Dr. Nora Volkow: New Brain Research Helps Explain Drug Addiction (VIDEO)

Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, has studied the neural pathways of addiction and believes that we've got to protect our brains.

Much of her research and advocacy is focused upon shattering current myths surrounding drug addiction such as:

1. Marijuana is not addictive
2. Prescription medications are always safe
3. You can control your addiction

This cluster of myths can be investigated by focusing on how the brain creates and responds to dopamine.

Dopamine, a neurotransmitter, is a key factor in the addiction process. The way that we produce dopamine, the triggers, and the conditioned responses affect our behaviors and addictions. Not only does dopamine relay the sensation of pleasure but it also motivates our behaviors via expectations.

Contrary to previous theories of addiction, she's found that the sensitivity of the reward centers in the brains of addicts is significantly decreased.

Dr. Nora Volkow's efforts are two-fold: to understand the neural source of addiction and then to educate the public on addiction. Drug Facts is her latest project aimed at educating teens. This site is a conduit between teens and scientists and allows them to send questions directly to experts in an effort to teach facts surrounding drugs and drug abuse.

In the video above, Dr. Volkow explains problems in current addiction treatment and elucidates how we can better understand this chronic disease.

Comments

[flowereater]

04:34 AM on 11/11/2011

Anything and everything that helps us get through and feel good is addictive. Running is addictive since it produces endorphins. So what?

And if myth #1 and myth #2 came out of the same brain, well it just figures.

You would have to be an idiot to believe the "myth" that all prescription drugs are safe. Funny how I missed that myth all these years.

Hundreds of thousands of people die every year from taking their prescription drugs as prescribed. What are the numbers for pot? Oh, zero you say?

[basso]

06:54 PM on 11/07/2011

What are the latest methods for helping out the alcoholic?

[fumes]

11:05 PM on 11/07/2011

stop drinking

[basso]

12:41 AM on 11/08/2011

You're not funny. I'm looking for the latest methods of dealing with the problem for a friend. Idiots like you don't realize or care about this disease.

[Tom Airhart]

09:15 AM on 11/08/2011

Positive peer support groups are by far the most effective.Furthermore, they don't cost a cent. Some men and women go to out patient treatment groups to gain an education about their addiction. Some go in to in-patient treatment centers to get help in a very closely supervised environment. Positive peer support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous have been working since the mid 1920's and millions and millions of alcoholics have achieved very happy sobriety there. As for the latest methods, there is no magic bullet.

[flowereater]

04:39 AM on 11/11/2011

There was actually a group called something like the Washingtonians in the nineteenth century that was secular and began as more and more people were succumbing to alcoholism. It was very successful and turned around many lives. The group eventually fell apart because naysayers felt that it didn't have enough god in it. Seriously.

[PCFree]

01:36 PM on 11/07/2011

You cannot "cure" addictions when addiction to endorphins is how the brain operates. All you can do is replace the dysfunctional behavior, that which releases the endorphins you are addicted to, and replace it with a behavior that is functional and still gives the same endorphin "high."

[PCFree]

01:32 PM on 11/07/2011

The cells in the brain function by being addicted to Dopamine, Nor-epinephrine and Serotonin. The cells initiate whatever behavior is needed to get their endorphins. Judgement has nothing to do with cellular communication. These three endorphins are "rewards" that get a cell to pay attention to the information being presented by another cell. Endorphins act like an opiate on the brain cells.
She said Dopamine activates the limbic system. That is also not true. Nor-epinephrine is the endorphine that activates the limbic (emotional) system.
She is also wwrong about what tells us we are no longer hungry. It is Serotonin that triggers this feeling. As we developed a frontal cortex that human's use to compare "memories", Serotonin was used by our evolution to reward cells for doing this analytical processing. That is why someone who is bored will eat.

[PCFree]

01:25 PM on 11/07/2011

drugs do not cause the release of Dopamine. That has been proven false back in the '80s. It blocks the reset (reuptake) mechanism.
This woman is addicted to Serotonin which is the neurological reward for Serotonin reception...thinking.
Cellular biology shows a totally different picture of how cells communicate. She comes from a psychology background. She looks down into the brain while cellular biologists start at the cell and looks up.
Funny, she even states that cocaine releases Dopamine. I have tons of research papers from peer reviewed journals says different.

[fumes]

02:24 PM on 11/07/2011

F/F..

good posts all.

say PCFree..

what's your take..

on what a thought is?

