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Tag: Brain

  • The brain-addiction connection: Alcohol use affects almost everything

    With statistics showing that at least 50% of adults in the US are regular alcohol drinkers (drinkers who have consumed 12 drinks or more in the past year¹), alcohol clearly remains the drug of choice for most Americans. While moderate alcohol use is not deemed dangerous, and is likely even healthy², it is nevertheless still…

  • Alcohol – Blackouts, Brownouts and how they affect your body

    Do you remember what you did last night? Have you ever not remembered what you did after drinking? Drinking alcohol affects the brain and can cause lasting damage including, but not limited to, slips in memory. These memory slips can be due to lack of blood flow to brain areas that are important for memory…

  • About Addiction: DUI, Psychedelics, Smoke, and the Brain!

    You know it and love it – here is our weekly post about addiction research, news, and more interesting tidbits from the wonderful world of the internet. I guarantee you’ll know more about addiction, drugs, and the brain, after reading it! DUI because you think you’re sober? Check your BAC Science Daily– A study found that…

  • Is the drinking age getting lower and lower? Teenage alcoholism

    We’ve already mentioned that kids tend to get in quite a bit of trouble during their teen years (see here). Well, adolescence is also a time when the brain is developing and therefore is at a high risk for damage, especially when alcohol abuse enters the picture. Early use means more alcoholism later While the…

  • Physical addiction or psychological addiction – Is there a real difference?

    This is another one of the basic questions I get regarding addiction. It seems that people think about physical addiction and psychological addiction as somehow separate processes. I think this distinction makes no sense. Even if people really meant what they were saying, the brain is undoubtedly part of the body, and therefore, psychological addictions…

  • Addiction stories – Anonymous no more: Sarah’s recovery is no secret

    In case you haven’t noticed, I can’t stand the stigma I’m supposed to carry around as a recovered addict. People expect me to steal from them, or pull out a gun, or maybe just smoke some crystal meth at the dinner table. But guess what, I haven’t been that guy for almost 10 years now,…

  • About Addiction: Drug use and crime, increasing marijuana use, cravings and brain function

    Check out the newest links about addiction. Leave us your feedback! Drug use & Crime Huffington Post: Over 5,000 lives were taken in drug related crimes in Mexico in the past year. Drug trade related violence is linked directly to the rising levels of drug use worldwide. Marijuana use Bloomberg Businessweek: For the first time…

  • Addicts’ brains depressed but normal users… normal.

    A paper that’s about to be published in the journal Science has found at least part of the difference between the brains of addicted individuals and those that use recreationally. The question as to why only some people get addicted to drugs has been a difficult one to answer. Still, there’s no doubt that only…

  • The brain after cocaine – White matter damage and addiction treatment

    The brain damage left behind after long-term cocaine use can apparently tell us quite a bit about how well a cocaine addict will do in addiction treatment – as long as we assess the right kind of damage. Different kinds of brain matter I’ve talked before about the fact that use of cocaine, and other…

  • Obesity, drug addiction, and dopamine

    Eating junk-food can be addictive, and apparently, it causes brain changes that look eerily similar to drug addiction. That’s the message not only from the rapidly fattening waistlines of Americans everywhere, but also from the Johnson and Kenny labs at the Scripps Institute. Food and drug addiction The idea that obesity is caused by a…