Sentences with phrase «brain reward pathways»

In the meantime, the current study builds evidence that addictive drugs appropriate the neurobiological tools of learning and memory to create long - term changes in brain reward pathways.

Not exact matches

When dopamine flows into the brain's reward pathway (the part responsible for pleasure, learning and motivation), we not only feel greater concentration but are inspired to re-experience the activity that caused the chemical release in the first place.
In earlier research, they found that FGF21 acts via the brain's reward pathway in mice to suppress the desire for sugar and alcohol in favor of drinking water.
Morikawa's work suggests that repeated dopamine release somehow boosts the chances of LTP in the brain's reward pathways, although the molecular details are not yet clear.
Mice in booze camp In the new study, performed on adolescent male mice, ethanol alcohol exposure seemed to enhance synaptic plasticity in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a part of the brain that plays a critical role in the reward pathway.
The frontline prescription drugs currently used to treat tobacco dependence — which include bupropion and varenicline — primarily target the brain's «reward» pathways by interfering with the release and binding of dopamine in the brain in response to nicotine.
Using further neurological studies, George and his colleagues tracked this compulsive behavior to the activation of «stress» and «reward» pathways in the brain.
A new study using different brain imaging techniques linked the intensity of an individual's placebo effect to the amount of dopamine (a neurotransmitter involved in the pleasure and reward pathway) released in a midbrain region called the nucleus accumbens.
The compulsive alcohol consumption and neurological pathways seen in the new study suggest that alcohol works with nicotine to further activate the brain's reward system and dampen the stress of nicotine exposure.
The most primitive part of the brain — the same reward pathway activated by food and sex — lights up in response to altruistic giving.
Researchers aiming to understand why autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are more common in boys have discovered differences in a brain signaling pathway involved in reward learning and motivation that make male mice more vulnerable to an autism - causing genetic glitch.
One reason many potential therapies for alcohol abuse have been unsuccessful is because they inhibit the brain's reward pathways, causing an overall decline in the experience of pleasure.
«One possibility is that by visualizing the rewards of positive feedback, individuals with MS can activate the relevant neural pathway in their brains and counter fatigue.
Go Deeper Cholinergic Mesopontine Signals Govern Locomotion and Reward through Dissociable Midbrain Pathways Cre - dependent Selection Yields AAV Variants for Widespread Gene Transfer to the Adult Brain
McGehee and his colleague, post-doctoral researcher Huibert Mansvelder, PhD, working with brain tissue from rats, demonstrated how nicotine takes control of the reward pathways.
Although seemingly irrational, she is on a path toward increasingly riskier drug seeking behaviors, as the reward pathways in her brain are strengthened in support of actions that increase her drug exposure.
In ways that drugs of abuse — such as nicotine, cocaine and heroin — hijack the brain's reward pathway and make users dependent, increasing neuro - chemical and behavioural evidence suggests that sugar is addictive in the same way, too.
In short, this means that repeated access to sugar over time leads to prolonged dopamine signalling, greater excitation of the brain's reward pathways and a need for even more sugar to activate all of the midbrain dopamine receptors like before.
According to a study, the reward pathways of your brain activate when performing art creation activities such as doodling.
Studies show a link between high - fat and high - sugar foods and the increase in the activation of reward pathways in the brain, particularly dopamine receptors, says Erin Macdonald, R.D.
The brain has many distinct dopamine pathways and one of these pathways plays a big role in reward - motivated behavior.
Sugar «hijacks the brain's reward pathway,» neuroscientist Jordan Gaines Lewis explained.
Then, signals are sent to the brain, lighting up reward pathways and causing a surge of feel - good hormones, like dopamine, to be released.
Since the identical brain «reward pathways» are used by both types of drugs, they can be equally addictive and also may cause side effects like memory loss, hip fractures, impaired thinking, and dizziness.
Artificial sweeteners fool our taste buds, but do not activate the same pathways in our brains to trigger the food reward.
Most of us feel good when we accomplish or complete something and this can activate our brain dopamine pathways, which play a role in feelings of reward, pleasure, and motivation.
First, many dopamine receptors — important players in the brain's reward pathway — disappeared, possibly signaling that more food was now needed to reach previous levels of satisfaction.
Sweet foods are rewarding, stimulating the brain's reward pathways and, via learning and conditioning mechanisms, increasing the likelihood of seeking out more sugar, just like the incentive that draws people to drugs like alcohol, nicotine and cocaine.
The brain produces motivation by the secretion of dopamine in the nucleus accumbent (also known as the reward pathway).
The reason mice are so helpful in studying addiction is because the reward pathway in our brains functions in much the same way in mice as it does in people.
Here's what the brain scans revealed - the reward pathway in the dogs» brains only lit up when they heard words of praise in an approving tone of voice.
Further, it has been shown that intimate activity causes the release of powerful endorphins that flow through reward pathways in the brain, inducing euphoria and the feelings of love.
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