Cobbers on the Brain – Page 111 – Student Commentary on the Neurological Sciences

Invisible Injuries in Football

Posted on November 4, 2016 by / 0 Comment

One of the most popular sports in the United States is football. Kids will begin playing when they are in the fourth grade, even earlier in some cases. Athletes that play in the NFL have been involved in the sport for over 10 years.
Football is also the sport with the highest concussion rates. Since football players are playing this high contact sport for numerous years, it is no wonder why they receive so many head injuries. A lot of changes take place in the brain after a concussion.
We will return to the topic of football players after going over a brief description of the neurochemical changes occurring in the brain after a concussion.
The Neurochemistry
An article written by Christopher Giza and David Hovda in the journal of Neurosurgery explains some of the damage occurring to the brain when someone gets a concussion. The physical damage will lead to chemical imbalances in the brain.
When the brain hits the skull there is a significant amount of axonal damage done to the neurons. This makes the axons “leaky,” so there is more ionic flux. This will also disrupt axonal transport and render many neurons incapable of proper firing.
The cell will then use a lot of ATP to try and compensate for the extra stress on the cell. This excess use of ATP is called hyper metabolism. After the period of excess ATP use, the cells will enter into a phase of hypo metabolism.
During this phase the brain is still healing, and it is imperative that the concussed person continue to rest to aid the recovery process.
The Myth Surrounding Sleep
Since a concussion is a brain injury it can be difficult to heal because you cannot shut off your brain like you can put a cast on a broken bone. One of the best ways to recover from a concussion is to rest your brain, and this includes getting a lot of sleep.
Many people have heard the myth that if you get a concussion that you need to stay awake or you might slip into a coma. According to the Marshfield Clinic, it is actually a good thing to get some sleep after a brain injury.
It is still advised to see a doctor after getting a concussion to get a formal evaluation, but if a person can hold a conversation and seems okay the doctor will most likely clear then to get some rest. Just as someone would rest a broken arm, it is important to rest the brain as well.
Football Players
Avid viewers of football games know that there is usually a game every week, unless the team has a bye week. The average concussion cannot fully heal in this short time frame, so many players may be putting themselves at a greater risk by playing before their brain has healed.
It has been found that as a person gets more and more concussions the risk for permanent brain damage increases. The brain is even more vulnerable to further damage if it has not fully recovered from the first concussion.
All players are required to wear helmets during game play, but it is clearly not preventing concussions. There is currently research being done to try and develop new helmets that would better protect the brain.
Concussions are an invisible injury, so they might not seem as serious as they truly are. It is becoming increasingly more obvious that there needs to be more precautions taken by athletes and trainers to protect the brain.

Health

The Real Cost of Addiction

Posted on November 1, 2016 by / 0 Comment

Try and imagine a life where you felt you needed something more than food and shelter. Being an addict is one way that this could become a reality. The compulsion to get their drug of choice can become the most important thing for an addict, even if they are going hungry or lose their homes.
Not only is it expensive for the drug seeker, but this problem also affects the nation. It has been found that more than $700 billion dollars is spent annually to handle this social issue (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2015).
The Impacts on Family
Addiction does not only affect the addict. The families of addicts may face significant problems while trying to help an addict. This disease can cause problems with a family’s mental and physical health, finances, and the family dynamics (National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, 2016).
Family life may be completely overtaken by this problem. Kids may go through scary experiences that make them worry about their parent. Spouses may wonder where all the money for food and bills has gone.
If steps are not taken to solve this disease, it can cause problems for a lifetime. To try and treat an addict there are various options, such as therapy. The use of medications is being investigated, but there needs to be more information about the disease before they can be produced.
The Neurochemistry of Addiction
Drug addicts will experience tolerance, sensitization, and dependence after prolonged use. Scott Philibin and colleagues explain how some of this occurs in an article in the journal of Frontiers in Neuroanatomy. The article explains that there are numerous areas of the brains that are affected by these drugs of abuse.
One of the main points that the researchers make is that drugs of abuse raise the amount of dopamine that is released, which makes the drug more addicting. There are many second messengers and kinases that can be affected as well, but it becomes very complicated at this molecular level.
The researchers of this article performed many experiments using mice to study addiction. One useful technique used was the extinction and reinstatement mouse model. The results from this specific experiment have led to knowledge about recovery and relapse of addicts.
Extinction-Reinstatement Model
For this experiment, mice are taught to self-administer some drug by pushing a lever. The mice will become addicted, and once they are the drug will be taken away. The mice will continue to push the lever, but they will not receive any drug.
This is the extinction phase where the learned association is taken away. Eventually the mice will reach a level of unresponsiveness, and this is when the reinstatement phase begins.
The mice will be given drug cues to see if they revert back to the drug-seeking behavior. If they do, then it is determined that they have relapsed.
Gass and Chandler reviewed a research article in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry that details the use of this method. It was found that the use of pharmacological aids may help the addicted mice refrain from relapse.
Further research is still needed to find further evidence about the use of medications, but the combination of medicine and therapy could be one answer to helping addicts.

