- A research study about reconditioning the brain, with an understanding that addiciton is a brain disease.
- Volkow's theory: "Medication-based treatment will help those damaged neural networks start getting back to normal faster than going it alone. To prove it, she'll need to compare brain scans from study participants like the woman who quit heroin thanks to methadone with active heroin users and people who are in earlier stages of treatment."
- Can and will people's brains fully recover?
- With medications, such as methadone or buprenorphine (which are weak opioids), stability in the brain is being created. This stability helps to recondition the brain's response to everyday pleasures that release the natural chemical, dopamine.
What might we learn from this study? What could change in the way we interact with addiciton?
Read the article: A peek into opioid users' brains as they try to quit
Replies
Pleasure. Craving. Withdrawal. When opioids act on the brain, they trigger the same processes that give people feelings of pleasure from activities like eating, but they do it far more intensely.
The Associated Press
https://youtu.be/aF4GtW5B3uc
Great post Navah!
More about Opioids in NIC’s recently-published Opioid prevention playbook.
Join Opioid Prevention Group.