Addiction to drug and alcohol is regarded as a major health problem worldwide for which available treatments show limited effectiveness. The biggest challenge remains to enhance the capacities of interventions to reduce craving, prevent relapse and promote long-term recovery. New strategies to meet these challenges are being explored. Findings from preclinical work suggest that environmental enrichment (EE) holds therapeutic potential for the treatment of substance use disorders, as demonstrated in a number of animal models of drug abuse. The EE intervention introduced after drug exposure leads to attenuation of compulsive drug taking, attenuation of the rewarding (and reinforcing) effects of drugs, reductions in control of behavior by drug cues, and, very importantly, relapse prevention. Clinical work also suggests that multidimensional EE interventions (involving physical activity, social interaction, vocational training, recreational and community involvement) might produce similar therapeutic effects, if implemented continuously and rigorously. In this review we survey preclinical and clinical studies assessing the efficacy of EE as a behavioral intervention for substance use disorders and address related challenges. We also review work providing empirical evidence for EE-induced neuroplasticity within the mesocorticolimbic system that is believed to contribute to the seemingly therapeutic effects of EE on drug and alcohol-related behaviors.

吸毒和酗酒被认为是全球范围内的主要健康问题，目前可用的治疗方法显示出有限的效果。最大的挑战仍然是增强干预措施以减少渴望，防止复发和促进长期康复的能力。正在探索应对这些挑战的新策略。临床前研究结果表明，环境富集（EE）在治疗药物滥用方面具有治疗潜力，正如许多药物滥用动物模型所证明的那样。EE干预之后引入药物暴露导致强迫性药物服用减少，药物的奖励（和加强）作用减弱，药物提示对行为控制的降低，以及非常重要的是预防复发。临床工作还表明，如果持续且严格地实施多维EE干预（涉及体育活动，社交互动，职业培训，娱乐和社区参与），可能会产生相似的治疗效果。在这篇综述中，我们调查了临床前和临床研究，评估了EE作为对物质使用障碍的行为干预的功效，并解决了相关挑战。