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Face Addiction
Published in Sandra Rasmussen, Developing Competencies for Recovery, 2023
According to the report, repeated use of alcohol, other drugs, or addicting behaviors “hijacks” the brain, changing the normal functions of brain circuits involved in pleasure (the reward systems), learning, stress, decision making, and self-control. Three main circuits in the brain are involved in addiction: the basal ganglia, extended amygdala, and prefrontal cortex. Use (intoxication) produces a surge of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the region of the brain called the basal ganglia and people feel pleasure. With repeated use, the brain associates the rewarding high with cues in the individual’s life: persons, places, and things. The extended amygdala controls our stress response. Withdrawal is the distress people experience when they are not using. Use is the only way “to spell relief.” The pre-frontal cortex governs decision-making, judgment, and impulse control. However, the prefrontal cortex is disrupted in individuals with addiction. Craving is the preoccupation with anticipation of reward from drinking, using, gambling, or other addictive behavior. Self-control is compromised; cues dominate, and people return to active addiction. This is relapse. The intensity of symptoms and progression vary; a person may go through the cycle over months, weeks, or several times a day. As the cycle continues, addiction severity increases with greater physical and psychological harm. See Figure 2.1 areas of the human brain that are especially important in addiction from Facing Addiction in America, pp. 2–5.
Detoxification Strategies
Published in Sahar Swidan, Matthew Bennett, Advanced Therapeutics in Pain Medicine, 2020
Jennifer Kljajic, Ahmed Zaafran
In both addiction and accidental dependency, with the mechanisms of opiate (opioid) and GABA (benzodiazepine) receptors being downregulated, dependency can set in as early as under a week.6 Access to executive functioning skills in the frontal cortex such as judgment, planning, prioritizing, emotional control, self-monitoring, understanding different points of view, and attention span may become impaired. Additionally, areas such as the cerebellum, which includes motor control, balance, attention, language, processing procedural memories, and regulating fear and pleasure responses, are impacted.
Exploring the types and manifestation of disorders
Published in Jane Hanley, Mark Williams, Fathers and Perinatal Mental Health, 2019
The emotions are governed by the limbic system, which is located in the mid brain. Its primary structures include the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, basal ganglia, and cingulate gyrus. The amygdala is the emotion centre of the brain, whilst the hippocampus plays an essential role in the formation of new memories about past experiences. The hypothalamus is found beneath the thalamus and is responsible for releasing hormones. The thalamus is located above the brain stem, between cerebral cortex and the midbrain and is responsible to relay motor and sensory signals to the cerebral cortex. Basal ganglia are a group of neurons and are strongly connected to other areas within the brain. They fine tune the activity within the brain circuits and process information on voluntary body movement, learning, cognition and emotions. The cingulate gyrus is involved in processing and regulating emotions and behaviour (Morgan 2005, Markowitsch & Staniloiu 2011). Information is processed and transmitted to the pre-frontal cortex which helps in decision making.
Smoking by pregnant mothers and risk of future tobacco use by offspring: a meta-analysis
Published in Journal of Substance Use, 2022
Nicotine dependence is most likely to develop during one of two periods of vulnerability – the prenatal period and adolescence(Mamun, Lawlor et al., 2006) . The adolescent period is critical to cortical development. The frontal cortex develops late in adolescence and helps refine reasoning, setting of priorities and goals, impulse control, and evaluation of long- and short-term rewards (Crews et al., 2007). Therefore, adolescents are particularly vulnerable to addiction. However, prenatal nicotine exposure also influences offspring corticogenesis. Nicotine can transverse the placental barrier, subjecting the fetus to nicotine blood concentrations that exceed those of the mother(Wickstrom, 2007).This phenomenon can result in modifications to the specific neural circuitry of the fetus. Such changes to the function and structure of the brain may lead to clinically characterized deficits, such as sudden infant death syndrome and auditory-cognitive dysfunction (Dwyer et al., 2008). In the fourth gestational week, fetuses develop nicotine acetylcholine receptors, and nicotine exposure thereafter is suggested to produce sensitization and disruption of the pathways mediated by acetylcholine as well as potential birth defects. These changes in children/fetuses or offspring can increase their susceptibility to nicotine dependence. Indeed, uteroexposure to nicotine in rats has been demonstrated to affect the development of the dopaminergic and central serotonergic systems of offspring. Therefore, fetuses exposed to nicotine may experience alterations in the pathways associated with drug rewards.
Neuropsychological and Social Characteristics of a 7 Year Old Child with Hypomelanosis of Ito Followed for 11 Years
Published in Developmental Neuropsychology, 2022
George P. Prigatano, Alexandra Novak, Vinodh Narayanan
The underlying brain mechanisms responsible for these developmental changes remain undetermined. Somatic mosaicism has been sufficiently thought to influence brain development that an NIMH-funded Brain Somatic Mosaicism Network (BSMN) has been established (Paquola, Erwin, & Gage, 2017). Disturbances in normal neuronal thinning or loss during brain development may contribute to cortical dysplasia reported in some patients with HI (Carmignac et al., 2021). Mosaic chromosomal anomalies may also contribute to specific cell abnormalities, especially those involving frontal cortex neurons (Paquola et al., 2017). These disturbances can further lead to neuronal migration disorders, which may contribute to neurodevelopmental disease (D’Gama & Walsh, 2018). It is interesting to note that, while rote verbal learning and memory appeared relatively unaffected in this patient with HI, the ability of this patient to recall multiple details and accurately relate and remember details and concepts of a story read to him did not appear to develop normally via teacher and parent’s descriptions of his academic difficulties. Frontal cortex mediated brain systems have been repeatedly implicated in this type of complex memory function (Moscovitch & Winocur, 2002).
The inter-relationship between acquired brain injury, substance use and homelessness; the impact of adverse childhood experiences: an interpretative phenomenological analysis study
Published in Disability and Rehabilitation, 2021
Christian D. Adshead, Alyson Norman, Mark Holloway
Mueller and Dollaghan [14] describe executive function as high level cognitive processes vital for maintaining relationships, managing finances and household responsibilities, and maintaining employment, and aids the ability to integrate within society [15]. Neuropsychological evidence has highlighted that the frontal cortex plays a vital role in the planning and execution of behaviour and that frontal lobe damage is associated with numerous cognitive difficulties [15]. These include initiation, planning, execution of activities, and self-regulation [15,16]. It is therefore the widespread understanding that the frontal lobe (although not the only structure) is the area that most likely supports executive function, which is considered to include self-regulation, inhibition, goal setting, initiation, working memory, planning and organisation among others. Initiation, planning and working memory are extremely important in integrating productively within society and any impairment to these functions can seriously impact a person’s sense of self and ability to carry out simple everyday tasks [16].