Nora Volkow suggests that it is possible to acquire cocaine addiction from a combination of stress and exposure to cocaine: Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, has shown in several brain-imaging studies that people addicted to such drugs as cocaine, heroin and alcohol have fewer dopamine receptors in the brain’s reward pathways than nonaddicts. … Continue reading Top Posts of 2011 #4 – Acquiring addiction?
Tag: brain
Top Posts of 2011 #12 – Addiction redefined
The American Society of Addiction Medicine has issue a new definition of addiction. The short version good, but the long version is REALLY good. Here are some of the new elements, some of them are followed by my responses: Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Nothing new … Continue reading Top Posts of 2011 #12 – Addiction redefined
A disorder of choice
This blog post expressing skepticism about addiction as a brain disease was recently brought to my attention. He lays out A pro-disease argument as THE pro-disease argument: What do gambling, sex, heroin and cocaine — and the other things that can addict us — have in common? One strategy is to look not to the … Continue reading A disorder of choice
Willpower
Steven Pinker reviews a new book titled Willpower: What is this mysterious thing called self-control? When we fight an urge, it feels like a strenuous effort, as if there were a homunculus in the head that physically impinged on a persistent antagonist. We speak of exerting will power, of forcing ourselves to go to work, … Continue reading Willpower
Addiction redefined
The American Society of Addiction Medicine has issue a new definition of addiction. The short version good, but the long version is REALLY good. Here are some of the new elements, some of them are followed by my responses: Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Nothing new … Continue reading Addiction redefined
Brain training
A treatment provider makes the case for mindfulness as recovery tool: For many years, scientists believed that the brain’s plasticity, that is, its ability to create new structures and learn, was limited after childhood. However, new research shows that we can alter the structure of the brain and reap the benefits well into adulthood. Sara … Continue reading Brain training
Acquiring addiction?
Nora Volkow suggests that it is possible to acquire cocaine addiction from a combination of stress and exposure to cocaine: Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, has shown in several brain-imaging studies that people addicted to such drugs as cocaine, heroin and alcohol have fewer dopamine receptors in the brain’s reward pathways than nonaddicts. … Continue reading Acquiring addiction?
Looking through you
I dislike these kinds of generalizations (I think I'm especially allergic to words like "all" in these kinds of statements.), but Russell Brand has put his finger on something here: All addicts, regardless of the substance or their social status share a consistent and obvious symptom; they’re not quite present when you talk to them. … Continue reading Looking through you
Shaking the neurobiological monkey on the back
More spooky memory research with implications for trauma and addiction: The researchers injected a small protein - a peptide called ZIP - directly into an area of the addicted rats' basal forebrain called the nucleus accumbens, which controls pleasure and reward and which has been demonstrated to be connected to drug addiction. Afterward, the rats … Continue reading Shaking the neurobiological monkey on the back
Food addiction?
A recent study on the neurobiology of food addiction is getting a lot of attention. Maia Szalavitz has a very good summary of its findings. The study used fMRI brain scans of subjects with and without food problems being shown sweets and bland, boring foods. The scientists found that when viewing images of ice cream, … Continue reading Food addiction?
Recovery Review 