The Brain Mess That is Drug Addiction
Have you ever wondered what happens to the brain of someone who is addicted to drugs, or why they feel pain when going through withdrawal? When it comes to psyc...
Tag: Dopamine
Addiction Rewires the Brain
Drug use leads to increased dopamine and glutamate, which causes alterations in the reward circuit of the brain, increasing synaptic plasticity, and reinforcing...
The Female Brain’s Secret Shield: Understanding the Female Protective Effect in Autism
The Mysterious Effect Looking at this image you can see a woman holding a large umbrella, shielding her almost completely from the downpour. On the other side, ...
Understanding Dopamine Dysfunction in Autism: A New Window Into Personalized Treatment
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a condition many have heard of but may not fully understand. It is often thought of as a single condition but it is far from i...
Addiction: A choice, a disease, or a different problem altogether
Addiction today is such a common issue, and everyone seems to have a different take. People talk about whether it’s a disease or choice holding to their convict...
Brains Chained by Addiction
The Pandemic of Addiction The statistics surrounding addiction don’t lie, the U.S. has a pandemic on its hands. So what’s the situation? In 2017, we...
Party in the Cleft
Evolutionarily, humans have been wired to perceive feelings of pleasure based on certain stimuli that are associated with survival of the individual or species....
Once Hungry, Forever Eating: The Neurological Impacts of Poor Diet on Obesity
The Obesity Problem According to the CDC, more than 1/3 of adults in the U.S. are obese. Why is this a problem? Why is obesity rising? Could we blame it on Amer...
Dopamine: The Brain’s Pleasure Drug
When we think of drugs, we often think of the adverse effects that can be observed from the outside. Yellow teeth, saggy skin, hair loss are all common signs th...
Addiction: How Drugs Change Lives
From the media to movies to music, drugs are stigmatized as harmless and fun to do. It seems like every time I turn around a new celebrity is getting arr...