Kathleen Holderer, Freshman
Addiction is not a moral failure, a character flaw, or a simple lack of willpower. Modern neuroscience has established that addiction, or substance use disorder, is a chronic, relapsing brain disease that fundamentally alters the brain’s structure and function. To understand the complexity of addiction, it is important to understand the neuroscience of addiction, the risk factors, and the ways the brain can recover from addiction.
At the heart of addiction’s impact on the brain is the major disruption to the brain’s reward system, specifically the flood of dopamine in the basal ganglia.
The basal ganglia are a group of subcortical nuclei located deep within the brain’s cerebral hemispheres, acting as a critical control center for motor, cognitive, and emotional functions. They modulate voluntary movement, facilitate habits, and manage behavioral rewards, primarily by initiating or inhibiting movement pathways.
While natural rewards like food or social interaction produce manageable levels of this chemical, addictive substances overwhelm the circuit, ‘hijacking’ the brain’s ability to perceive pleasure from anything else.
Addiction also affects the extended amygdala, the prefrontal cortex, the hippocampus, and the brain stem.
The extended amygdala is basically the stress center of the brain. It is responsible for the feelings of stress, anxiety, irritability, and unease. This area in the brain becomes highly sensitive during withdrawal. Increased activity here drives the compulsion to use substances to relieve these negative emotions, rather than to get high.
The prefrontal cortex is also known as the executive center. This region is responsible for executive functions, including decision making, planning, self-control, and impulse regulation. Addiction weakens the connections between the prefrontal cortex and the basal ganglia, impairing a person’s ability to resist impulses and make rational decisions.
The hippocampus is the brain region that stores memories of the “high” and environmental cues (people/places) associated with the substance, which can trigger intense cravings.
The last part of the brain that is affected is the brain stem. This area controls automatic, life-sustaining functions such as heart rate, sleeping, and breathing. Some drugs can cause dangerous suppression of breathing in this area, leading to overdose.
Risk Factors
While the causes of addiction are multifaceted, several key risk factors significantly increase a person’s vulnerability to developing a substance use disorder.
These risk factors include worsening mental health conditions, physical withdrawal, organ damage, disease, impaired brain function, and increased suicide risk.
Recovery
Although addiction seems to be a permanent suffering, there are certainly some ways to help improve it. These ways include therapy, medication, healthy lifestyle changes, setting boundaries, and most importantly, being patient.
Helping with addiction is like nurturing a wounded ecosystem, requiring patience, care, and the right conditions for healing.
Overall, addiction is not being weak; it is a disease that many suffer from. Addiction has many different risk factors that can put anyone suffering from addiction at risk in more ways than one. Although it may seem like once you start, there is no going back. But there is always the ability to help grow and repair the brain from addiction; it just takes time.
Sources:
https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/addiction-science/drugs-brain-behavior-science-of-addiction https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/drugs-brain
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