What happens in the brain to make someone addicted to something?!
Question:
What happens in the brain to make someone addicted to something?
Do people really have addictive personalities?
Answers:
Your brain has a reward system that does reinforce drug abuse and addiction. When you take a drug, certain neurotransmitters are released that give you that "high" feeling. Dopamine is one of a number of neurotransmitters found in the central nervous system. Dopamine has received special attention from psychopharmacologists because of its apparent role in the regulation of mood and affect and because of its role in motivation and reward processes. Although there are several dopamine systems in the brain, the mesolimbic dopamine system appears to be the most important for motivational processes. Some addictive drugs produce their potent effects on behavior by enhancing mesolimbic dopamine activity. Drugs like heroin and cocaine will increase dopamine levels.
However, over time, heroin and cocaine can decrease natural dopamine levels or normal levels of dopamine no longer have the same effect.
However, there are other behavioral and environmental factors that can also lead to addiction.