Part of our Neorons, Dopamine Controls Pleasure

The ponderance that Brain = Behavior and the inherent ramifications of such proves no more fascinating than when addressed in the context of "Addiction and the Brain". Essential to consider is:

Brain chemistry can affect different addicts more then others. Drugs and alcohol are more of the main addictions that brain chemistry affects. Once taking these addictive substances your internal natural drug dopamine is lowers causing you to seek more external addictive substances. This causes craving and makes it a lot harder for the addict to stop. In Olds and Milner’s later experiments, they allowed the rats to press a particular lever to arouse themselves, to the effect that they would press it as much as seven-hundred times per hour. This region soon came to be known as the "pleasure center". Using drugs and alcohol stimulates the pleasure center in the brain that makes your brain think, “feels good- want more“. This can make it increasingly harder for an addict to stop using, until they hit a point called “rock bottom”. This is where choice comes back into play.

Brain chemistry is a detailed system that helps the brain to interact with the chemicals that moves important around the brain. Brain chemistry changes depending on what substance or how much of the substance is used. These changes can indicate signs of the beginning of an addiction over time if the drug use begins to get worst it can lead to dramatic changes in the brains over all chemistry. This example supports the theory of brain change ”‘when we elevated levels of ΔFosB in the NAc, the mice exhibited behaviors that are considered reliable indicators that exposing people to the same conditions would cause addiction: They showed more sensitivity to the drug (responded to doses one-third those required to produce a response in normal animals), self-administered more drug, and displayed greater drive (or craving) for cocaine (they worked two to three times as hard to get the drug) ().” The opposing side stated this as their disagreement “human psychology is simply the reflection of human neurophysiology. Thus, for instance, although the authors claim that their account of addiction is relatively 'skeptical,' and has less explanatory power than that of their opponents, they nevertheless seem to accept at least the possibility of a complete account, which will only come about as a result of 'further advances in biological and psychological science (Foxcroft, L. J.

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

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

Basic neurobiological research has improved our understanding of the biological and genetic causes of addiction. These findings have helped establish addiction as a biological brain disease that is chronic and relapsing in nature (Leshner, 1997). As the central nervous system is considered to be the communication pathway to the entire body with the brain being its control mechanism. The brain processes sensory information from throughout the body, guides muscle movement and locomotion, regulates a multitude of bodily functions, forms thoughts and feelings, modulates perception and moods, and essentially controls all behavior (Leshner, 1997). The body and brain then become defendant on this stimuli, as the body and brain adjust to the rewards of receiving this type of sensation. This is where the substance abuse and addiction problems

Drug addiction is a brain disease because drugs change the brain’s structure and how they work. Over a period of time drugs start to affect the brain by challenging an addicted person’s self-control and interfere with their ability to resist intense urges to take drugs. “Most drugs affect the brain's reward circuit by flooding it with the chemical messenger dopamine. This overstimulation of the reward circuit causes the intensely pleasurable "high" that leads people to take a drug again and again. Over time, the brain adjusts to the excess dopamine, which reduces the high that the person feels compared to the high they felt when first taking the drug—an effect known as tolerance. They might take more of the drug, trying to achieve the same dopamine high.”, States National Institute on Drug Abuse. After long term use of drugs it affects functions such as learning, judgment, decision-making, stress, memory, and behavior. Even though an addict knows this, they still use

The purpose of this paper is to examine the article, “The Brain’s Rewarding System & Addiction” (2004) by Katharine P. Bailey, MSN. In this article, I did not find a general hypothesis. Studies in this article show that most drugs directly or indirectly cause selective elevation of dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens (NA), the ventral tegmental area (VTA), and the limbic system, consequently called the reward center of the brain (Bailey, 2004). Behaviors that bring pleasure and are also crucial to existence (eating, drinking, and sex) also activate the same reward circuitry, however, activation of this circuitry by addictive drugs can be much

This research paper is a compilation of information gathered during lectures and through the web on the Nervous System and the Reward Pathway. This paper examines the structure of these systems, their discovery and the effects that drugs have on influencing these systems and how addictions are formed.

