Flipping the brain's addiction switch without drugs

[steven johnson]

Addictive drugs and behaviors highjack normal brain chemistry to create repetitive behaviors. Scientists are homing in on this process.

May 28th, 2009

When someone becomes dependent on drugs or alcohol, the brain's pleasure center gets hijacked, disrupting the normal functioning of its reward circuitry.

Researchers investigating this addiction "switch" have now implicated a naturally occurring protein, a dose of which allowed them to get rats hooked with no drugs at all.

The Toronto team noted that a single injection of BDNF made rats behave as though they were dependent on opiates (which they had never received). Though rats instinctively prefer certain smells, lighting and texture, these rats left their comfort zone in search of a fix.

The BYU team confirmed that the protein is a critical regulator of drug dependency. After the BDNF injection, specific chemicals that normally inhibit neurons in this part of the brain instead excited them, a "switch" known to occur when people become dependent on drugs.


Flipping the brain's addiction switch without drugs

[Triana]

1. very interesting.

Thanks!

[imdjh]

2. I aged out of it.

I pretty much did it all. Youth, beauty, and charm can only carry you so far. I partied, I did rehab, therapy, various group dynamics, partied here and there, and then when I turned 32 that was it. It stopped being fun and I stopped being a mess. Now I rarely even have a drink, and when I do I can feel it the next day. I don't like the feeling of inebriation or altered states any more. Besides, when you are messed up, you're an unreliable son, father, uncle, brother, friend, business associate.

[parasim]

4. Good for you. Congratulations.

But I don't think that everyone's chemistry works quite the same as yours and addiction can affect many people that also revere the concept of being a good father, son, etc.

Hopefully, this research will give hope to those more susceptible to addiction as opposed to giving the pharmaceutical, alcohol and tobacco industries ideas to make their products even more addicting.

[imdjh]

6. Might be the same or similar thing, though.

Maybe I had some kind of chemical shift. It certainly felt like it. If you are a recovering alcoholic and haven't had a drink in 20 years, then how would you know if your body has changed? I'm certainly not suggesting that a person find out. I also left out a lot of the experimentation and ill effects that I had along the learning process. I'm lucky I didn't do more damage, and it's truly "but for the grace of god" that I didn't accidentally do something that couldn't be undone.

When I say experiments, I mean experiments. I was particularly fascinated with the state of being blacked out and wide awake. I took measured doses and made written notes. All of this was after rehab because I found the accepted understandings to be unacceptable. I also thought I might find another way which I could sell. Mostly what I found out was that it wasn't worth it. If I had it all to do over again, I probably would have quit the first time I went to an AA meeting at about age 22. But I don't dwell on what might have been.

[parasim]

7. Even more a reason to say congratulations.

Seriously, it sounds like you have found a way to beat the addictions and continue to succeed with it. The fact that you regulated your intake and documented it says a lot. You really took on your addictions and overcame them. That's awesome!

[truedelphi]

8. You might find the following joke applicable:

"What is the difference between an alchoholic and a drunk?"


Answer THE DRUNK DOESN'T have to attend all those goddamn meetings!

[tridim]

3. I wonder if this protein is already in our junk food?

[parasim]

5. I would not be surprised. nt

[truedelphi]

9. I don't knowif it needs to be.

Junk food contains high levels of MSG, which can trigger depression in people.

So then they start to self medicate.

So it turns out that it is not surprising that meth amphetamine is all the rage. As an upper sought out by those who have consumed too much in the way of the downer drug MSG, it all fits together.

BTW -- MSG is no longer referred to as that on packages. It can be called "Natural flavorings" or "Spice" or several other things. I know of very few items in bottles, cans or jars that do not contain MSG. Paul Newman''s organics contain it.

About the only things that do not contain MSG are meat and fruit/veggie products that are not canned bottled or jarred.