In the article Addiction: Pay Attention, the author, Kathleen McGowan, introduces us to Nora Volkow. Volkow is currently one of the country's most well-known drug addiction researchers and discusses how and why she became interested in this area of research and where it has led her.
According to Volkow, her neurobiology is such that she has a natural protection against drugs. When she tried a cigarette for the first time to be glamorous, she felt rebelled to hate it. Even though she loves coffee, the effects on her body are too much for her. She is very lucky as not all individuals possess this trait. She holds many addiction theories, but most interestingly, her idea that addiction may be a malfunction of the normal human craving for stimulation seems to fit with the topic of discussion in Chapter 3. She believes that drugs and other addictive behaviors tap into a deep place within us -"our lust for newness, our yearning for vitality, and the deep-thrill of being alive." We all want these things, and once we have had a taste of it, we want more. There is something very powerful about it.
Dopamine is being viewed differently in this part of the science world as what we believe to be the "pleasure switch" to the brain does not align well with addictions to drugs like cocaine and nicotine. Very few addicts will say that they want to be addicted, and Volkow was dissatisfied with the contradiction. Researchers are looking further into what dopamine actually does--it makes us feel good but it also tells us what is salient. We need these moments to pick up additional cues or alerts that will continue our survival. The example given within the article is "if you are hungry and you get a whiff of a bacon cheeseburger your dopamine skyrockets. But the chemical will also surge if a lion leaps into your cubicle. Dopamine's role is to shout: "Hey! Pay attention to this!""
Perhaps addicts are not simply seeking a good time but have mistakenly learned that the most important thing to be aware of is drugs--just as important to their survival as food or sex. If Volkow and her researchers are correct, the role of dopamine may be to unite us with the world and provide the will to remain alive. In an addict's brain, what is salient is the drug and nothing competes with that. The brain adapts to the flood of dopamine as time passes by dampening the system--in other words, what would highly stimulate us may not do much or anything at all for the addict.
The article also discusses obesity and how it malfunctions the dopamine system. The heaviest people in the study performed had fewer dopamine receptors than the lightest. "Like addicts, overeaters may be compensating for a sluggish dopamine system by turning to the one thing that gets their neurons pumping."
I would encourage you to read the article summarized above. The information is quite interesting and directly relates to our discussions related to dopamine and addictions in class.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200411/addiction-pay-attention
Leave a comment