Anhedonia After Addiction: Opioids | MindLAB Neuroscience
Beyond Dopamine: How Your Brain’s Opioid System Controls the Ability to Feel Pleasure Anhedonia after addiction is endogenous opioid depletion — not just dopamine receptor loss. Mu-opioid receptors in the nucleus accumbens shell mediate the actual experience of pleasure, while dopamine drives motivation toward it. When abstinence restores dopamine but ignores the opioid system, wanting returns without liking. ...
