A few months ago I was listening to this episode of Being on an education researcher who believes that the development of executive function should be a central focus in classroom education. The conversation was fascinating and I kept thinking that this could represent an important developmental task in early recovery and treatment. (We know … Continue reading Cultivating executive function
Tag: brain
Salience
I've posted before about the role of salience in addiction. This is a great illustration:
Stuck on … dopamine
In attempting to explain attention and ADHD, Jonah Lehrer explains dopamine's salience function: But the caricature of dopamine as simply the chemical of hedonism is woefully incomplete. For instance, studies have shown that the dopamine reward pathway is also extremely active when people are forced to eat something disgusting, or when a subject is gasping … Continue reading Stuck on … dopamine
Almost impossible to ignore
An interesting explanation of dopamine's function--distinguishing drive and motivation from pleasure and reward: In the emerging view, discussed in part at the Society for Neuroscience meeting last week in Chicago, dopamine is less about pleasure and reward than about drive and motivation, about figuring out what you have to do to survive and then doing … Continue reading Almost impossible to ignore
Addiction and free will
This one slipped by me late last year. It offers a great description of the neurobiological processes involved in addiction. It also tries to tackle frequently neglected questions about free will and addiction. All of this is great, but the description of the client with a "secondary" addiction and their intervention (rather, the absence of … Continue reading Addiction and free will
Pediatric Ritalin Use May Affect Developing Brain, New Study Suggests
A new study identifies neurochemical changes from ritalin use: Use of the attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug Ritalin by young children may cause long-term changes in the developing brain, suggests a new study of very young rats by a research team at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. The study is among the … Continue reading Pediatric Ritalin Use May Affect Developing Brain, New Study Suggests
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