The reward pathway

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/addiction/rewardbehavior/

The brain is divided into several distinct regions that are each responsible for performing different
functions. In the center of the brain sits the reward pathway, which is responsible for driving our
feelings of motivation, reward and behavior.
The central job of the reward pathway is to make us feel good when we engage in behaviors that are
necessary for our survival. These beneficial behaviors include eating, drinking and sex.
The reward pathway connects to several other important areas of the brain. These connections allow
the reward pathway to gather information about what is happening outside of the body, and to
strengthen brain circuits that control desirable behavior.
Lets take a closer look at how the reward pathway works. Imagine you havent eaten all day and
someone gives you a nice big sandwich. Your five senses gather information from your surroundings and
send signals to the brain letting it know that there is a yummy looking sandwich in front of you.
Stored in another part of your brain is the memory that when you eat a sandwich, you will no longer be
hungry and you will feel good. Based on this information, the brain tells the body to pick up the
sandwich and eat it.
When the five senses let the brain know that the body is eating some good tasting food and the stomach
is filling up, special neurons in the reward pathway release the chemical dopamine. The release of
dopamine gives you a little jolt of pleasure. Thats your reward for eating the sandwich.
In addition to making you feel good when you engage in beneficial behavior, the reward pathway is
responsible for trying to make sure you repeat the behavior whenever possible. It does this by
connecting to regions of the brain that control memory and behavior.
When the reward pathway signals brain regions involved in memory, it enables the brain to create the
memory that eating food makes you feel good. This increases the likelihood that you will eat the food
again.
When the reward pathway signals the brains motor center, it strengthens the wiring for behaviors that
help you achieve your reward. In this case, the behaviors include picking up the sandwich, chewing it up,
and swallowing it.
By giving us a jolt of pleasure, the reward pathway works to ensure that we will repeat behaviors which
are necessary for survival.

Notes on Dr Drew on addiction:

Distortion of brains reward system so that motivations are off
Brain confuses the drug to believe its necessary for survival itself
-this is a genetic disorder
-what have the consequences been of your addiction and have u stopped as a result of those
consequences?
Childhood trauma changes the way the brain develops
The frame that allows us to develop the capacity for emotional regulation is exitedie cant regulate
emotions. So they look for an outside substance/behavior to regulate the emotions
-addicts are dysregulatedemotions are too long, too intense, too negative
-trauma is a common cause of emotional dysregulation
-goal of mental health is to be able to flexibly adapt and emotionally regulate
-that happens when the different parts of our brain are interconnected
-cognition (PFC) is not primary part of creating emotionsits the limbic system
-emotion regulation is primarily a function of the right brain
-left brain (language, thinking) is not developed yet when were born
-baby and mothersome exchange bt mother and baby

Alan Shore
Peter Fonaguey

Development of tolerance with drugs and dopamine

From http://www.helpguide.org/harvard/how-addiction-hijacks-the-brain.htm

Over time, the brain adapts in a way that actually makes the sought-after substance or activity less
pleasurable.

In nature, rewards usually come only with time and effort. Addictive drugs and behaviors provide a
shortcut, flooding the brain with dopamine and other neurotransmitters. Our brains do not have an
easy way to withstand the onslaught.

Addictive drugs, for example, can release two to 10 times the amount of dopamine that natural
rewards do, and they do it more quickly and more reliably. In a person who becomes addicted, brain
receptors become overwhelmed. The brain responds by producing less dopamine or eliminating
dopamine receptorsan adaptation similar to turning the volume down on a loudspeaker when noise
becomes too loud.

As a result of these adaptations, dopamine has less impact on the brains reward center. People who
develop an addiction typically find that, in time, the desired substance no longer gives them as much
pleasure. They have to take more of it to obtain the same dopamine high because their brains have
adaptedan effect known as tolerance.

Compulsion takes over

At this point, compulsion takes over. The pleasure associated with an addictive drug or behavior
subsidesand yet the memory of the desired effect and the need to recreate it (the wanting) persists.
Its as though the normal machinery of motivation is no longer functioning.

The learning process mentioned earlier also comes into play. The hippocampus and the amygdala
store information about environmental cues associated with the desired substance, so that it can be
located again. These memories help create a conditioned responseintense cravingwhenever the
person encounters those environmental cues.

Cravings contribute not only to addiction but to relapse after a hard-won sobriety. A person addicted
to heroin may be in danger of relapse when he sees a hypodermic needle, for example, while another
person might start to drink again after seeing a bottle of whiskey. Conditioned learning helps explain
why people who develop an addiction risk relapse even after years of abstinence.