DEA Addiction Medicine Essentials-263576

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The presentation by the American Osteopathic Academy of Addiction Medicine, narrated by Dr. Gregory Landy, explores the neurobiology of addiction. It emphasizes that addiction is a complex biobehavioral disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking and loss of control over intake. The presentation highlights addiction's roots in impulsivity and compulsivity, with neurobiological underpinnings that involve dopamine pathways in the brain, primarily affecting the ventral tegmental area and the nucleus accumbens. Different drugs of abuse trigger dopamine release, contributing to addiction's rewarding effects, and they can reduce dopamine D2 receptors over time, altering brain function. Genetics and environmental factors both play roles in addiction, with genetic predispositions and environmental influences like trauma impacting susceptibility. The presentation underscores that addiction is both a brain disease and a developmental disorder, with onset often occurring during adolescence. However, the presentation ends on a hopeful note, showing that recovery is possible with abstinence leading to the recovery of brain function, as seen in imaging studies of dopamine transporters in methamphetamine abusers. It concludes by offering resources for further exploration of the topic.

Keywords

neurobiology

addiction

dopamine

compulsivity

genetics

environmental factors

recovery

brain disease