Thad Polk – The Addictive Brain

The Addictive Brain
Discover the neural mechanisms that underlie the behaviors of addiction in this fascinating course taught by one of the top cognitive neuroscientists in the country.

LECTURE

Trailer

01:Addiction 101
Begin your course by defining “addiction,” which is diagnosed based on characteristics such as abuse, dependence, and craving. Professor Polk then surveys the history of drug use, from ancient history through the development of synthetics in the 19th and 20th centuries. Finally, he reviews government regulation and the substantial costs of drug abuse, both to the individual and to society.
34 min

02:The Psychology and Neuroscience of Reward
Explore the brain’s mechanisms for learning from reinforcement. You’ll start with the psychological aspects, discovering the way humans learn by a series of trials and rewards. Then you’ll find out what parts of the brain process pleasure, self-control, and craving, and see how the psychology and neuroscience of reward processing converge….
31 min

03:How Addiction Hijacks the Brain
Here you’ll examine the ways addiction alters the brain by numbing the pleasure center, sensitizing the dopamine system, and inhibiting the prefrontal cortex. Combined, these altered brain functions lead to strong cravings and a reduced ability to control one’s actions. This foray into neuroscience will forever change the way you think about addiction….
33 min

04:Genetics-Born to Be an Addict?
Investigate how people may be susceptible to addiction on a genetic level. Thanks to studies of twins and DNA analysis, scientists are homing in on the genes that predispose us toward addiction. While there is no single “addiction gene,” our DNA can significantly influence whether we become addicts…
32 min

05:Your Brain on Drugs
Shift your attention from the nature of addiction to the nature of drugs. Here you’ll delve into the process of neurochemical transmission and see how drugs mimic this activity by binding to neural receptors. This process is responsible for everything from a drug’s physical and psychological effects to its potency….
29 min

06:Why We Crave Coffee and Cigarettes
Caffeine and nicotine are two of the most common psychoactive drugs in our society. How do they work? How dangerous are they? After reviewing how each of these drugs affects the brain-and why nicotine in particular is so addictive-Professor Polk offers several strategies to quit tobacco use….
33 min

07:Alcohol-Social Lubricant or Drug of Abuse?
Alcohol is often discussed separately from other drugs, but as you’ll discover in this lecture, alcohol affects the human body in many of the same ways. Take a close look at your brain on alcohol to explore dependence, withdrawal, and genetic susceptibility. Then review several treatment options for alcohol abuse….
30 min

08:The Science of Marijuana
Although there is no shortage of controversy around marijuana, whose legal status now varies from state to state, the science of this drug may surprise you. Through the lens of the neuroscientist, Professor Polk tours the effects, and the possible medicinal value, of marijuana….
31 min

09:Stimulants-From Cocaine to Ritalin
From the original recipe for Coca-Cola to treatments for attention deficit disorder, psychostimulant drugs have had remarkable uses. But they have also been dangerously abused in the form of crack cocaine, methamphetamine, and related drugs. Find out how stimulants work in the brain and why they can be so harmful….
32 min

10:The Science of Poppies, Pleasure, and Pain
Round out your survey of the world’s major drugs with an examination of opium and its derivatives, from regularly prescribed painkillers like codeine and morphine to heroin, often considered the most harmful drug of abuse in the world today. Learn about the neurological effects and treatment options for opiate drugs….
33 min

11:The Gambler’s Brain
Are drugs the only thing humans can get addicted to? What about behaviors? To answer this question, take a look at what happens inside the brain of a compulsive gambler. As this case study reveals, many of the same neurochemical processes of drug abuse-from genetic predisposition to dopamine release-also accompany addiction to behaviors….
32 min

12:Junk Food, Porn, Video Games-Addictions?
The course concludes with an exploration of other potentially addictive behaviors. Professor Polk argues that some artificial stimuli-junk food, pornography, and video games to name three-are “supernormal,” meaning that they actually activate the brain’s reward circuit more strongly than natural stimuli do, leading to some of the same neurological effects as drug use….
35 min

DETAILS

Overview

Addiction touches us all. By some estimates, 25% of Americans might be addicts. What happens when your brain is on drugs? Discover the neural mechanisms that underlie the behaviors of addiction, and see how drugs and activities like gambling can hijack the brain and lead to behavioral problems. Understanding addiction can motivate an addict to seek treatment, and can lead loved ones to see the addict in a new way.

About Thad Polk

Every aspect of our mental life is controlled by the brain. So if we ever hope to understand the human mind, and how it’s affected by aging, by disease, and by drugs, then we need to develop a better understanding of the brain and the neural mechanisms that underlie cognition.

Professor Thad A. Polk is an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan. He received a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Virginia and an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Computer Science and Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University. He also received postdoctoral training in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania.

Professor Polk’s research combines functional imaging of the human brain with computational modeling and behavioral methods to investigate the neural architecture underlying cognition. Some of his major projects have investigated differences in the brains of smokers who quit compared with those who do not, changes in the brain as we age, and contributions of nature versus nurture to neural organization. Professor Polk regularly collaborates with scientists at the University of Texas at Dallas and at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, where he is a frequent visiting scientist.

Professor Polk regularly teaches on topics ranging from the human mind and brain, to cognitive psychology, to computational modeling of cognition. His teaching at the University of Michigan has been recognized by numerous awards, and he was named to The Princeton Review’s list of the Best 300 Professors in the United States.

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