The Biology of Addiction

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The Biology of Addiction

• By Dr. Springer
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln

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What is Drug Addiction?

• NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) defines
  addiction as a chronic relapsing brain disease
  that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking
  and use, despite harmful consequences.
• It is considered a brain disease because drugs
  change the brain Its structure and how it works,
  forever!

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Why do people take drugs?

• To feel good
• To feel better
• To do better
• Curiosity (Everyones doing it)

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Peers and School

• Environmental factor
• Shy or aggressive classroom behavior
• Poor school performance
• Poor social coping skills
• Affiliation with deviant peers
• Perceptions of approval of drug-abusing behaviors
  in environment (school, peers, home)

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Addiction and the Brain

• Addiction is a developmental disease that
  typically begins in childhood.
• Prefrontal cortex affects regulation, emotional
  control, sound decision-making, higher level
  thinking.
• Develops rapidly during adolescence
• Substances interfere with normal development of
  this area

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Healthy Brain Development
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3 Areas affected by drug abuse

• 1- Brain Stem Controls functions critical to
  life.
• I.e. heart rate, breathing
• 2- Limbic System The brains reward circuit.
• It is highly implicated by emotions
• 3- Cerebral Cortex Controls specific functions.
  It enables us to see, feel, hear, and taste. The
  frontal cortex is the reasoning center of the
  brain.

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Drugs decrease brain function
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How do drugs affect the brain?

• Drugs tap into the brains communication system
  and interfere with the way neurons normally send,
  receive and process info.
• All drugs of abuse directly/indirectly target the
  brains reward system by flooding the circuit
  with Dopamine.
• Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that indirectly
  regulates emotion, cognition, and pleasure.

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Drugs and Addiction

• Our brains are hard-wired to appreciate and to
  pursue natural rewards because of their critical
  survival value.
• Drugs activate the same circuits that motivate
  eating and sexual behavior.
• Eventually cravings for the drugs can exceed
  those for food or sex.

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Drugs vs. Natural Rewards

• When drugs are taken, they release 2-10 times the
  amount of dopamine that natural rewards do!
• This overwhelms the reward circuit in the brain
  as well as changes brain function.
• This results in the brain trying to get back to
  its natural levels, and thus stops producing
  and/or receiving dopamine (the crash).

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Other changes in the brain

• Chronic exposure to drugs disrupts the way
  critical brain structures interact to control
  behavior.
• In other words, drug addiction erodes a persons
  self-control and ability to make sound decisions.

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Diseased Brain Heart

• Addiction is similar to other diseases such as
  heart disease.
• Both disrupt the normal, healthy functioning of
  the underlying organ, have serious consequences,
  are preventable, treatable, and if left
  untreated, can last a lifetime.

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The Three Cs of Addiction

• Compulsion Obsession with alcohol and/or drugs
• Control Inability to stop using
• Consequences Continue to use despite adverse
  consequences

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Meth Abuser Brain Imaging
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Proactive Factors

• Strong/positive family bonds
• Parental monitoring of childrens activities
• Clear rules consistently enforced
• Success in school
• Bond with an institution (church)
• Understanding conventional norms about abuse