Disease/Health

From a One-Time High to a Lifetime Prison: A Journey of Drug Addiction

Posted on November 1, 2016 by / 0 Comment

Drug addiction brings certain images to mind – and they’re not exactly pretty. Strung out, passed out, bad teeth, bloodshot eyes, destroyed veins. It’s part of the stigma of society. Often, our first impression of someone with an addiction is that they got themselves into that situation. But is that always the case? Perhaps not, but whether we believe drug addiction is a result of choice or disease, one thing is clear; addiction is a problem.
How does it start?
They often say certain situations in life can be traced to a single decision. This, I believe, is very much the case with addiction. It is a choice that becomes an addiction.
Today, more than ever before, kids, young adults, really anyone, has greater and easier access to illicit drugs. This increased exposure makes it more difficult to resist temptation. In truth, I’d assume most addictions start out rather innocent. I find it difficult to believe that anyone ever sets out in life to become an addict. Initially, it’s all about the fix. A one-time fix. A one-time high. A temporary escape. But thanks to the damaging effects of such drugs on brain chemistry and physiology, that one-time escape can turn into a lifelong prison.
Even when the drugs don’t have highly addictive properties, a user is still at risk to be set up for addiction. Many dealers these days are lacing drugs with highly addictive substances such as Fentanil or Carfentanil, ensuring that all it takes is one hit and then a person is hooked. Besides this scary thought, the concept of gateway drugs is very much a real thing and not just something parent say to scare their kids off from using marijuana or drinking or smoking. Individuals that participate in this “gateway” drug use become accustomed to the experience of using a drug to feel better, and are more often to look to that same place in the future.
The Dark and Winding Road That Follows
Although it is true that many individuals may use an illicit drug once and not become addicted, for far too many that is not usually the case. In any regards, even if an individual does not become addicted after a one-time use, the effects of that one use can remain with them for years.
Locomotor sensitization can be a result of continued use as well as in some cases, one-time use, although sensitization increases with each successive use of a drug, so continued use presents greater risk. This progressive increase in sensitivity is supported by the alterations we observe in the neural mechanisms that mediate acute locomotor stimulant response. Not only do these mechanisms become increasingly sensitized with each successive drug administration, but this sensitization can remain for long periods of time, even after drug administrations have long ceased. For example, sensitization to classic stimulants such as cocaine, amphetamine, and morphine have been shown to persist for up to 3, 12, and 8 months respectively. These persistent neuroadaptive changes in sensitivity to abused drugs could be a potential explanation for why individuals may relapse even after longer periods of abstinence and presumed recovery.
Preventing the Point of No Return
It would seem that our best option in regards to drug addiction, would be to prevent exposure. While this seems a noble endeavor, it is not one that I see being highly successful. Accordingly, we must look for solutions to the problem elsewhere. Do we treat drug addiction with more drugs? As counterproductive as it may seem, some research shows that this can actually help to restore normal brain chemistry and may in fact be beneficial in some cases.
Perhaps, we can prevent these powerful “drug memories” – that lead to addiction – from forming, or take away the high associated with addiction, essentially taking away the pleasure of ever using to begin with.
These methods all have their own challenges, but seem like viable options to counter the problem of drug addiction, and hopefully, in the future, they can do just that.

Health

Not Your Typical “Shooting Gallery”

