The Dopamine-opioid system like a lot of my close friends I look around and am disappointed in a lot of what I see every day walking the halls of my university. All around there are people on their phones or their tablets looking through information channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and the Internet. Through research, I came across a few articles that attributed the addictiveness of these information channels to a dopamine-opioid complementary system within the brain and the variable ratio reinforcement schedule (VRS). The main research was done on dopamine’s effect on anticipation and human behavior.
The discovery of dopamine and its functions
In 1957 Dr. Carlsson discovered dopamine was an important neurotransmitter that aided
In this essay, we have been asked to evaluate two psychological perspectives’ in relation to “typical behaviour”. The perspectives I have chosen is the behaviourist and biological approach, to be able analyse these approaches, I have decide to use the case study of the death of the two year old ‘James Bulger’ and with this, the relevant therapy’s used by each perspective.
That craving is what powers the habit loop” (pg33). Craving is the actual fuel that starts the habit loop to a rotating cycle, without the feeling of crave there’s no habit loop since the individual doesn’t have any intention to seek rewards. Wolfram Schultz a professor of neuroscience at the University of Cambridge conducted an experiment with a monkey named Julio; the purpose of the experiment was to examine how Julio’s brain would react when Julio followed a procedure of touching a lever when the colored shape appeared on a monitor then Julio was rewarded with a drop of his favorite blackberry juice. While repeating this experiment, Schultz has seen an unusual activity inside Julio’s brain, where at first Julio’s brain activity started spiking when he was rewarded with drop of blackberry juice; however, as the experiment continued its brain activity started spiking when the cue appeared on the screen. Julio’s brain had developed a habit; “… habit only emerges once Julio begins craving the juice when he sees the cue” (49). Now that Julio has developed a craving for the blackberry juice, he will automatically follow the habit. This experiment clearly proves how significant craving can be since it drives the habit loop. Likewise, I crave the reward of finishing my schoolwork while relaxing to the music since; it allows me to release the stress that’s been pilling up inside my brain from
In psychology you learn about several things that also apply in every day life that may or may not run your life and you could not even know about it. Here are a few examples about how the small things in my life control my life in good and bad ways. I will be explaining how stress, classical conditioning, anxiety, negative reinforcement, and positive reinforcement can affect your life and the lives of others around you.
As a college student, using the internet and technology is a daily task. Everything you need for your classes: schedules, homework, quizzes, even tests are all online. The debate on technology and the brain suggests that technology may have an effect on brain, effect multi-tasking, and cause addiction.
Drugs seem to cause surges in dopamine neurotransmitters and other pleasure brain messengers. However, the brain quickly adapts and these circuits desensitize, which allows for withdrawal symptoms to occur (3). Drug addiction works on some of the same neurobiological mechanisms that aid in learning and memories (3). "This new view of dopamine as an aid to learning rather than a pleasure mediator may help explain why many addictive drugs, which unleash massive surges of the neurotransmitter in the brain, can drive continued use without producing pleasure-as when cocaine addicts continue to take hits long after the euphoric effects of the drug have worn off or when smokers smoke after cigarettes become distasteful." (4)
According to Leshner, drug addiction is a chronic brain disease that is expressed in the form of compulsive behaviors (Leshner, 2001). He believes that drug addiction is influence by both biological, and behavioral factors, and to solve this addiction problem we need to focus on these same factors. On the other hand, Neil Levy argues that addiction is not a brain disease rather it is a behavioral disorder embedded in social context (Levy, 2013). I believe, drug addiction is a recurring brain disease that can be healed when we alter and eliminate all the factors that are reinforcing drug addiction.
Various perspectives on behavior have changed the face of psychology over the centuries. Some of the most influential of these theories on behaviorism were made by John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, and Edward C. Tolman. The manner in which behavior is modified has become a growing debate in the aspect of which technique is more reliable and effective. The theories from these three men have become a foundation for many different schools of thought throughout modern psychology. Through their research, many modern psychologists have grown a better knowledge on why people react and behave during certain situations or in different environments. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the various theories of Watson and Skinner to that of Tolman.
