Addiction – Knowing Neurons

Image of synaptic cleft in the background with a large cupcake on the right, topped with sprinkles in the shape of pills. Illustrated by McCall Sarrett.

Are Foods Addictive or Just Delicious?

April 4, 2019April 7, 2019 Shaun Khoo 0 Comments Addiction, Basolateral Amygdala, Classical Conditioning, Cocaine, Dopamine, glutamate, Neurotransmitters, Nucleus Accumbens Core, obesity, Operant Conditioning, Pavlov, Psychology, Relapse, Sugar, Tolerance, Withdrawal

We are surrounded by an abundance of delicious food. Throughout the developed world, cooking shows saturate our televisions and streaming video feeds advertise greasy burgers and decadent chocolates. Our addiction… Read more

Big Ideas Did You Know? Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders

The Law of Attraction, the Placebo Effect, and the Immune-Brain Connection

March 1, 2018April 18, 2019 Caitlin Aamodt 0 Comments Addiction, Alzheimer's, Alzheimer’s disease, Autism, depression, Drugs, Immune System, Law of Attraction, Parkinson's, Parkinson's Disease, placebo, Placebo effect, Social experiment, Surgery, Synapses, Treatment

iomedical researchers call it “the most replicated experiment in the history of science.” Simply put, the placebo effect is a phenomenon where people who believe they are being treated for… Read more

Neurolaw feature image, depicting libra scales with a brain on the left scale and a book on the right scale.

Big Ideas Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Science Policy

Neurolaw: Combining Neuroscience and Criminal Justice

November 22, 2017November 21, 2017 Brainfacts.org 4 Comments Addiction, Courtroom, Drug policy, Drugs, Eyewitness testimony, Jed Rakoff, Justice, Law, Memory, Memory consolidation, Neurolaw, Neuroscience, Prison, Rehabilitation

he number of U.S. judicial opinions citing neuroscience more than doubled in the seven years from 2005 to 2012, according to an analysis in the Journal of Law and the… Read more

52 Brain Facts

Myth or Fact? Drug abuse can put holes in your brain.

June 27, 2016June 30, 2017 knowingneurons 4 Comments 52 Brain Facts, Addiction, Brain, Cocaine, Dopamine, Drug Abuse, Drugs, Function, Hole, neurotransmitter, Reward, Trauma

Big Ideas Brain Basics Interviews Philosophy

Does Free Will Exist?

April 27, 2016July 10, 2017 Joel Frohlich 1 Comment Addiction, Alexander Batthyany, algorithm, Arthur Schopenhauer, Benjamin Libet, Brain, cellular automata, Daniel Dennett, determinism, Dice, Dopamine, EEG, Fate, Free Will, Huntington’s disease, Jack the Ripper, John-Dylan Haynes, Libet, Michael Gazzaniga, neurodegenerative, Nucleus accumbens, Philip K. Dick, Pierre-Simon Laplace, quantum indeterminacy

It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon. Professor Freeman is enjoying the Southern California weather on Professor Domino’s patio. Domino: Will it be Coke or Pepsi, Dr. Freeman? Freeman: That’s an easy… Read more

Brain Basics Did You Know? Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Popular Articles Sensation and Perception

The Reward Pathway Reinforces Behavior

October 31, 2012March 5, 2017 Kate Fehlhaber 27 Comments Addiction, Brain, Dopamine, Drug, Neuroscience, Reward

If you think about it, most of our daily lives revolve around food: when our next meal will be, what it will be, and how yummy it will be! Evolutionarily,… Read more

Neuro News Sensation and Perception

Do You Crave Sweets?

October 29, 2012March 5, 2017 Jooyeun Lee 0 Comments Addiction, Brain, Crave, Current Biology, DiFeliceantonio, enkephalin, Enkephalin Surges in Dorsal Neostriatum as a Signal to Eat, Food, M&M, Neuroscience, Reward

My answer is YES, all the time, no exceptions! Do you remember when Miranda from “Sex and the City” was so addicted to chocolate cake that even after she threw… Read more