<p>Sure. Any introduction of a positive stimulus can reinforce any associated actions. However, alcohol is a depressant, and as such will negatively impact performance on activities such as homework, cleaning, or laundry, to name a few.   </p>

<p>The Wikipedia page on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning#Modifying_operant_behavior:_reinforcement_and_shaping" rel="nofollow noreferrer">operant conditioning</a> explains it well:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement increase the probability of a behavior that they follow, while positive punishment and negative punishment reduce the probability of behaviour that they follow...Positive reinforcement occurs when a behavior (response) is rewarding or the behavior is followed by another stimulus that is rewarding, increasing the frequency of that behavior. For example, if a rat in a Skinner box gets food when it presses a lever, its rate of pressing will go up. This procedure is usually called simply reinforcement.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-20T20:08:37.030Z
2017-10-20T23:15:45.373Z
2017-10-20T23:15:45.373Z
Zenon
<p><strong>Short answer</strong><br>
Aversive stimuli can drive drug seeking. </p>

<p><strong>Background</strong><br>
Central to your question is the dopamine circuit of the <strong><a href="https://www.dartmouth.edu/~rswenson/NeuroSci/chapter_9.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">limbic system</a></strong> (Fig. 1), being crucial to the reward circuitry in the brain. One notorious way of powerfully activating the reward system is through intake of highly addictive dopaminergic drugs like <a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/cocaine/how-does-cocaine-produce-its-effects" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><strong>cocaine</strong></a>, <a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/heroin" rel="nofollow noreferrer">heroin</a> and <a href="https://www.drugs.com/amphetamine.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">amphetamines</a>, but also alcohol, albeit less potently. They are so addictive because they evoke strong euphoric, hedonic feelings and the notorious '<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedown_(drugs)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">crash</a>' when their effects wear off. The euphoric state is a powerful positive reinforcer, the crash a potent negative reinforcer.  </p>

<p>Stressors negatively impact emotional state and can drive drug seeking by modulating the activity of the mesolimbic dopamine system. In rats this was tested by stressing them with the administration of the bitter compound <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100802125848.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">quinine</a>. Rats stressed in this way had a decreased dopamine tone in their limbic system. This was accompanied by an increased tendency to seek and use cocaine. This increased cocaine-seeking behavior resulted in increased dopamine levels in the limbic system, at least partially counteracting the stressful quinine shots <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4369463/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">(Twining <em>et al</em>., 2016)</a>. </p>

<p>Admittedly these findings do not directly answer your question</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>[When] performing unpleasant tasks [can drugs] confuse the brain into
  associating those tasks with positive feelings [?]</p>
</blockquote>

<p>My answer shows that</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Unpleasant tasks can lower dopamine in the brain and drive drug seeking behavior [and cause addiction] when drug intake is associated with [more] positive feelings</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/5hI9d.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/5hI9d.png" alt="DA reward system"></a><br>
<sup>Fig. 1. Dopamine pathways in the reward center of the brain. source:
 <a href="http://jonlieffmd.com/blog/human-brain/pleasure-circuits-in-the-brain" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Lieff J.</a></sup>  </p>

<p><sub><strong>Reference</strong><br>
<strong>-</strong> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4369463/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Twining <em>et al</em>., <em>Addiction</em> (2007); <strong>102</strong>(12): 1863–70</a></sub></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-21T15:15:54.213Z
So, in the asker’s terms, housework, cleaning, and laundry can increase alcohol use?
Zenon
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-21T18:50:18.243Z
@Zenon that would stretch this answer too far. I am citing an animal study and gustatory stressors in rats may not directly translate to homework. It should be viewed at in perspective.
AliceD
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-21T18:55:55.140Z
I was just asking as the asker is asking if drugs can increase motivation to perform unappealing tasks, while your answer seems to address whether performing unappealing tasks can increase motivation to use drugs.
Zenon
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-21T19:20:12.477Z
@Zenon - Indeed, as mentioned in the last lines of my post: *My answer shows that - Unpleasant tasks can lower dopamine in the brain and drive drug seeking behavior [and cause addiction] when drug intake is associated with [more] positive feelings*
AliceD
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-20T20:37:21.770Z
2017-10-20T21:27:16.287Z
2017-10-20T21:27:16.287Z
AliceD
<p>For this example, I will use alcohol as an example drug, since it's legal and increases dopamine.</p>

<p>Can drinking alcohol when performing unpleasant tasks, such as homework, cleaning, or laundry confuse the brain into associating those tasks with positive feelings, and thus increase the desire to perform those tasks, even in the absence of alcohol?</p>

<p>For example, I noticed some of the songs I first heard of while drinking sounded particularly good, but also sound great when not drinking.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-27T06:59:44.300Z
[Missatribution of arousal is also related to your question](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misattribution_of_arousal)
DesignerAnalyst
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-20T19:58:33.583Z
Sure, give a rat cocaine and it'll keep pressing the button.
got trolled too much this week
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-12-19T20:23:23.570Z
This is a single piece of anecdotal experience, but LSD caused permanent changes in my brain that causes THC to induce psychosis. I haven't understood what changes LSD might have caused, but THC induces psychosis because it elevates D2 activity in the mesolimbic area. THC never induced psychosis up until a certain traumatic event caused by LSD. Maybe I've always been in the 1% of vulnerable people, but LSD definitely changed something permanently.
Moritz Roessler
<cognitive-neuroscience><memory><psychopharmacology>
Can drugs cause positive reinforcement for undesirable tasks?
Daniel Grover
# Can drugs cause positive reinforcement for undesirable tasks?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-10-20)

For this example, I will use alcohol as an example drug, since it's legal and increases dopamine.

