Hey Folks:
In a feeble attempt to better myself, I decided to sign up for a series of
lectures on the Brain (Understanding the Human Psyche) sponsored by the
Smithsonian Institution here in Washington DC. There are eight lectures in
the series, each one given by someone renowned in the field of brain research.
Last week was a Dr. Himen (sp?) who had many interesting things to say
(e.g., did you know that the typical human brain has approximately three
million miles of axons?). Near the end of his lecture he started talking
about addiction. He said that addiction is caused by some substance such as
nicotine, cocaine or alcohol (or some chemical derivative) reaching the
brain and "imitating" dopamine. One of dopamine's jobs is to land on
receptors in the part of the brain that says "That feels good, let's
remember how we did that and do it again." This is the so-called pleasure
center of the brain. The cells in the pleasure center find themselves
inundated with something they think is dopamine and eventually adapt to this
overload by desensitizing themselves (remember these are all chemical
reactions at the cellular level). Eventually, the drug disappears from the
system leaving desensitized receptors in the pleasure center and an addict
in a depressed state.
I wish that I had a chance to ask him some questions. The implications of
what he is saying seem astounding to me. For example, do these substances
imitate dopamine at other receptors in the brain? Are we PWPs more
vulnerable to addiction since our pleasure center is constantly deprived of
dopamine? Are we PWPs constantly in the mental state similar to that
experienced by addicts who have come down from their high and in a down state?
Food for thought.
Ron Reiner (49/2)
