Addiction: Causes and Groups at Risk
Alcoholism and Suicide
By Tom Hollon in BrainWork, Vol 11:6, 2001
Discusses the relationship between alcoholism, suicide, and other mental problems
Beyond Raging Hormones: The Tinderbox in the Teenage Brain
By Ronald Dahl in Cerebrum, Vol 5:3, 2003
Puberty brings hormonal changes, intense feelings, and craving for arousal, but writes Dahl, these alone cannot explain the lapses in judgment that shock parents and make adolescents highly vulnerable to addiction, suicide, violence, and other destructive behaviors. We must understand the very different timetables at work in adolescents, whose brain development may not be complete until their twenties but for whom, in most societies, puberty has been arriving earlier.
Brain Disorders Top List of Major Causes of Disability Worldwide
By Brenda Patoine in BrainWork, Vol 11:3, 2001
Gives a cross-cultural perspective to brain disorders and questions whether higher rates of disability in developed countries is due to lifestyle differences or lack of accurate reporting in developing countries.
Brain Roots of Addiction and Memory Converge as New Understandings Emerge: A Conversation with Eric J. Nestler
By Brenda Patoine in BrainWork, Vol 12:6, 2002
Discusses how neurons change in response to drug exposure, and the similarity of these changes with learning and memory, and addiction.
Huffing: The Silent Epidemic
By Tom Hollon in BrainWork, Vol 12:5, 2002
Provides background information on huffing and how PET images are used to detect active brain areas (striatum, deep cerebellar nuclei) after toluene injection in baboons. The sites are a surprising finding because toluene does not bind to any neurotransmitter receptors or transporters.
Mental Illness and Addiction Genes: Answers Remain Elusive
By Brenda Patoine in BrainWork, Vol 13:3, 2003
Discusses using genomic analyses for finding groups at risk for disease.
Neurobiology of Addiction: Toward Therapeutic Interventions That Help The Brain "Just Say No"
By Brenda Patoine in BrainWork, Vol 13:1, 2003
Describes the evolution of drug use from voluntary to involuntary and how the prefrontal cortex essentially "shuts down" in the involuntary stage; suggests that in the absence of a cure, treatment should focus on preventing relapse.