[PCFree]

02:42 PM on 11/07/2011

There are three cortical feedback loops in the brain. These are loops where the brain "talks" to itself. The first loop processes sensory information coming into the brain. It compares the information to patterns already in the brain. The second loop goes through the limbic system. This is where the information is compared to other emotional responses. The third cortical feedback loop takes what is already in the brain and makes connections between the patterns. It doesn't deal with any information coming in from the outside. It only compares what is already stored.
The complexities of this processing has risen to a level of self awareness that has given us a "voice" inside. That is conscious thought. Unconscious thought may be triggered by random firings but personally, I think there is an external "spiritual source" that guide these firings. (Shhh! Don't tell a scientist that I said that!)

[IamChicago]

12:24 PM on 11/07/2011

Nuro bio feedback using intense pulsating or electronic controlled simulation.....

1st. A study of the brain to target critical areas.
2nd A managed program to retrain the brain.
3rd Follow up

My son is ADHD (severe) 6 years on Adderall to the point that we were doping him to sleep at night and doping him twice a day.

At 12 years old his growth was stunted, he was not going into puberty nor maturing mentally.

I took him to U of Irvine.....Drake - in a year of intense therapy....off drugs ...shot up ....

41/2 years later...he now still does boosters....with a new software program...faster and effective.

He is 6 foot, doing very well, and is a big advocate of this therapy vs drugs.......

[fumes]

12:48 PM on 11/07/2011

"My son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 6," a Grass Valley, Calif., woman who wished to remain anonymous told Sphere. "He was hyperactive and had trouble in school, but we didn't want to put him on Ritalin. Too many side effects. When he got to high school, I suddenly noticed that he'd calmed and could concentrate. I couldn't figure it out. Then he told me that he'd started smoking pot."

"I'd have no hesitation of giving a youngster with ADHD a trial of oral marijuana," said Lester Grinspoon, emeritus professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the author of "Marihuana: The Forbidden Medicine."

"For some kids, it appears to be more effective than traditional treatments. And marijuana certainly has fewer potential dangers than Ritalin."
http://www.aolnews.com/2009/11/24/marijuana-prescribed-to-kids-with-adhd/

[dimik72]

12:13 PM on 11/07/2011

She is invested in the NIDA model of addiction (the one that is federally funded and links well with the war on drugs). That model wants the drug to be the agent of addiction. The person is always weak and always certain to be addicted. There is nothing new she brings to the table. There is serious research challenging this kind of work that has been out since forever. Just follow Bruce Alexander's work on the issue from the late 70s early 80s:

http://globalizationofaddiction.ca/articles-speeches/rat-park.html

and have a look at the relevant wiki entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park

There is also a video but I cannot access it in Canada to post it. Google it.

All his conclusions have been more or less confirmed by others in other institutions over the years. What people do not like are the social implications of what he proposes (BTW I am not sure I agree with what he proposes myself, but what he suggests regarding the current consensus as presented by NIDA and her spokesperson is to the point).

That is not to say that drugs are not to varying degrees addictive (and here I count Chocolate, coffee, nicotine, alcohol, and so on). What Alexander will argue is that addiction matters only once someone ceases to be able to be socially integrated and will explain that the reasons for that are very frequently non-brain or drug related.

[John Edwardz]

11:50 AM on 11/07/2011

Contemporary designer pot has a sky-high THC content and is more akin to the LSD of the 60's than the pot of of the 60's. To suggest there are no deleterious effects, especially to regular uses is to live in denial. Non-users may or may not overestimate the drug's effects, but users always underestimate its harmful side. If nothing else sucking unfiltered unprocessed leaves into your lungs in giant tokes and holding it for as long as you can does more damage than a pack of cigarettes. Sorry. Regular THC use is also linked to a host of mental and physical issues. Psychotic episodes are often triggered by pot in those prone to them. Also, cannabis use tends to abort anger and wish to rebel. (pressing the like button aint the same as action folks) Why do you think it's so cheap, so easy to get and so potent? Governments don't want it gone. Can you not see they could make it much much harder and more dangerous to obtain if they wanted to? In older cultures cannabis use (including hashish) was tolerated among the lowest laborer classes since, after all, dreams were all they had.

[fumes]

12:18 PM on 11/07/2011

LOL..

you don't smoke do you

[Jackalheadedgod]

12:35 PM on 11/07/2011

Channeling Harry Anslinger, haw haw. You have no idea what you are talking about.

Cheers,
Jack

[lightbulb10]

11:37 AM on 11/07/2011

Thank you!

I will have to watch/read the rest later!

[LoriAnn]

11:24 AM on 11/07/2011

Listened to this uber intelligent woman on Charlie Rose. She and several collegues were discussing what is known of the brain and it was so interesting!! Hearing collective genius talk of their specialties is like eating a beautiful layer cake !! Brain Candy !!

