Neuroeconomic conditions for “rational addiction” (Becker and Murphy, 1988) have\ud
been unknown. This paper derived the conditions for “rational addiction” by utilizing a\ud
nonlinear time-perception theory of “hyperbolic” discounting, which is mathematically\ud
equivalent to the q-exponential intertemporal choice model based on Tsallis' statistics. It\ud
is shown that (i) Arrow-Pratt measure for temporal cognition corresponds to the degree\ud
of irrationality (i.e., Prelec’s “decreasing impatience” parameter of temporal\ud
discounting) and (ii) rationality in addicts is controlled by a nondimensionalization\ud
parameter of the logarithmic time-perception function. Furthermore, the present theory\ud
illustrates the possibility that addictive drugs increase impulsivity via dopaminergic\ud
neuroadaptation without increasing irrationality. Future directions in the application of\ud
the model to studies in neuroeconomics are discussed