McLellan. David Nutt is a professor at Edmond J. Safra Fundation. Besides, David Nutt is the Director of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit in the Division of Brain Science. Thomas M. McLellan is the Chief Executive Officer and cofounder of the Treatment Research Institute. In addition, Thomas M. McLellan is a substance abuse researcher. Moreover, McLellan served as Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. “Can Neuroscience Improve Addiction Treatment and Policies?” is a research that explains that the brain is the primary objective of psychoactive drugs. In the paper “Can Neuroscience Improve Addiction Treatment and Policies?” the authors state, “drugs are self-administered because they make people feel different – usually better”. They explain that the majority of the modifications related with drug consume are fast changes. The alterations produced by drugs are faster than most changes created by natural stimulus. Numerous activities that produce amusement feelings release neurotransmitters such as dopamine. The consume of drugs manufacture quickly and higher levels of neurotransmitters like dopamine. An important fact about the ingest of drugs according to the authors is that “this rapid release of reward-inducing experience is a significant part of the transition from exploratory, to regular, to compulsive use (addiction).”

When a human encounters a reward such as sex, money, food or approval, it triggers the release of dopamine into the bloodstream, which gives a natural high. Now if drugs were introduced into a body, the brain would create up to 10 times the normal amount of dopamine, which is why drugs create such euphoria during a high (Siddiqui 4). This alarming amount of dopamine production is far beyond what the human brain can produce, thus leading to the brain solely relying upon the drug for dopamine production. Once an individual recovers from the high, the body undergoes homeostasis which is the regulation to bring the every system in the body back to normal. However the brain has become so reliant on the drug to induce dopamine it there is a shift in priority for the individual, a shift that convinces the brain the drug is necessary for survival (Siddiqui 6). With these afflictions to the human mind, research is still ongoing for exactly what causes addiction. The University of Utah is currently the leader in genetics study towards how addiction works and has come to the conclusion that addiction is inherited. The discovery is a result of isolating key genes, receptor cells and hormones that work in specific combinations that are directly related for certain addictions. The research was conducted on lab mice by administering different drugs such as alcohol and cocaine, and then meticulously identifies those that became addicted and identified certain aspects of their

In today's society, addiction is not viewed as brain disease. Many believe the act of taking illicit drugs or indulging in addictive behaviors, such as gambling, is a voluntary act. However, studies of the past few decades support the idea of addiction as brain disease. Unfortunately, this concept is still questioned because the behaviors of addiction have not yet been fully linked to neurobiology.

This is interesting because both these substances are classified as cocaine being a stimulant and alcohol being a depressant. Both these substances are classified as addictive, however cocaine involves essentially flooding the brain with dopamine and bringing about a big reward, while alcohol essentially slows things down and does create that pleasure and reward circuit, but probably not to the extent of what cocaine could do. It would be interesting to know just how miRNAs could differ with people in terms of stimulants and depressants and whether or not they would have the same impact. Another point I would like to address about this article was the use of rodents for this, and many other behavioral and social science studies. I understand that rodents and humans share similar patterns and brain wirings as humans, but what about how they tackle addiction. In this study, and many others, drugs are administered intravenously to the rats and eventually a lever is used for the rat to consume more of the substance as they please. Eventually these rodents become reliant on these substances, and become addicted. I know that negative punishments (i.e. electrical shocking) are administered to these rodents so that they see these substances as undesirable, but what about other rodents who may still become addicted even after these punishments are administered? Most people would probably agree that it would be better of putting these highly addicted rodents to rest, but there could be other solutions to use these same test subjects for further studies rather than killing them off such as administering placebos or a food that can cause the rodent to become excited. The final point I would like to address here is relative to addiction and how it is brought about. Addiction is

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 overstimulation of this reward system, which normally responds to natural behaviors linked to survival (eating, spending time with loved ones, etc.), produces euphoric effects in response to psychoactive drugs. This reaction sets in motion a reinforcing pattern that “teaches” people to repeat the rewarding behavior of abusing drugs ”(“Understanding Drug Abuse). Using addictive drugs floods the limbic brain with dopamine, taking it up to as much as five or ten times the normal level. A person with elevated dopamine levels now has a brain that begins to associate the substance with an outside neurochemical reward (“Your Brain on Drugs”). As a person continues to abuse drugs, the brain adapts to the overwhelming surges in dopamine by producing less dopamine or by reducing the number of dopamine receptors in the reward circuit. The result is a lessening of dopamine’s impact on the reward circuit, which reduces the abuser’s ability to enjoy the drugs, as well as the events in life that previously brought pleasure. The decrease in normal dopamine levels encourages the addict to keep abusing drugs in an attempt to bring the dopamine function back to normal, except now larger amounts of the drug are required to achieve the same dopamine high, an effect known as tolerance (“Understanding Drug Abuse ). That is what leads to the state of addiction, which leaves the person in a cycle of craving, using, withdrawal, and relapse.