What is the effect of drug abuse in a brain?

Overstimulating the system with drugs, however, produces euphoric effects, which strongly reinforce the behavior of drug use—teaching the user to repeat it. Most drugs of abuse target the brain's reward system by flooding it with dopamine. read more

Effect on Your Brain. Your brain is wired to make you want to repeat experiences that make you feel good. So you’re motivated to do them again and again. The drugs that may be addictive target your brain’s reward system. They flood your brain with a chemical called dopamine. This triggers a feeling of intense pleasure. read more

Drugs can alter important brain areas that are necessary for life-sustaining functions and can drive the compulsive drug abuse that marks addiction. Brain areas affected by drug abuse include: The brain stem, which controls basic functions critical to life, such as heart rate, breathing, and sleeping. read more

All drugs that are addicting can activate the brain's pleasure circuit. Drug addiction is a biological, pathological process that alters the way in which the pleasure center, as well as other parts of the brain, functions. To understand this process, it is necessary to examine the effects of drugs on neurotransmission. read more