Toates, F. (2010) ‘The nature of addictions: scientific evidence and personal accounts’ in SDK228 The science of the mind: investigating mental health, Book 3, Addictions, Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 1-30.
Joranby, L., Pineda, K., & Gold, M. S. (2005). Addiction to Food and Brain Reward
So, if a teen is angry with someone then when on technology they are more likely to make a decision they may regret later in life. The main neurotransmitter in the limbic system is dopamine (Giedd). A neurotransmitter is an electrical impulse that connects synapses (gaps between nerves) (Bernstein). Dopamine is a feel good chemical substance in the brain that often leads to addictions (Knox). Technology causes dopamine to be released in the brain so teens are on technology more in order to get more dopamine, then they get addicted to it. If teens get addicted to technology then the time they should spend with family or friends will be spent on tech. and those people will not get dopamine but, will feel rejected
Carey, Carrera, and Damaintopoulos (2014) state in their article that Pavlovian conditioning of drug effects is generally acknowledged to be a critical factor in the development and persistence of drug addiction. In drug conditioning the focus has essentially been on one type of Pavlovian conditioning, namely, delay conditioning in which the CS and drug UCS overlap and are temporally contiguous. In this paper, we will further discuss this theory and others in the relationship of Pavlovian conditioning and addiction in more detail.
Additionally, biological factors in a human's brain can increase the chances of a person becoming addicted. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a role in the reward and pleasure centers of the brain. It also helps to control emotions. Sharon Jayson explains this concept in her article, “Ever-present Devices Can Push Our Crazy Buttons.” In this article, psychiatrist Steve Daviss of the Baltimore Washington Medical Center claims, "There's good evidence the feedback we get from technology -- the retweets and pings that come out of the phone every time somebody sends us a text message -- creates a reward system in the brain that gives us a little squirt of dopamine each time."
Based on the user’s usage of the internet, different forms of anxiety have been discovered to include: usage anxiety, interaction anxiety, internet search anxiety, interaction anxiety and internet time delay anxiety. Due to changes in the brain, the usage of the internet can lead to addiction, like cocaine or an alcohol addiction. In some younger people with internet addiction, researchers found damage in white matter fibers, issues with decision making, and the emotional processing parts. Howard stated in 2017, “MRI research has shown that the brains of Internet users who have trouble controlling their craving to be constantly plugged-in exhibit changes similar to those seen in people addicted to drugs and alcohol.” It can also lead to withdrawal type symptoms if offline for more than a couple
Humans are environmentally and genetically predisposed to developing a motivated addictive behavior. Addiction is a brain disease and a behavior. All behaviors are choices. Choices that adolescences make at a young age directly affect the outcomes of their futures. Many factors contribute to an adolescence becoming an addict or exhibiting a drug seeking behavior. Nearly all drugs of abuse increase dopamine release. Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter in drug abuse and addiction. Dopamine plays a role in reward motivated behaviors, motor control and important hormones. It’s known as the “feel good hormone” which is why people abuse drugs that increase the release of dopamine. Since life is unpredictable, our brains have evolved the ability to remodel themselves in response to our experiences. The more we practice an activity the more neurons developed in order to fine-tune that activity causing addictive behaviors to be detrimental.
Scientists and biologist have argued the Nature versus Nurture debate for decades. This debate is about the degree to which our environment and heredity, affects our behavior and developmental stages. According to this debate, nature can be described as, the behavior of a person is occurring because of their genetic makeup. Since the behavior of a person is due to their genetic makeup, then, it (nature) should also influence a person’s growth and development for the duration of their life. However, the nurture side of the debate says, the cause for an individual’s behavior is because of environmental factors. This would mean that the influence from our family (immediate and extended), friends and other individuals would mold our behavior. Ultimately, no one knows if nature or nurture affects behavior more; or if it is a combination of both nature and nurture dictating an individual’s behavior; or if neither nature nor nurture affects a person’s behavior. This paper will examine the nature versus nurture debate through the topics of violence, intelligence and economics, and sports.