Posted on October 31, 2016 by / 0 Comment

When people talk about shooting galleries in the United States, we think of the booth at the carnival where people can pay to shoot rim fire guns (nowadays they use thermographic cameras) at targets that cause some sort of chain reaction and an entertaining result from an animal or light. This entertainment is very different from the entertainment from the so-called “shooting gallery” that was recently opened in France.
This Supervised Drug Injection Site (SCMR), or shooting gallery, is a site where people can go to take drugs. Drug users can come in off of the streets and be given a safer substitute to heroin or crack, and they will be taking the drugs under supervision of medical professionals. These medical professionals cannot intervene in any way unless there is an overdose or the person injecting drugs cannot find a vein. The professionals may not help administer the drugs at all.
Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, believes that this site will help with drug addiction because users “can come here, they can get counselling, they can get assistance, and get guided toward a life that will get them out of these addictions.” It is hoped that the site will also decrease the spread of infection by providing free, sterile needles and decrease the overall number of drug addicts by providing users with safer alternatives to hard drugs and helping them stop using. It is estimated that the facility will help 100-200 drug users daily to safely administer drugs.
Not surprisingly, there are opponents to the SCMR that believe that the site will only increase the number of users and prevent addicts from stopping the use of drugs. The opposition believes that the French government is being hypocritical-saying that people shouldn’t be doing drugs, but at the same time enabling drug users. In addition, they are concerned because they think the neighborhood surrounding the facility will be subject to increased drug-related incidents. Another significant concern is the estimated $1.3 million that will be needed to keep the facility open for one year. However, this is facility is not the first of its kind, and it has been concluded that they have had an overall positive result. There are similar sites in Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain, the first of which was established thirty years ago.
It will probably be some time before something like this takes hold in the United States, but, if they have an overall positive effect, a lot of people could support the plan to help drug users and addicts instead of toss them in jail. It would require a significantly different view on drugs by people that do not use them and much more acceptance of the idea that people are going to use drugs. This type of facility would require people to want to help drug users instead of incarcerate, shame, or isolate them from the rest of society.

Community/Health/Hot topics

The Opiate Epidemic: What It Is and What You Can Do

Posted on October 31, 2016 by / 0 Comment

Fentanyl. Heroin. Overdose. Opiates. Death.
These words have increasingly littered headlines in the Fargo-Moorhead area in the past year, with fentanyl-laced heroin taking the lives of many in our community. How do opiates work, why are they killing people, and what can we do about it?

Opiates in the Brain

Opiates – including heroin and fentanyl, but also prescription painkillers like morphine and hydrocodone – work on opiate receptors in the brain and produce euphoric and analgesic effects.
When the drugs enter the body, they cross the blood brain barrier and enter the brain. The euphoria comes from activating opiate receptors in the part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens, which leads to release of dopamine, causing the “high” characteristic of these drugs.
The potency of the opiate determines the level of the high. Heroin is 2-4 times more potent than morphine, and fentanyl is 25-50 times more potent than heroin! The drugs all bind to opiate receptors in the same way, so the potency is determined by how quickly the drug can cross the blood-brain barrier and bind to the receptors.
People abuse opiates for the high, but euphoria isn’t the only effect. There are opiate receptors all over the brain and body, so other systems of the body are affected. And here, too, the potency of the drug determines the strength of its effect. This is where things get deadly.

Opiates and the Respiratory System

Like I mentioned above, there are opiate receptors all over the body, including the respiratory control center of the brain stem. The opiates bind to their receptors in the brain stem and depress the respiratory center, which can have deadly effects.
When the respiratory center is depressed, it decreases the respiratory rate of the individual and reduces the response to built up carbon dioxide in the body (that feeling when you hold your breath and your chest starts to burn and forces you to breathe). And just like with the euphoria, the effect of this increases from morphine to heroin to fentanyl.
When heroin is laced with fentanyl, like what is happening in the F-M area, people will often take the same amount of the drug, not knowing that it is laced with a much more potent opiate. This leads to depression of the respiratory center that is so extensive that it stops their breathing, and can lead to death if there is not proper intervention.

Opiate Overdose Intervention

What is proper intervention, anyway? First of all, anyone in or near the situation of a suspected overdose should call an ambulance.
In the meantime, proper intervention includes Narcan (also called Naloxone), or CPR, or both. CPR helps to deliver oxygen to the body since the person is not breathing on their own.
Narcan is a treatment that can be administered in a variety of ways and reverses the effects of the opiates. It does this by crossing the blood brain barrier, kicking the opiate off of all the opiate receptors, and preventing it from re-activating them for 30-60 minutes.
In the case of Narcan intervention, it is still crucial that somebody calls an ambulance because the overdose effects can return when the Narcan wears off.
The F-M Good Neighbor Project, located in Moorhead, provides Narcan training regularly for anyone in the F-M area, and will send you home with a Narcan kit for a suggested donation of $20. Their events calendar can be found at their website, http://fmgoodneighborproject.com.

