Addiction and the Brain - AMNH SciCafe

Only a small percentage of people who try an illicit drug will go on to develop addiction. What makes one more vulnerable to addiction than another? Theories abound, from troubled childhoods to work stress to genetics. Psychiatrist Edmund Griffin explains how epidemiology, cocaine-addicted rats, and molecular neuroscience all help to shed light on one of society’s most troubling questions: Why is it that some people just can’t get enough?

#addiction #brains

This SciCafe took place at the Museum on May 4, 2016.

The SciCafe series is proudly sponsored by Judy and Josh Weston.

This video and all media incorporated herein (including text, images, and audio) are the property of the American Museum of Natural History or its licensors, all rights reserved. The Museum has made this video available for your personal, educational use. You may not use this video, or any part of it, for commercial purposes, nor may you reproduce, distribute, publish, prepare derivative works from, or publicly display it without the prior written consent of the Museum.

© American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY

[AiNEntertainment]

...rock solid presentation.
Thank you very much! 🙏

[SoulMuncher]

Thank you for the presentation and experience; very informal

[keirobangs]

Thank you very much Dr Griffin. Peace on you and your family.

[MynNyx]

I work in the field at a detox center in Connecticut and my question is this: why doesn't the study include opioids like heroin or even prescription drugs like Percocet, Demerol, or Dilaudid? I would like to see the numbers on those.

[diedance]

Could you please add the references to the studies presented

[rck]

Thank you Dr. Griffin! You should consider joining Neil deGrasse Tyson as a Science Communicator :)

[lcsolar]

The one question he didn't answer is...how does he get his head so damn smooth?

[annalisette]

There must be a natural reason for the gateway drug expression of genes. What, in addition to nicotine and alcohol could cause the same epigenetic changes? Are there any evolutionary advantages? Considering human populations have consumed alcohol for millennia, this epigenetic activity either has little or no effect on life without drugs like cocaine, or it must confer some sort of advantage. Perhaps alcohol and nicotine could be shown to have synergistic effects on each other but in the absence of other addictive drugs, what if anything, would any of this mean?

[JCSolo]

When I die, you can have my brain to study. Maybe it will be helpful.

[UndeadKIRA]

this is not something that has been said many times before, im suprised

[bobok]

Is he chewing gum or what? That mic is so sensitive, it amplifies every lip smack and swish of saliva