The biophysics of brain imaging lets us see what people desire and how addiction affects the way humans think. We recognize that hunger, thirst and fear influence the brain structures involved in the overpowering need to satisfy those feelings. There are elements of the survival instinct that take precedence over reason. Drugs of abuse are able to hijack our neuronal system to create a false “survival instinct”. Those people affected by these drugs cannot differentiate their own basic instincts clearly. However, the human brain has many priorities. Learning about how it works can help the chemically-dependent break away from addiction and help us to better support our clients.

Join us in person at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Science, Noble Commons, 11235 Bellflower Road, Cleveland, OH. 44106-7164  or via  the CWRU livestream (https://case.edu/livestream/s2).