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Addiction and impulse control disorder are two psychological disorders which are related and often difficult for scientists to clearly differentiate. Addiction is defined as a habitual psychological and physiological dependence on a substance or practice beyond one's voluntary control. Impulse control disorder is defined as a psychiatric disorder characterized by a failure to resist an impulse, drive or temptation to perform an act that is harmful to themselves or others. Both addiction and impulse control disorder limit a person’s ability to control a behavior, and may case harm to one's self or others. Addiction is often related to physical substances such as drugs or alcohol, while impulse control disorder is often related with a behavior such as gambling. Impulse control disorder is often attributed to be a cause of obsessive compulsive disorder, and other mental disorders. Some common impulse control disorders are gambling and binge drinking which may classify as behavioral addictions.

Causes
Addiction and impulse control disorder are both thought to be developed during life. However, there has not been much research on this. . While addiction is correlated with substance use, there may be genetic factors that make one more susceptible to forming an addiction Impulse control disorder and addiction may both be developed from factors such as genetic makeup, existing brain structure, and chemical imbalances. Both disorders may be related to other disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder. Those with impulse control disorder may be more susceptible to develop an addiction or obsessive control disorder. Both addictions and impulse control disorder deal with obsessions and compulsions however the compulsions come before the obsessions in both cases which is the opposite of OCD.

Effects on the brain
Addiction effects the amygdala, hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and the nucleus accumbens which are the pleasure centers of the brain. Not much research has been done on the areas impulse control disorder effects however, through brain imaging such as fMRI, it has been discovered that impulse control occurs in the brain's frontal lobe, the amygdala, the nucleus accumbens and the cerebral cortex. Which overlap with the areas affected by addiction. However, there are other disorders which also effect these areas of the brain so it is hard for scientists to draw conclusions on the relevance of this.

Parkinson’s research
While treating Parkinson’s disease patients it was noticed that some patients developed impulse control disorder from dopamine restoration therapy. Through further research scientists used dopamine restoration therapy to measure the effects of dopamine on parkinson's disease patients as well as non-Parkinson's disease patients. They noticed that 13 percent of the parkinson's disease patients developed some form of impulse control disorder. The non-Parkinson's disease patients were also more susceptible to impulse control disorder after the therapy. The researcher also noticed correlations between behavioral addiction and impulse control disorder, the only major difference noticed was the lack of withdrawal symptoms in the impulse control disorder patients.