Health

How Science Can Lead to Safer, Less Addictive Narcotics

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Joseph Kennedy / 0 Comment

When initially discovered, purified opioids were an exciting and powerful new tool for managing pain. Yet, despite their undeniable effects at alleviating debilitating pain, opioids have progressively fallen out of favor due to their highly addictive properties and lethal side effects. As a result, scientists are beginning the search for opioid-based molecules that retain the analgesic effects of morphine and oxycodone, but abandon the devastating side effects and addictive properties.
According to the CDC, deaths from prescription opioids have quadrupled since 1999 and killed more than 28,000 people in 2014 alone. Additionally, the October issue of Medical Care cited the economic burden of opioid overdose, abuse, and dependence as 78.5 billion dollars per year. Because new drugs would save lives and relieve a major economic burden, research into alternatives for the common opioids are currently being fast-tracked by the FDA.
Before the search for these alternatives could begin, more knowledge about the specific receptors for opioids was needed and newfound technologies have made this possible. Three main G-protein coupled receptors exist for opioids, signified as μ, δ, and κ. Research now indicates that the pain relief from opioids results from μ-opioid receptor signaling through the inhibitory G protein, G_i. Interestingly, many of the deadly side effects of opioids, such as respiratory depression, arise from a separate β-arrestin pathway that is downstream from the μ-OR activation.

Efforts are now concentrated on discovering an opioid-like drug that retains the analgesic effects of morphine but lacks the respiratory depression. In essence, the scientific community searches for a μ-OR agonist that elicits a response leading to G_isignaling without a subsequent β-arrestin response.
To find such a molecule, researchers have relied on the crystal structures of the μ-opioid receptor and extensive computer modeling. A research team based at Stanford University computationally docked roughly 3 million known chemical compounds to the μ-opioid receptor. After narrowing the list to around 30 compounds, the team then chemically modified the compound to ensure that it interacted properly with conserved amino acid residues in the receptor’s active site. Finally, they arrived at one molecule in particular which they called PZM21.
From what the researchers have observed thus far, PZM21 could be a life saving drug someday. It has no detectable κ-OR response and 500-fold weaker δ-OR agonist activity. That means PZM21 is a selective μ-OR agonist. Most importantly, however, PZM21 has no measurable recruitment of β-arrestin.
In regard to respiratory depression, morphine heavily depressed respiration frequency compared to PZM21. In fact, the effect of PZM21 was nearly indistinguishable from the negative control. Even a new G_i biased opioid called TRV2130, which is currently in stage 3 drug trials, depressed respiration at 15 minutes. Additionally, PZM21’s length of efficacy is 180 minutes, which is even longer than the maximal dose of morphine.
Another promising finding for PZM21 is its low addictive properties. Along with the lethal side effects of opioids, they are also highly addictive due to increased dopaminergic reward responses in the brain. Research has shown that PZM21 has decreased activation of reward circuits compared to current opioids. Mice taking PZM21 also showed reduced preference to a drug chamber versus vehicle chamber following conditioning.
While PZM21 isn’t ready to be used by humans now, its current successes demonstrate the validity of a structural based approach to G protein coupled receptor ligand discovery. Using the knowledge we have about the biochemistry and structural features of the opioid pathway, we can legitimately search for safer and less addictive, yet still effective analgesics. This in itself is a great scientific accomplishment and one that will hopefully save the lives of many people who would otherwise become addicted to our current opioids.

Community/Disease/Health

Addiction: An Illness or a Crime?

