Addiction and the Brain                                                                         Saturday, August 17^th 12:30-1:30

The disease model of addiction, which arose in the 1950s to counteract the view of addiction as a moral failing, is based on the observation that addiction involves biological changes in the brain. The brain alterations change the way the brain works—notably in the dopamine system—to create the craving, the progressive inability to exert control, and other dysfunctions associated with substance use.