Can drinking alcohol when performing unpleasant tasks, such as homework, cleaning, or laundry confuse the brain into associating those tasks with positive feelings, and thus increase the desire to perform those tasks, even in the absence of alcohol?

For example, I noticed some of the songs I first heard of while drinking sounded particularly good, but also sound great when not drinking.

**Tags:** cognitive-neuroscience, memory, psychopharmacology

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Sure, give a rat cocaine and it'll keep pressing the button.  
> **username_1**: [Missatribution of arousal is also related to your question](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misattribution_of_arousal)  
> **username_3**: This is a single piece of anecdotal experience, but LSD caused permanent changes in my brain that causes THC to induce psychosis. I haven't understood what changes LSD might have caused, but THC induces psychosis because it elevates D2 activity in the mesolimbic area. THC never induced psychosis up until a certain traumatic event caused by LSD. Maybe I've always been in the 1% of vulnerable people, but LSD definitely changed something permanently.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-10-20. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

Sure. Any introduction of a positive stimulus can reinforce any associated actions. However, alcohol is a depressant, and as such will negatively impact performance on activities such as homework, cleaning, or laundry, to name a few.

The Wikipedia page on [operant conditioning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning#Modifying_operant_behavior:_reinforcement_and_shaping) explains it well:

> Positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement increase the probability of a behavior that they follow, while positive punishment and negative punishment reduce the probability of behaviour that they follow...Positive reinforcement occurs when a behavior (response) is rewarding or the behavior is followed by another stimulus that is rewarding, increasing the frequency of that behavior. For example, if a rat in a Skinner box gets food when it presses a lever, its rate of pressing will go up. This procedure is usually called simply reinforcement.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2017-10-20. Score: 2

**Short answer**  
Aversive stimuli can drive drug seeking.

**Background**  
Central to your question is the dopamine circuit of the **[limbic system](https://www.dartmouth.edu/~rswenson/NeuroSci/chapter_9.html)** (Fig. 1), being crucial to the reward circuitry in the brain. One notorious way of powerfully activating the reward system is through intake of highly addictive dopaminergic drugs like [**cocaine**](https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/cocaine/how-does-cocaine-produce-its-effects), [heroin](https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/heroin) and [amphetamines](https://www.drugs.com/amphetamine.html), but also alcohol, albeit less potently. They are so addictive because they evoke strong euphoric, hedonic feelings and the notorious '[crash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedown_(drugs))' when their effects wear off. The euphoric state is a powerful positive reinforcer, the crash a potent negative reinforcer.

Stressors negatively impact emotional state and can drive drug seeking by modulating the activity of the mesolimbic dopamine system. In rats this was tested by stressing them with the administration of the bitter compound [quinine](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100802125848.htm). Rats stressed in this way had a decreased dopamine tone in their limbic system. This was accompanied by an increased tendency to seek and use cocaine. This increased cocaine-seeking behavior resulted in increased dopamine levels in the limbic system, at least partially counteracting the stressful quinine shots [(Twining *et al*., 2016)](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4369463/).

Admittedly these findings do not directly answer your question

> [When] performing unpleasant tasks [can drugs] confuse the brain into
> associating those tasks with positive feelings [?]

My answer shows that

> Unpleasant tasks can lower dopamine in the brain and drive drug seeking behavior [and cause addiction] when drug intake is associated with [more] positive feelings

[![DA reward system](https://i.sstatic.net/5hI9d.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/5hI9d.png)  
Fig. 1. Dopamine pathways in the reward center of the brain. source:
[Lieff J.](http://jonlieffmd.com/blog/human-brain/pleasure-circuits-in-the-brain)

**Reference**  
**-** [Twining *et al*., *Addiction* (2007); **102**(12): 1863–70](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4369463/)

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: So, in the asker’s terms, housework, cleaning, and laundry can increase alcohol use?  
> **username_5**: @username_4 that would stretch this answer too far. I am citing an animal study and gustatory stressors in rats may not directly translate to homework. It should be viewed at in perspective.  
> **username_4**: I was just asking as the asker is asking if drugs can increase motivation to perform unappealing tasks, while your answer seems to address whether performing unappealing tasks can increase motivation to use drugs.  
> **username_5**: @username_4 - Indeed, as mentioned in the last lines of my post: *My answer shows that - Unpleasant tasks can lower dopamine in the brain and drive drug seeking behavior [and cause addiction] when drug intake is associated with [more] positive feelings*  

---

