www.frontiersin.org
The addicted brain: understanding the neurophysiological mechanisms of addictive disordersThe consumption of chemical substances that produce transient feelings of euphoria or pleasure and the development of dependence on those substances by a subset of individuals is as old as the human race itself. Currently, the cost of addiction to illicit drugs in the United States is more than 600 billion dollars a year (NIDA 2015), with profound social and economic impacts. Despite the prevalence and long history of addiction, it is still not clear what neurophysiological processes are involved in the development and progression of addictive disorders. The challenge of current and future studies is to understand how alcohol and drugs alter specific brain systems to influence tolerance and/or lead to the addicted state with the overarching goal of identifying vulnerable populations and improving on current treatment strategies. Drug addiction is defined as a chronic relapsing disorder that is comprised of three stages: preoccupation/anticipation, binge/intoxication, and withdrawal/negative affect. These three stages are conceptualized as feeding into one other, becoming more intense over time, and ultimately leading to the pathological state known as addiction. Different drugs produce distinct patterns of addiction that engage different components of the addiction cycle, depending on dose and length of use. As an individual moves from being a “user” to “abuser” and then to “addicted” a shift occurs from positive reinforcement driving the motivated behavior to negative re...
Yes...it is interesting to see brain scan differences between an addicts brain and a normal brain depending on the substance or substances used. Its amazing that for a lot of people (at least from what I hear in the rooms) its that first drink that set them off and running and it's also interesting to see the genetic background. Most alcoholics run in "families" and it's not uncommon to hear an alcoholic say "my grandfather or grandmother was an alcoholic, my mother was an alcoholic, and all my brothers and sisters are too." Sometimes it "skips generations" but there is always a link. It is also interesting to note that from studying certain tribes in Anthropology, part of their "rituals" included copious amounts of drinking and drug use. However, it was considered something entirely different than what we call now. They even gave the " special beer" which they called juice to babies!