The Addictive Brain

Course Overview

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.

This 12-lecture course explores:

• How addiction rewires the brain’s reward system

• Genetic predispositions to addictive behaviors

• Neuroscience behind major drugs of abuse

• Behavioral addictions like gambling and gaming

Video Lectures

01: Addiction 101 (34 min)

Defining addiction and surveying drug use history

02: The Psychology and Neuroscience of Reward (31 min)

Brain mechanisms for learning from reinforcement

03: How Addiction Hijacks the Brain (33 min)

Neural changes in pleasure, craving, and self-control

04: Genetics – Born to Be an Addict? (32 min)

DNA analysis of addiction susceptibility

05: Your Brain on Drugs (29 min)

Neurochemical transmission and drug binding

06: Why We Crave Coffee and Cigarettes (33 min)

Effects of caffeine and nicotine on the brain

07: Alcohol – Social Lubricant or Drug of Abuse? (30 min)

Alcohol’s neurological impacts and treatments

08: The Science of Marijuana (31 min)

Cannabis effects and medicinal potential

09: Stimulants – From Cocaine to Ritalin (32 min)

How stimulants work and why they’re harmful

10: The Science of Poppies, Pleasure, and Pain (33 min)

Opioid effects from prescription painkillers to heroin

11: The Gambler’s Brain (32 min)

Neuroscience of compulsive gambling

12: Junk Food, Porn, Video Games – Addictions? (35 min)

“Supernormal” stimuli and behavioral addictions