[Tom Airhart]

09:22 AM on 11/08/2011

Agreed one hundred percent.

[fumes]

11:25 AM on 11/07/2011

i'm hooked on fun..

i've tried to quit on many occasions..

but can't quite

[Tom Airhart]

09:24 AM on 11/08/2011

Then you don't want to quit.

[Lisa Frederiksen]

11:18 AM on 11/07/2011

This is an excellent series of videos. Dr. Volkow has an amazing ability to "translate" complicated research in a way that's easily understood. Her research is proving very helpful to the drug addicts, alcoholics, teens AND family members with whom I work, primarily because it helps them understand that substance abuse causes chemical and structural changes in the brain and that addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease. With this information, they better understand that stopping substance abuse and recovering from an addiction require different "treatments" but treatments to heal (re-wire) the brain nonetheless.

[formeralkie]

11:59 PM on 11/24/2011

well said Lisa...thank God someone here has a right perspective

[jackwaddington]

11:07 AM on 11/07/2011

What a load of BS. Addiction is very simple; you can only get addicted to painkillers whether behavior or ingestion. All this academia BS just complicates matters.

Cannabis (marijuana) IS NOT ADDICTIVE. It is a feeling enhancing drug as is LSD (Lysergic Acid) and peyote (mushrooms). The king painkiller is heroine, BUT governments and academics based on MIR studies of the brain are all way off the mark.

These two drugs (heroine & cannabis could replace 90% of the drugs produced by the pharmaceutical industry by NUEROTIC politicians, scientists and academic institutions; who can't get their heads round all this. Too simple for them; they need complication to keep the rest of peons, fooled by their assumed 'cleverness'. They are bull-@#5tters.

Jack Waddington

[PCFree]

02:05 PM on 11/07/2011

Actually, there is a reason the slang term for Heroin is "junk." After all the useful medications are derived from the opium poppy paste, the junk left over is Heroin. The name was coined by Bayer pharmaceuticals years ago.

[bungerman]

02:59 PM on 11/07/2011

"heroine & cannabis could replace 90% of the drugs produce"

Seriously? Put down the joint and read that statement again. Please tell me how either of those could help with cancer treatments, HIV treatments, cholesterol, acid reflux, blood pressure etc etc etc?

Pain? Yes. A multitude of other things? Not a chance. Being too stoned to not care if you have cancer won't help make it go away.

[d-Bus]

11:07 AM on 11/07/2011

Is this a "paid promotional announcement?"

It says: "Dr. Nora Volkow's efforts are two-fold: to understand the neural source of addiction and then to educate the public on addiction. Drug Facts is her latest project aimed at educating teens."

Why is she starting on the second before finishing up on the first?

[lightbulb10]

11:41 AM on 11/07/2011

Well... we don't cure cancer with one shot of medicine, or vaccinate against HIV... does that mean we shouldn't best apply remedies as we advance them?

[Trogo]

11:56 AM on 11/07/2011

Except their "drug facts" aren't facts. It is manipulated data to fit their paradigm. That is significantly different than trying to treat cancer while studying it The current remedies, as has been for a long time, is misinformation and criminalization. That is not progress.

[Unrepentantliberal]

10:54 AM on 11/07/2011

What I would be interested in them researching is how addicts, when they are in the throws of their addiction, can live in such a state of total denial that their lives are not a complete and dysfunctional disaster.

My alcoholic sister got busted at work drunk at four times the legal limit if she were driving. How did she not consider this a problem?

[ultrabop]

11:30 AM on 11/07/2011

She talks about that in the video. Dopamine center of the brain short circuits your ability to think rationally.

[PCFree]

02:09 PM on 11/07/2011

Actually, that is wrong. What happens is that brain cells are addicted to Dopamine and can't get enough of it. Without enough, the feeling of angst (some call it depression) results and alcohol numbs/anesthetizes the brain. Dopamine functions throughout the brain. It signals sensory information in the brain. Just like nor-epinephrine signals emotional responses and Serotonin both signals mental processing, but also a more primitive function is to tell the brain when we are full. Thus people who are bored easily (not enough to think about) will eat to get the same Serotonin "high."

[mymatrix]

12:06 AM on 11/08/2011

Addiction is a disease because after you go from experimentation to use to abuse, then into addiction, between abuse and addiction, the brain is altered, damaged. An addict/alcoholic, needs a long period of time away from the substance to regain normal brain function and usually, a lot of support and RElearning to prevent relapse. Denial is a flat out symptom of how the brain has been damaged.
Think of other diseases and how they effect the brain.