new article in Time magazine
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Join Date: Feb 2007
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new article in Time magazine
The July 16th issue of TIME magazine (Vol. 170, No. 3) has on its cover the feature story of "How We Get Addicted." (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...640436,00.html)
The article, called "The Science of Addiction," focused on what happens in the brains of alcoholics and drug addicts (and lightly touches on other addictions such as compulsive eating, gambling, and shopping) - and for anyone interested, I have summed it up with a few major points and some quotes from the article.
- The National Institution on Drug Abuse (NIDA) defines addictions as repetitive behaviors in the face of negative consequences, the desire to continue something you know is bad for you.
- "When exposed to drugs, our memory systems, reward circuits, decision-making skills and conditioning kick in - salience in overdrive - to create an all consuming pattern of uncontrollable craving." Some people have a genetic predisposition, but anyone can become an addict if sufficiently exposed to drugs or alcohol.
- Research has shown that "pathologically obese people who are compulsive eaters exhibit hyperactivity in the areas of the brain that process food stimuli - including the mouth, lips, and tongue. For them, activating these regions is like opening the floodgates to the pleasure center."
- "Not everyone becomes an addict because we have other, more analytical regions that can evaluate consequences and override mere pleasure seeking." In research involving meth addicts in rehab, "those who were more likely to relapse in the first year after completing the program were also less able to complete tasks involving cognitive skills and less able to adjust to new rules quickly. This suggested that those patients might also be less adept at using analytical areas of the brain while performing decision-making tasks... Brain scans showed that there were reduced levels of activation in the prefrontal cortex, where rational thought can override impulsive behavior."
- "Just as there are two ways of stopping a speeding car - by easing off the gas or hitting the brake pedal - there are two different possibilities for muting addiction. If dopamine receptors are the gas, the brain's own inhibitory systems act as the brakes. In addicts, this natural damping circuit, called GABA, appears to be faulty. Without a proper chemical check on excitatory messages set off by the drugs, the brain never appreciates that it's been satiated."
- Vigabatrin (an anti-epilepsy treatment not yet marketed in the U.S.) is an effective GABA booster. In animals, vigabatrin has been found to "prevent the breakdown of GABA so that more of the inhibitory compound can be stored in whole form in nerve cells. That way, more of it could be released when those cells are activated by a hit from a drug."
- Animal studies have shown that stress can increase the desire for drugs. Stress can alter the way the brain thinks in humans, "particularly the way it contemplates the consequences of actions" - "The part of the prefrontal cortex that is involved in deliberative cognition is shut down by stress... it's even more inhibited in substance abusers."
- More research is also supporting the 90-day rehab model - this is how long it takes for the brain to reset itself and shake off the influence of a drug... proper decision making and analytical functionings in the prefrontal cortex reemerge after this time period.
They're also suggesting a "cure" could be possible down the road.
The article, called "The Science of Addiction," focused on what happens in the brains of alcoholics and drug addicts (and lightly touches on other addictions such as compulsive eating, gambling, and shopping) - and for anyone interested, I have summed it up with a few major points and some quotes from the article.
- The National Institution on Drug Abuse (NIDA) defines addictions as repetitive behaviors in the face of negative consequences, the desire to continue something you know is bad for you.
- "When exposed to drugs, our memory systems, reward circuits, decision-making skills and conditioning kick in - salience in overdrive - to create an all consuming pattern of uncontrollable craving." Some people have a genetic predisposition, but anyone can become an addict if sufficiently exposed to drugs or alcohol.
- Research has shown that "pathologically obese people who are compulsive eaters exhibit hyperactivity in the areas of the brain that process food stimuli - including the mouth, lips, and tongue. For them, activating these regions is like opening the floodgates to the pleasure center."
- "Not everyone becomes an addict because we have other, more analytical regions that can evaluate consequences and override mere pleasure seeking." In research involving meth addicts in rehab, "those who were more likely to relapse in the first year after completing the program were also less able to complete tasks involving cognitive skills and less able to adjust to new rules quickly. This suggested that those patients might also be less adept at using analytical areas of the brain while performing decision-making tasks... Brain scans showed that there were reduced levels of activation in the prefrontal cortex, where rational thought can override impulsive behavior."
- "Just as there are two ways of stopping a speeding car - by easing off the gas or hitting the brake pedal - there are two different possibilities for muting addiction. If dopamine receptors are the gas, the brain's own inhibitory systems act as the brakes. In addicts, this natural damping circuit, called GABA, appears to be faulty. Without a proper chemical check on excitatory messages set off by the drugs, the brain never appreciates that it's been satiated."
- Vigabatrin (an anti-epilepsy treatment not yet marketed in the U.S.) is an effective GABA booster. In animals, vigabatrin has been found to "prevent the breakdown of GABA so that more of the inhibitory compound can be stored in whole form in nerve cells. That way, more of it could be released when those cells are activated by a hit from a drug."
- Animal studies have shown that stress can increase the desire for drugs. Stress can alter the way the brain thinks in humans, "particularly the way it contemplates the consequences of actions" - "The part of the prefrontal cortex that is involved in deliberative cognition is shut down by stress... it's even more inhibited in substance abusers."
- More research is also supporting the 90-day rehab model - this is how long it takes for the brain to reset itself and shake off the influence of a drug... proper decision making and analytical functionings in the prefrontal cortex reemerge after this time period.
They're also suggesting a "cure" could be possible down the road.
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 4
A very good article, thanks for the main points. I would agree stress frm everyday life is often what makes any addiction worse. Addicts need help making their life less stressful in order to succeed. I myself work in a drug rehab clinic and this seems to be the main reason for addiction.
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Join Date: Aug 2002
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I read that article while sitting in the waiting room of my doctor's office. I thought it was well done, giving the science behind addiction. I also appreciated how it was presented, much like previous articles they have done on various cancers etc. To me it gave validity to the fact that addiction is a DISEASE. Maybe, for some skeptics, the fact that it was stated in TIME Magazine will make that true for them.
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