1. Addiction
I’ve never met a person who said they wish they had tried drugs and alcohol sooner…

2. Addiction
Addiction is the repetitive, compulsive use of a substance despite negative consequences to the user
Addiction = Psychological Dependence
Use of herion/cocaine is illegal, but not everyone who uses these substances is addicted to them.
Addiction is also not a physical dependence (coffee users and headaches) –Physical dependence, but not addicted

3. Addiction
Addictive drugs initially activate circuits in the brain that respond to normal pleasures, like food and sex. Every brain has these circuits, so every human could potentially become addicted to a drug.
Food: If a person loves a pastry, he will go to the bakery again because the food tasted good. The good tasting food is a reinforcer b/c it increases the likelihood that the person will engage in the same behavior. Reward pathway:
This reward pathway can become damaged (hungry animals won’t eat even when hungry)
Addictive drugs are reinforcers

4. Addiction
Drugs taking persists for many reasons, including changes in the brain, the desire to experience pleasure from the drug, and the desire to avoid the discomfort of withdrawal.
Cocaine, morphine, nicotine, cannabinoids, or alcohol will cause large increases in dopamine in the same area of the brain in which sex causes a rise.
The Dark Side: Pain, not Pleasure- avoiding the unpleasant feeling (chills, runny nose, diarrhea, aches, etc) of withdrawal.
Cucumber into a Pickle Analogy
50% drink of adult population, of these,10% drink heavily, 5% engage in addictive patterns.
Simplest Explanation- daily stimulation by addictive drugs, the reward sytem comes to expect the artificial stimulus.

5. Addiction
Many different factors in the life of an individual, such as family history, personality, mental health, social and physical environment, and life experience, play a role in the development of addiction.

6. Neurotransmitters
Neurotransmitters are the chemicals which allow the transmission of signals from one neuron to the next across synapses.
Endorphins Norepinephrine
Serotonin Gaba
Dopamine
Acetylcholine

7. So, why do drugs feel so good?
Your Brain equates these chemicals with survival

8. Helped your ancestors get help when injured
Helped your ancestors get help when injured. Endorphins are what make you feel good after you exercise, and have put your body through physical stress

9. Our brain equates attention with survival because we are born helpless
Our brain equates attention with survival because we are born helpless. We become more self-reliant over time, but those early brain circuits are always there!

10. Oxytocin gives you a good feeling when you’re with someone you trust.

11. Your ancestors felt the joy of dopamine when they found a new berry patch, or a fishing hole. So, when they saw another berry patch, dopamine would be released in the brain.

12. Food
Food is essential to survival, and dopamine is released when we eat!

13. Sex
Natural rewards increase dopamine neurotransmission. This basic mechanism has been carefully shaped and calibrated by evolution to reward normal activities critical for survival.

14. Effects of Drugs on Dopamine Release
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Time After Amphetamine
% of Basal Release DA
DOPAC
HVA
Accumbens
AMPHETAMINE
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Time After Cocaine
% of Basal Release DA
DOPAC
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COCAINE
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Time After Nicotine
% of Basal Release
Accumbens
Caudate
NICOTINE
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Time After Morphine
% of Basal Release
Accumbens
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2.5 10
Dose (mg/kg)
MORPHINE
Drugs of abuse increase dopamine neurotransmission. All the drugs depicted in this slide have different mechanisms of action; however, all increase activity in the reward pathway by increasing dopamine neurotransmission. Because drugs activate these brain regionsusually more effectively than natural rewardsthey have an inherent risk of being abused.
Di Chiara and Imperato, PNAS, 1988

15. Activity Choose a neurotransmitter and create a 4-6 block comic describing your neurotransmitter and explaining it’s effects on an individual.