than twenty generations of alcoholic mice, with each generation more addicted than the last. At the same time, they raised another line of mice that refused alcohol. They didn’t like it. They wouldn’t drink it. Their temperance was in their genes. They didn’t just say “no.” They didn’t attend abstinence lectures. They simply didn’t like the stuff. Alcohol and drugs do their work in the parts of the brain wired for pleasure and reward. Jaak Panksepp, a researcher at Washington State University, refers to the brain circuits driven by the neurochemical dopamine as the “seeking system.” When not co-opted by addiction, these circuits send us to the fridge when we’re hungry and to our sweetie when we’re in the mood. They make us feel good. They make us enjoy the chase. And they’re crucial for addiction. esearch by Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute
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for Drug Abuse, tells part of the story. Her work showed that the number of dopamine receptors we are born with plays a role in our susceptibility to addiction. Receptors are the intake valves for brain chemicals. People with a smaller number of one type of dopamine receptor simply enjoy drugs more than the rest of us, her research shows. The greater the pleasure, the fewer the receptors. Those with lots of these receptors find drugs unpleasant. These addictive substances remodel the brain. The dopamine neurons become more responsive in the presence of drugs or alcohol. Neuron structures change. The area in charge of the brain’s so-called executive function — the prefrontal cortex, right behind your forehead — alters. This part of the brain helps us exercise self-control. It helps us to ignore our impulses and do the right thing. In cocaine addiction, researchers note, this part of the brain remodels to look like
the brain of someone with obsessivecompulsive disorder. In short, the drug rewrote the addict’s “me-ness.” hat people do recover, and every day, is a tribute not only to them, but to the people who work with them, and groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. On the horizon is promising research for new drugs to treat addictions, including findings that one common blood pressure medication reduced cocaine cravings in rodents. Some physicians are already making use of pharmaceutical treatments for alcoholism. We need to let go of the notion that our brains are somehow divorced from our bodies, that biology obeys different rules between our ears. It’s a little humbling. It sort of kicks us off the throne in our own life; but for a lot of people, this way lies hope.
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GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING SPEAKER
Kathryn Tucker Windham
Author of Thirteen Alabama Ghosts and Spit, Scarey Ann, and Sweat Bees
Monday, January 11, at 10:00 a.m.
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Lexington Hotel – University Convention Center 1577 South College Street, Auburn, AL
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