Advances in Neuroscience Research

It is believed that certain individuals are predisposed or vulnerable to addiction based on biological, psychological and social influences. The euphoric high produced by many addictive substances is the result of overstimulation of the “pleasure center” of the brain. This is the same area that controls emotions, fear, self-control and overall feelings of wellness. The presence of these foreign chemicals creates a response that the brain will crave as soon as it fades. The brain’s chemistry works against its own health, as it rewires its decision making faculties around the primary goal of finding and taking more of the drug” (1). Many people mistakenly believe that psychological addiction is somehow less serious or real than physical addiction. The psychological aspects of addiction are much more challenging to repair and recover from than the physical addiction. Psychological addiction can last for years or even a lifetime.

This research paper will evaluate the biological aspects of addictive substance or behavior and how it affects the brain and organs. Biological aspects include dopamine levels that are replaced in the brain due to the reward system being overtaken and the absorption rate of the drug once it is ingested will be discussed. The biological aspects are extensive and permanent if the individual does not get the help they need. Furthermore the clinical issues of addictive substance or behavior will be discussed along with medical treatments and ethical issues. This includes treatments such as counseling

According to the biological perspective, drug use may start off as casual, but through continued use, it produces changes in the brain that influences the onset and maintenance of drug addiction. (Horvath et al., 2013). Drugs have their most prominent effects on the function of neurotransmitters. Almost all major drugs of abuse activate the reward system and cause a flood in the levels of dopamine which is a neurotransmitter that is involved in pleasure. As a result, not only do people learn to associate drug use with pleasure, but the brain also starts to reduce its own natural dopamine production in adjustment to the levels of dopamine produced by the drugs. This is called tolerance, and the consequences of tolerance are highly influential

As results of scientific research, we know that addiction is a disease that affects both the brain and behavior. A disease is an interruption, cessation, or disorder of a body system, or organ structure, or function; according to Stedman’s Medical Dictionary. (Sheff ,2013) cites, the disease od addiction has an etiologic agent, identified by a group of signs and symptoms or consistent anatomic alterations. There are significant changes in the brain. The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) states that addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward motivation, memory and related circuitry. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristics biological, psychological, social and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in an individual pathology pursuing reward and /or relief by substance use and other behaviors. (Addiction is characterized by inability to consistently abstain, impairment of behavioral control, craving, diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships and dysfunctional emotional responses. Like other chronic diseases, addiction often involves cycles of relapse, and remission. Without treatment or engagement in recovery activities, addiction is progressive and can result in disability or premature death. (ASAM Adopted as Policy, February

Technology has allowed us to gain greater insight into the effects that these substances have on the body, and the research largely affected the ways in which I thought about addiction. The largest influencer on my opinions on addiction were the arguments originating in the research on neurobiology, with my interest focusing largely on neurotransmitters and processes such as the down-regulation of receptor sites in response to the overproduction or inhibited reuptake of certain neurotransmitters (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). To me it would make sense that these actions would encourage the user to continue using whatever substance caused the changes to happen in the first place. In their article arguing for medication-assisted therapy for inmates in the criminal justice system, Bruce and Schleifer (2008) summarized my ideas surrounding addiction: “In essence, the overwhelming physical and psychological reward that comes from heroin derails a neurobiological system designed to preserve the individual” (p. 18). Rather than being limited just to heroin, this was my opinion on all addicting psychoactive

Across all addictions, there is a central theory as to how such an addiction can occur. The common mechanism of all addictive substances is the activation of the brain’s “reward system”, made up of dopaminergic neurons of the midbrain and their extensions to the limbic system (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3272277/). This system is normally used in advancing evolutionary fitness promoting activity, such as sex, food, or social interactions (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3272277/). In such normal natural behaviors, the reward system activity is relatively brief and weak. However, addictive substances abuse the system’s circuitry, causing

The treatment for substance abuse is a controversial subject, if to curtail the substance that is abused you replace it with drugs, can decrease the probability of recovery. Recent studies are conducted regarding this topic to cure all the addictions, and discovering neural

