Incentive salience
Incentive salience is a type of motivation created in the brain because it has developed an association between a certain stimuli and reward. In the case of addiction this stimuli will be whatever drug the individual is using. Incentive salience is a far greater incentive than merely liking something. In fact it can happen that the individual no longer likes the drug but feels compelled to take it due to incentive salience.
There is a subtle but important difference between liking and wanting. 'Liking' refers only to our actual reactions of pleasure, both conscious and unconscious. When we speak of 'wanting', were consciously predicting our future likelihood of seeking out an experience (Berridge 2009).
Berridge KC (2009) Dissecting components of reward: liking, wanting, and learning. Curr Opin Pharmacol Feb;9(1):65-73.
There is a subtle but important difference between liking and wanting. 'Liking' refers only to our actual reactions of pleasure, both conscious and unconscious. When we speak of 'wanting', were consciously predicting our future likelihood of seeking out an experience (Berridge 2009).
Berridge KC (2009) Dissecting components of reward: liking, wanting, and learning. Curr Opin Pharmacol Feb;9(1):65-73.
