This is your brain on DRUGS OR COCKTAILS OR SHOPPING…

PLEASURE PALACE HABITS HARDEN HERE

The basal ganglia are the reward circuit in your brain, the area where you experience pleasure. The addictive substance (associated sights, smells or sounds) signals neurons to release neurotransmitters, including dopamine, which flood the subregion of the basal ganglia called the nucleus accumbens. Dopamine also stimulates another subregion, the dorsal striatum – that’s where the habits are learned and solidified.

STRESS ZONE WIRED FOR WITHDRAWAL

The extended amygdala is the brain’s centre for stress, anxiety and irritability. When someone tries to stop using, neurotransmitters including corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), norepinephrine and dynorphin are released into this region, making her feel terrible when she can’t get a fix.

DECISION CENTRAL OUT-OFCONTROL IMPULSES

The prefrontal cortex is responsible for making decisions, organising thoughts and controlling impulses and emotions (it is notoriously underdeveloped in adolescents). In someone who is addicted, activity of the neurotransmitter glutamate is increased, disrupting how dopamine affects this region. This turns down the system that says, “Stop! Don’t do it!” while turning up the system that learns how best to find and use the substance.