Posted on October 26, 2016 by / 0 Comment

According to a recent Human Rights Watch study published in 2013, federal drug offenders in the United States are given an offer they can’t refuse: fight federal drug charges in court and risk getting a sentence thrice as long if you lose, or simply accept a guilty plea deal and serve much less time. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2010, more than half of federal prisoners incarcerated were charged with drug crimes, and the proportion has hovered around 50% ever since. While such mass incarcerations have done little or nothing to alleviate addiction, as suggested by the NIH’s report of a 2.8 fold increase in national overdose deaths between 2001 and 2014. Also troubling, The pro-reform Drug Policy Alliance has estimated that state and local spending on everything from drug-related arrests to prison add up to a total cost of at least $51 billion per year. Furthermore, the NIH also estimates that abuse of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs in the US exacts more than $700 billion annually in costs related to crime, lost work productivity and health care. One cannot help but wonder, is fighting addiction fighting an illness or crime at this point?
As cited by the National Association Of Drug Court Professionals in a recent report, nearly 50% of jail and prison inmates have been diagnosed as clinically addicted to illicit drugs or alcohol, 95% of whom return to drug abuse after release from prison, and 60-80% commit further drug related crimes after their release. These facts then beg the question, are we as a society fighting this epidemic with the right tools: guns, handcuffs, and prisons, or perhaps it is time that we reexamine the fundamental basis of drug abuse and drug related criminal behavior?
The American Society Of Addiction Medicine defines addiction as, “a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry.” Furthermore, they add that, “addiction is characterized by inability to consistently abstain, impairment in behavioral control, craving, diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships, and a dysfunctional emotional response.” In essence, drugs of abuse subdue normal reward-related behavior to uncontrollable drug-seeking and taking by altering dopaminergic neurotransmission (critical for reward) and consequently affecting glutamatergic neurotransmission (critical for reward learning). Complex signal transduction pathways are stimulated by these drugs of addiction, which then affect functional and structural neuroplasticity due to repeated drug exposure, leading to biological characteristics that typify addiction, and behavioral manifestations of the latter.
Now that I have outlined the science and statistics behind addiction, it is imperative to ask the so what question. My response is that it is about damn time that we give our fellow drug addicted Americans the medical attention that they so desperately need. To me, this move is a no brainer, it kills two birds with one stone: we solve the problem or reduce it significantly, and we save ourselves a heck of a lot of tax payer dollars, rather than squander them like the prodigal son did his fortune. To this end, I propose that we reconstruct some prisons to be drug treatment facilities where federal drug offenders are given the medical attention they deserve. Here, they would be subjected to a hospital/rehabilitation like environment that psychologically makes them feel like they are still valuable members of society and not packed away in a permanent cycle of self-destruction. These treatment centers would clinically wean them off their addictions while, as is necessary, keeping them apart from society in until they have been equipped with the skills to be able to stand on their own two feet so to speak. These treatment centers will serve as pit stops of hope and re-socialization, as well as cheaper and far more effective alternatives. What’s your take?

Disease/Health

Addiction as a Brain Disease

Posted on October 25, 2016 by / 0 Comment

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, addiction can be defined as a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. Though many people see addiction as a choice – a voluntary action done to produce a pleasurable feeling– scientific evidence proves that addiction is much more complicated than that.
Though it is true that the initial decision to take a drug is often voluntary, continued use is often not. With continually drug use, a person’s ability to exercise self -control can often become seriously impaired. Brain imaging studies of individuals addicted show extreme physical changes in areas of the brain critical for judgement, decision-making, and learning and memory. Due to these changes, it is incredibly challenging for an individual to stop using drugs. These structural and chemical changes in the brain are also why scientists are beginning to refer to addiction as a brain disease.
Drugs are nothing more than chemicals that disrupt the brain’s normal communication system by influencing the way nerve cells send, receive, and process information. Drugs can do this by either imitating the brain’s natural chemical messengers or by overstimulating the reward circuit of the brain.
For example, take marijuana. The chemical in marijuana, THC, has a similar structure to a naturally produced neurotransmitter in the brain, anandamide. Cannabinoid receptors are normally activated by anandamide, however, due to the similar structure between anandamide and THC, THC can bind to these receptors. This causes aversive side effects on the mind and body, including the memory problems and impaired motor coordinators.
Other drugs though, such as cocaine, cause the nerve cells to release abnormally large amounts of natural neurotransmitters, such a dopamine. Normally, dopamine is release by a neuron in response to a pleasurable signal, and then recycled back into the cell that released it. However, cocaine prevents dopamine from being recycled, causing excess amounts of dopamine to be build up, disrupting normal communication. With repeated use then, cocaine can cause long-term effects in the brains reward pathway ultimately leading to addiction.
From these two examples, it is evident that drugs have extreme influences on the brain’s structure and function, resulting in addiction. However, these examples only touch the very basics of addiction. There are many more complicated concepts that need to be understood to grasp the full picture. So, before passing judgement on individuals with addiction, think back to this reading and do some research of your own. The challenges that these individuals face are much more complicated then they first seem.

