Neuroplasticity and impulse control disorders

Abstract

Impulse control disorders (ICDs) represent an important medical challenge. The authors of the present paper restricted themselves to present an overview of the neurocircuitry that is involved in ICDs and to present information about the mechanisms of neuroplasticity that are the substrate of the ICDs. Understanding the networks involved in ICDs at the level of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of neural and synaptic plasticity may facilitate the understanding of the ways in which various conditions favour the habit formation and compulsivity that are associated with neurological disorders. The psychological, sociological and forensic dimensions of ICDs are beyond the scope of this paper.