for alcohol in humans: A test of the incentive-sensitisation theory. Psychopharmacology (Berl)178: 493–499.
20.
HymanSE (2007) The neurobiology of addiction: Implications for voluntary control of behavior. Am J Bioeth7: 8–11.
21.
JulianoLMGriffithsRR (2004) A critical review of caffeine withdrawal: Empirical validation of symptoms and signs, incidence, severity, and associated features. Psychopharmacology (Berl)176: 1–29.
22.
JulianoLMEvattDPRichardsBD. (2012) Characterization of individuals seeking treatment for caffeine dependence. Psychol Addict Behav26: 948–954.
23.
KalapatapuRKBediGHaneyM. (2012) The subjective effects of cocaine: Relationship to years of cocaine use and current age. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse38: 530–534.
24.
LambertNMMcLeodMSchenkS (2006) Subjective responses to initial experience with cocaine: An exploration of the incentive–sensitization theory of drug abuse. Addiction101: 713–725.
25.
LeytonM (2007) Conditioned and sensitized responses to stimulant drugs in humans. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry31: 1601–1613.
26.
MendezIAWilliamsMTBhavsarA. (2009) Long-lasting sensitization of reward-directed behavior by amphetamine. Behav Brain Res201: 74–79.
27.
NehligA (1999) Are we dependent upon coffee and caffeine? A review on human and animal data. Neurosci Biobehav Rev23(4): 563–576.
28.
NehligADavalJ-LBoyetS. (1986) Comparative effects of acute and chronic administration of caffeine on local cerebral glucose utilization in the conscious rat. Eur J Pharmacol129: 93–103.
29.
OstafinBDMarlattGATroop-GordonW (2010) Testing the incentive-sensitization theory with at-risk drinkers: Wanting, liking, and alcohol consumption. Psychol Addict Behav24: 157–162.
30.
PeciñaS (2008) Opioid reward ‘liking’ and ‘wanting’ in the nucleus accumbens. Physiol Behav94: 675–680.
31.
PeciñaSCagniardBBerridgeKC. (2003) Hyperdopaminergic mutant mice have higher “wanting” but not “liking” for sweet rewards. J Neurosci23: 9395–9402.
32.
PietersSVan Der VorstHBurkWJ. (2011) The effect of the OPRM1 and DRD4 polymorphisms on the relation between attentional bias and alcohol use in adolescence and young adulthood. Dev Cogn Neurosci1: 591–599.
33.
PoolESennwaldVDelplanqueS. (2016) Measuring wanting and liking from animals to humans: A systematic review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev63: 124–142.
34.
RayLAHutchisonKE (2004) A polymorphism of the μ-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) and sensitivity to the effects of alcohol in humans. Alcohol Clin Exp Res28: 1789–1795.
35.
RobinsonMJBerridgeKC (2013) Instant transformation of learned repulsion into motivational “wanting”. Curr Biol23: 282–289.
36.
RobinsonTEBerridgeKC (1993) The neural basis of drug craving: an incentive-sensitization theory of addiction. Brain Res Brain Res Rev18: 247–291.
37.
RobinsonTEBerridgeKC (2000) The psychology and neurobiology of addiction: An incentive–sensitization view. Addiction95(Suppl. 2): S91–S117.
38.
RobinsonTEBerridgeKC (2001) Incentive-sensitization and addiction. Addiction96: 103–114.
39.
RobinsonTEBerridgeKC (2008) The incentive sensitization theory of addiction: Some current issues. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci363: 3137–3146.
40.
RubinskyADKivlahanDRVolkRJ. (2010) Estimating risk of alcohol dependence using alcohol screening scores. Drug Alcohol Depend108: 29–36.
41.
SchuhKJGriffithsRR (1997) Caffeine reinforcement: The role of withdrawal. Psychopharmacology (Berl)130: 320–326.
42.
TibboelHDe HouwerJSpruytA. (2015a) Heavy social drinkers score higher on implicit wanting and liking for alcohol than alcohol-dependent patients and light social drinkers. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry48: 185–191.
43.
TibboelHDe HouwerJVan BockstaeleB (2015b) Implicit measures of “wanting” and “liking” in humans. Neurosci Biobehav Rev57: 350–364.
44.
TinleyEMYeomansMRDurlachPJ (2003) Caffeine reinforces flavour preference in caffeine-dependent, but not long-term withdrawn, caffeine consumers. Psychopharmacology (Berl)166: 416–423.
45.
VanderschurenLJKalivasPW (2000) Alterations in dopaminergic and glutamatergic transmission in the induction and expression of behavioral sensitization: A critical review of preclinical studies. Psychopharmacology (Berl)151: 99–120.
46.
VolkowNLiTK (2005) The neuroscience of addiction. Nat Neurosci8: 1429–1430.
47.
WagnerAKSoumeraiSBZhangF. (2002) Segmented regression analysis of interrupted time series studies in medication use research. J Clin Pharm Ther27: 299–309.
48.
WillnerPJamesDMorganM (2005) Excessive alcohol consumption and dependence on amphetamine are associated with parallel increases in subjective ratings of both ‘wanting’ and ‘liking’. Addiction100: 1487–1495.
49.
WyvellCLBerridgeKC (2000) Intra-accumbens amphetamine increases the conditioned incentive salience of sucrose reward: Enhancement of reward “wanting” without enhanced “liking” or response reinforcement. J Neurosci20: 8122–8130.
