The Brain’s Rewarding System & Addiction
The Brain’s Rewarding System & Addiction
Biopsychology
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to examine the article, “The Brain’s Rewarding System & Addiction” (2004) by Katharine P. Bailey, MSN. In this article, I did not find a general hypothesis. Studies in this article show that most drugs directly or indirectly cause selective elevation of dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens (NA), the ventral tegmental area (VTA), and the limbic system, consequently called the reward center of the brain (Bailey, 2004). Behaviors that bring pleasure and are also crucial to existence (eating, drinking, and sex) also activate the same reward circuitry, however, activation of this circuitry by addictive drugs can be much more powerful than activation triggered by natural rein-forcers (Bailey, 2004). One method of research used animals in a classic self-stimulation experiment where an animal pushes a lever to receive award. Future directions for the author would be to implement the use of human studies instead of mentioning only animals.
Introduction The purpose of this paper is to examine the article, “The Brain’s Rewarding System & Addiction” (2004) by Katharine P. Bailey, MSN. In this article, I did not find a general hypothesis. The author refers to the different characteristics of addiction within each section, and explains some of the behavioral, genetic and neurochemical causes and the links between addiction and the brain’s reward center. A handful of studies were implicated in the text, supporting Bailey’s research on the topics. In my opinion, experimental use of drugs and alcoholism lead to addiction in some individuals. This addiction is based in a common reinforcement pathway in the human brain which drugs of abuse stimulate, potentially leading to addiction. This reinforcement pathway, which is composed of both central nervous system structures and endogenous neurotransmitters communicating between these
Biopsychology
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to examine the article, “The Brain’s Rewarding System & Addiction” (2004) by Katharine P. Bailey, MSN. In this article, I did not find a general hypothesis. Studies in this article show that most drugs directly or indirectly cause selective elevation of dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens (NA), the ventral tegmental area (VTA), and the limbic system, consequently called the reward center of the brain (Bailey, 2004). Behaviors that bring pleasure and are also crucial to existence (eating, drinking, and sex) also activate the same reward circuitry, however, activation of this circuitry by addictive drugs can be much more powerful than activation triggered by natural rein-forcers (Bailey, 2004). One method of research used animals in a classic self-stimulation experiment where an animal pushes a lever to receive award. Future directions for the author would be to implement the use of human studies instead of mentioning only animals.
Introduction The purpose of this paper is to examine the article, “The Brain’s Rewarding System & Addiction” (2004) by Katharine P. Bailey, MSN. In this article, I did not find a general hypothesis. The author refers to the different characteristics of addiction within each section, and explains some of the behavioral, genetic and neurochemical causes and the links between addiction and the brain’s reward center. A handful of studies were implicated in the text, supporting Bailey’s research on the topics. In my opinion, experimental use of drugs and alcoholism lead to addiction in some individuals. This addiction is based in a common reinforcement pathway in the human brain which drugs of abuse stimulate, potentially leading to addiction. This reinforcement pathway, which is composed of both central nervous system structures and endogenous neurotransmitters communicating between these
References: Bailey, K.P. (2004). The Brain’s Rewarding System & Addiction. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 42, 14-18. Friedmen, R.A. (2010, August 31). Lasting Pleasures, Robbed by Drug Abuse. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/health/views/31mind.html?_r=4& Pinel, J.P.J. (2008). Biopsychology. University of British Columbia: Pe