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What parts of the brain are changed by drug use?

Best Answers

Most drugs of abuse directly or indirectly target the brain's reward system by flooding the circuit with dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter present in regions of the brain that regulate movement, emotion, cognition, motivation, and feelings of pleasure. read more

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

The brain changes in dopamine function associated with addiction thus skew motivation, explaining addicts’ over-sized drive to continue drug use despite negative consequences. The Reward System is an ancient part of the brain, pre-dating the evolution of rational brain networks. read more