Alcohol and drugs rewire your brain by changing how your genes work – research is investigating how to counteract addiction’s effects

What is striking about this whole line of clinical research is the premise that it is not the pharmacological effect of the drug itself but the kind of mental experience it occasions—involving the temporary dissolution of one’s ego—that may be the key to changing one’s mind.

The closest parallel I could find to how physical activity affects the reward system is not addiction, but continuous deep brain stimulation, one of the most promising medical treatments for depression.

Neuroscientist Nora Volkow and colleagues have shown that heavy, prolonged consumption of high-dopamine substances eventually leads to a dopamine deficit state. Volkow examined dopamine transmission in the brains of healthy controls compared to people addicted to a variety of drugs two weeks after they stopped using. The brain images are striking.

In fact, our bodies become so conditioned to this rush of chemicals that they become addicted to them. Our bodies actually crave them.

The brain is a complex organ that is responsible for regulating our thoughts, emotions, and behavior. Meditation has been shown to have a significant impact on the brain, particularly in the areas of stress and anxiety relief, improved focus and concentration, and overall well-being.

This framework is easily remembered by the acronym DOPAMINE, which applies not just to conventional drugs like alcohol and nicotine but also to any high-dopamine substance or behavior we ingest too much of for too long, or simply wish we had a slightly less tortured relationship with.