Uncategorized

Addiction: A Multi-Faceted Disease

Posted on October 25, 2016 by / 0 Comment

In the state of North Dakota, the number of drug cases submitted to the State Crime Laboratory have increased by 26% from 2013 to 2015. In 2015, alcohol, marijuana, meth, opioids and heroin were the top five substances reported by adults in North Dakota Alcohol and Other Drugs treatment. These statistics from the North Dakota Office of Attorney General depict the increasing rate of individuals criminally caught abusing drugs in this area, and the substances that those individuals are primarily using.
Addiction to substances like these are more common than people may realize. According to the Addiction Center, over 20 million Americans over the age of 12 have an addiction, and that number is excluding tobacco. Reported from the same source, 100 people die every day from drug overdoses, and this rate has tripled over the past 20 years.
All in all, addiction is not well-defined. Most people don’t know that many components of addiction conclude that addiction is a brain disease. Addiction is characterized by habitual use of a substance, despite adverse effects and efforts to stop. This characteristic of addiction is explained by dependence. There are two types of dependence in addiction: physical and psychological.
Physical dependence shows signs of tolerance and withdrawal. Tolerance is the reduced effect of a drug over time. Withdrawal is an experience of drug-opposite symptoms when coming off the drug. These symptoms are categorized as physical dependence, because they illustrate how the body cannot function without the drug, due to neuronal changes.
On the other hand, psychological dependence describes the emotional and cognitive aspects of addiction, including craving and lack of behavioral inhibition. Cravings show the perceived need to use, and it results in compulsive drug behaviors. Lack of behavioral inhibition illustrates a disregard of the consequences of drug-taking. Individuals struggling with addiction experience these two facets of dependence.
The construct of dependence can be explained by investigating brain reward circuitry as a result of drug abuse. A 2011 review article by Philibin, Hernandez, Self, and Bibb explain that addiction is generally characterized by increases of dopamine in the neural projection from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the nucleus accumbens (NAc). More specifically, increased levels of dopamine lead to overactivation of two important second messengers: cAMP and calcium. Both cAMP and calcium contribute to gene transcription, resulting in synaptic remodeling of cognition and motivated behaviors. Studying biological mechanisms helps identify the function of drug addiction.
The behavioral principles of conditioning also provide insight to the discussion of addiction development. Operant conditioning clarifies how drug use turns into addiction and drug abuse due to the reinforcing consequences of drug-taking behaviors.
Positive reinforcement explains how a behavior will become more likely when followed by the presentation of a pleasurable stimulus. The act of taking a drug is positive reinforced in the short-term by the pleasurable effects produced by the drug. Pleasurable effects result in an increased likelihood of taking that drug again.
Negative reinforcement explains how a behavior will become more likely when followed by the removal of an aversive stimulus. The act of taking a drug is negatively reinforced in the long-term by the removal of unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Because taking the drug removes the adverse withdrawal symptoms of the drug, it increases the likelihood of drug-use.
All in all, addiction is difficult to clarify and explain. We do know that it is more prevalent than we realize, especially considering that addictive tendencies can show up in perceivably more harmless ways than drug abuse, like regular coffee drinking, compulsive shopping, overeating, and more. The reality is that addiction is not developed or maintained by one mechanism or one system–it is physical and psychological, biochemical and behavioral.

Community/Disease/Health

Brain Structures and Addiction

Posted on October 24, 2016 by / 0 Comment

Addiction. Most people have run into it, whether it be knowing someone personally, or knowing a friend of a friend who has an addiction problem. If you have never experienced addiction yourself, it may be hard to understand how someone could possibly become so dependent on a substance that it starts to ruin their life.
The neurochemistry mechanisms of the drugs are the center to why addiction can be so potent. Many structures of the brain are involved in addiction. Two of the areas of the brain related to addiction are the frontal cortex and the nucleus accumbens.
According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. It is the dysfunction in many of these reward and motivation pathways that can develop into an addiction. If addiction persists and is not treated, it can go as far as resulting in death due to the pathway dysfunctions in the brain.

The frontal cortex of the brain plays a fundamental role in the circuits of reward and motivation. In addiction, the frontal cortex is responsible for the manifestations of altered impulse control, judgement, and dysfunctional pursuits of rewards. Addiction can especially manifest during early adulthood. This is due to the on going development of the frontal lobe, expanding its connections throughout the brain. When adolescents are exposed to drugs, this can inhibit the morphology of the frontal lobe, contributing to the development of “high risk” behaviors and thus to addiction.

The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is also highly involved in addiction. This is referred to as the brain’s pleasure center. When the neurotransmitter dopamine surges as a drug binds to a receptor in the brain, it proceeds to target the NAc. Addictive drugs provide a “short-cut” for the brain’s reward system due to this surge of dopamine. Through this intensified signaling in the NAc, addiction becomes possible. The pleasure that an individual receives from the signaling is enough for them to want to continuously seek out and fulfill.
These are just two of the brain areas involved in addiction. The process of addiction is much more complicated as the individual pathways are broken down, but knowing just the basics of how addiction forms can be valuable when helping an individual who has developed such a problem.