Alcohol and Drugs Rewire Your Brain and Change How Your Genes Work
<p>Many people are wired to <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/306396/the-compass-of-pleasure-by-david-j-linden/9780143120759" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">seek and respond to rewards</a>. Your brain interprets food as rewarding when you are hungry and water as rewarding when you are thirsty. But addictive substances like alcohol and drugs of abuse can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(16)00104-8" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">overwhelm the natural reward pathways</a> in your brain, resulting in intolerable cravings and reduced impulse control.</p>
<p>A popular misconception is that addiction is a result of low willpower. But an explosion of knowledge and technology in the field of <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/molecular-genetics/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">molecular genetics</a> has changed our basic understanding of addiction drastically over the past decade. The general consensus among scientists and healthcare professionals is that there is a <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/557515/never-enough-by-judith-grisel/9780525434900" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">strong neurobiological and genetic basis</a> for addiction.</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/wise-well/alcohol-and-drugs-rewire-your-brain-and-change-how-your-genes-work-53e2b758cf03"><strong>Read More</strong></a></p>