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The Addictive Brain

By: Thad A. Polk, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Thad A. Polk
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Publisher's Summary

Addiction is a problem that affects everyone - even if we haven't experienced addiction ourselves, we all know someone who has. Unfortunately many sources of information about addiction seem inaccessible or irrelevant because they present vague or false science, they present accurate science in an excessively complicated way, or they are more moralistic than informative.

Addiction is sometimes viewed as a failure of character or will or morality. But neuroscience offers a very different picture - one that can inform how we, as individuals and as a society, treat addicts and the problems caused by addiction. These 12 eye-opening lectures will show you that addiction is a scientifically understandable problem that has its origins in neurobiology and genetics.

The Addictive Brain is a fair and balanced investigation of addiction, backed by hard science and behavioral science. Most of us have probably seen the old antidrug commercial in which an actor compares your brain on drugs to an egg sizzling in a hot frying pan. That's a powerful image, but it doesn't tell us what actually happens when drugs enter your body and interact with neurochemical processes.

Professor Polk gives you a comprehensive but concise survey of addiction and the major drugs of abuse, highlighting the differing neurological effects of stimulants, opioids, and more. He also delves into the world of behavioral addictions, such as gambling and compulsive video gaming, which, neurologically, operate very similarly to drug addiction. This course will clearly and compassionately inform you on what addiction means scientifically, socially, and behaviorally.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2015 The Great Courses (P)2015 The Teaching Company, LLC

What listeners say about The Addictive Brain

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great overview

Provides a very useful insight by building a systematic thorough understanding of the issue. Addiction is a problem on one side of my family and not the other and now after many years I can appreciate why. Great reader paced hus reading for comprehension.

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Excellent use of my walking time. Very well structured and easy to listen to.

Excellent course to learn more about a broad range of things not just addiction. Very well structured and easy to listen to. Highly recommended. In my top 10 of hundreds.

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Excellant

From a person who had issues with a lot of these types of things and the way they can make you feel, it's comforting to understand the process.

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Very interesting

The narration was really good and the book was informative. i would recommend it to those wanting to know more about the effect of addictive behaviours and drugs on the brain

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Useful lectures on addiction.

Excellently narrated, engaging topic and interesting science of addiction. This will appeal to listeners wanting a technical understanding of the topic. Some of gets pretty detailed but it is worth persevering with.

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Very informative

Some really great takeaways and a great listen all the way through. Totally disagree that there are any benefits from nicotine and alcohol because there are none.

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Updated me on the trends and thoughts about address addiction issues.

A lot of information very much focused on the medical model. You can be genetically predisposed to cancer but you may not develop it. Addiction to me is the same. Very little consideration of the psycho social issues and the impact of this on the choices individuals make to lead them to addiction. CBT is not the only effective model of addressing issues with addicts. However excellent series of lectures highly recommend them.

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A must read

It gives you information that helps you understand addiction and it is easy to understand. You get lots of examples and application suggestions.

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Very good!

A lovely introduction to addiction and neuroscience. The information was brilliant, as was the performance.

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Addiction

It is a bit concerning when you think about it of the number of addictions that are readily available.

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