The three stages of addiction are binge/intoxication defined by consumption and reward, withdraw/negative affect due to absence of the substance, and preoccupation/anticipation relating to the stage of seeking11. As such, the brain regions associated with each stage are the basal ganglia, extended amygdala, and prefrontal cortex correspondingly. The stages of addiction are cyclical, one leading to the next. The physical and psychological damage is magnified as the cycle is reinforced and strengthened with time

Addiction is like all behaviours “the business of the brain”. Addictions are compulsive physical and psychological needs from habit-forming sustenances like nicotine, alcohol, and drugs. Being occupied with or involved in such activities, leads a person who uses them again and again to become tolerant and dependent eventually experiencing withdrawal. (Molintas, 2006).

The [C]raclopride plays a role in determining the extracellular dopamine in the synapse. The theory of addiction is the idea that addictive drugs have a particular nature of releasing dopamine, while psychoactive non-addictive drugs do not. Alcohol and Cannabis have been demonstrated to lack certain qualities associated with inducing the release of dopamine in comparison to [C]cocaine. Figure 2 demonstrates an increase of dopamine levels in the ventral striatum which is produced by amphetamine and alcohol administration. In regards to [C]cocaine, there is a reduction in the radiotracer as a result of decreased expression of postsynaptic dopamine receptors. Alcohol dependent individuals demonstrated to have a decreased number of radiotracers, and cannabis detected almost no changes in the dopamine receptor availability. The article itself suggested that addiction is a complex mechanism that involves external factors such as environment, along with variation in drug reaction from person to person. It was suggested he it was unlikely that a single neurotransmitter could explain every aspect associated with addiction. The role of dopamine is concluded to have a central role in addiction to ‘stimulant drugs; which directly affect the dopamine system, but less so, in reference to mediating the addiction of other drugs – such as

Neuroscience and psychology seem to have been working together to try to understand how and why certain behaviors transpire in a person’s personality, and what makes or motivates a person to do the things they do. One of the most analyzed wonders that mark motivation, the thought developments, and the social interaction, is the analysis of drug obsession. Through advance forms of scanning the brain with imaging equipment like positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have advanced the knowledge of drug addiction and how the brain is affected (Volkow, Fowler, & Wang, 2003,para 2). This paper will examine the brain structures and functions, the influence of

Among the numerous definitions for addiction, there lies yet another to define it from a biochemical perspective. Milkman (1983) defines it as “self-induced changes in neurotransmission that result in social problem behaviors." This definition encompasses the psychological, biochemical and social aspects of addictive processes. It is not limited to substance abuse and can be applied to any activity characterized by compulsion, loss of control and continuation of the substance despite harm. This has helped investigators gain a better understanding of the nature of addiction.

The definition of a drug addiction is the loss of control over the intense urges to take the drug even at the expense of adverse consequences (Volkow & Li, 2005). The drugs are using multiple mechanisms like positive reward, inhibitory control, and executive function to alter the brain function. In this paper, I am examined the drug addictive behavior with neuroscience.

The complexity of the human brain creates mystery when determining the influence of neurophysiological factors and their role in the process of addiction. There is a proposed relationship between drug addiction and the mesolimbic dopamine system, with the mesolimbic pathway from the ventral tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens considered the ‘reward centre’ of the human brain (Alcohol Rehab, 2011). A release of dopamine is necessary for ‘reward’ which is hypothesised to initiate the addiction cycle by providing positive reinforcement for drug self-administration (Feltenstein & See, 2009). Methamphetamine triggers the release of dopamine from synaptic vesicles which flood the synaptic cleft activating feelings of euphoria, well-being

The neuroadaptation theory of addiction outlines that, likewise to the formation of most memories, the exposure to drugs and its abuse induces molecular and cellular adaptions in the brain that may facilitate addiction related memories or unstable addictive mentation. Addiction related memories have been shown to develop faster and last longer than many other types of memories. This suggests that underlying cellular and molecular process is highly sensitive and systematic. Dong Y. and Lee Br. Test the neuroadaptation theory by repeatedly exposing cocaine which resulted in the generation of a large portion of SGS within the nucleus accumbens (NAc), an important site for drug addiction