PSYCHOLOGY OF EMOTIONS

Detailed explanation-1: -The rewarding effects of substances involve activity in the nucleus accumbens, including activation of the brain’s dopamine and opioid signaling system.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Crucial Reward Neurotransmitter in the Brain is Dopamine The crucial brain reward neurotransmitter activated by addictive drugs is dopamine, specifically in the “second-stage” ventral tegmental area to nucleus accumbens link in the brain’s reward circuitry.

Detailed explanation-3: -Drugs or alcohol can hijack the pleasure/reward circuits in your brain and hook you into wanting more and more. Addiction can also send your emotional danger-sensing circuits into overdrive, making you feel anxious and stressed when you’re not using the drugs or alcohol.

Detailed explanation-4: -“In brief, the hypothesis contends that decreased dopamine function in addicted subjects results in a decreased interest to non-drug-related stimuli and increased sensitivity to the drug of choice, leading to propose that restoring dopamine function might be therapeutically advantageous.”

Detailed explanation-5: -Although each drug has a different mechanism of action, each drug increases the activity of the reward pathway by increasing dopamine transmission. Because of the way our brains are designed, and because these drugs activate this particular brain pathway for reward, they have the ability to be abused.