Grawemeyer Talk “Drugs, Dopamine & Desire”

Grawemeyer Talk
When Apr 10, 2019
from 12:00 PM to 01:00 PM
Where Middleton Auditorium, Strickler Hall 101
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Grawemeyer Talk  “Drugs, Dopamine & Desire”  by Terry Robinson and Kent Berridge

April 10, 12-1 p.m., Middleton Auditoriun, Strickler Hall 101; free

Many people have taken addictive drugs, yet relatively few become strongly addicted.  We'll describe an explanation for how addiction happens in vulnerable individuals.  The explanation draws on how drugs can make brain dopamine systems become permanently hyper-responsive to drug-related cues.  This process, called incentive-sensitization, can cause addicts to excessively want to take drugs, even if they don't like their drugs anymore, and can persist even long after they give up drugs.