Not Exactly Rocket Science : Impulsive minds are primed for drug addiction - The Diigo Meta page

• 20 Oct 08
  

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  • evidence suggests that drug addiction is linked to certain personality traits. Being impulsive is one of them, and a tendency to seek out new sensations (often described as "living life to the full") is another. But do these traits drive people towards drug addiction, or are they a result of the drugs themselves?
  • A brain scan revealed key differences in the brains of the two groups, particularly in the ventral striatum, a part of the brain involved in reward, pleasure and addiction. This region contains receptor molecules that respond to dopamine, a multi-purpose signalling molecule involved in feelings of pleasure. And impulsive rats had lower levels of two of these dopamine receptors - D2 and D3.

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