Addiction

[BenTheMan]

Is there a specific part of your brain that controll addiction?

I ask this because, for example, leopold quit smoking like six months ago, and he says he still has cravings. But for me, I can smoke if I want to, and not smoke when I don't want to---that is, I enjoy a pipe of a cigar or an occasional cigarette thoroughly, but I haven't had a cigarette in like two months, and I haven't had a pipe or a cigar in three or four months.

Some people are alcoholics because they can't stop drinking. I spent two months of my life drinking about a fifth of Jim Beam a week (usually more) and then one day I decided not to. And so I didn't. I don't think I am a particularly strong-willed person, but one day I just decided to not drink so much.

But it's a bit different for me when it comes to food. Some people can do the same for food---they can have one or two cookies if they want them, and then not have anymore. Some people eat and eat and eat cookies untill they're gone. If I buy a box of cookies, then I'll eat a box of cookies.

So the questin is this: obviously these things are related, but it is not clear how. For example, when I eat, I can't leave leftovers---if I buy a huge steak, then I'll eat a huge steak. But I can have one or two cigarettes and never think twice about it for six months. How can I have addictions towards one thing (that is not really considered addictive) but can be relatively unphased by other things?

 

[maxg]

I don't know if there is a single region that it is effected but there do seem to be recognizable changes that occur in some areas when someone is addicted to drugs. Sometimes these vary according to the drug in question.

If you want a good overview of the issues see:
http://www.nida.nih.gov/PDF/Perspectives/vol3no2/Imaging.pdf

Here are some images from NIDA (http://www.dpna.org/drugarticles/6methbrain.htm) showing activity in part of the brain related to decision-making for methamphetamine addicts related to relapse:

But that's only one piece of the picture (i.e., why drug addicts have problems maintaing sobriety). The actual process of addiction, for most drugs, involves the dopamine system. Drugs effect dopamine activity (either by increasing levels of dopamine, inhibiting its eliminations, or imitating it) and the brain begins to require the drug in order to maintain dopamine levels and thus becomes dependent on the drug. This will involve more than one area of the brain. For example, some PET scan images of individuals who were nicotine dependent found

The scientists found that the highest levels of nicotine binding occurred in the thalamus (a portion of the brain that acts as a conduit for all sensory information that reaches the brain's cerebral cortex, and which contains the highest concentration of these nicotine receptors), the brainstem (which controls various automatic functions, such as respiration, heart rate, and arousal), and the cerebellum (the portion of the brain responsible for the coordination of movement and balance). Results of another recently published NIDA-supported study suggest that a portion of the cerebellum called the vermis may be a key factor in modulating the brain's dopamine and reward systems, and may be more involved in drug abuse and addiction than previously thought.

(http://www.drugabuse.gov/newsroom/06/NR8-07.html)

Food also affects the dopamine system

So food "addiction" may be similar to drug addiction in some ways but different in others. For example, regarding people who are compulsive eaters of sweets, this might be of interest:

Drs. Susana Peciña and Kent Berridge of the University of Michigan have traced rats' liking for sweets to a 1-cubic millimeter site in the medial shell of the nucleus accumbens. Using fine-grained brain mapping, the researchers correlated mu-opioid activation of this area [by D-Ala2-N-Me-Phe4-Glycol5-enkephalin (DAMGO)] with the facial reactions rats exhibit upon receiving infusions of sweet tastes into the mouth. Enhancing mu-opioid activity in this hedonic "hot spot" produced two to four times the number of positive reactions (e.g., licking) to sucrose relative to other regions of the medial shell. Stimulating the hot spot with DAMGO also reduced the rats' negative reactions to a bitter taste by 25 percent. The findings suggest that opioid circuits in the medial shell involved in liking (e.g., positive facial expressions in reaction to a taste) and wanting (e.g., pressing a lever for a substance) are related but not identical, as activating mu-opioid circuits in widely distributed areas of the medial shell increased food intake.
The Journal of Neuroscience 25(50):11777-11786, 2005.

The full text of the article is available at http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/reprint/25/50/11777

BTW, a 5th of whiskey a week is unlikely to be enough to make you alcohol dependent. When I was at my worst I drank a quart of vodka a day (I later swtiched to a gallon of wine a day because the vodka didn't sit well in the morning)--that went on for about 2 years. It may be that you don't have a predisposition to alcoholism/drug addiction but if you started to regularly use an addictive substance with enough frequency (say smoking 2 packs a day for a few years) you would likely still find yourself addicted.

 

[greenberg]

But it's a bit different for me when it comes to food. Some people can do the same for food---they can have one or two cookies if they want them, and then not have anymore. Some people eat and eat and eat cookies untill they're gone. If I buy a box of cookies, then I'll eat a box of cookies.

Does this happen to you with all kinds of food?

You mention candy and meat.
What about vegetables and fruit, preferrably fresh?
What about drinks? Does it happen with coffee, tea, milk, fruit juice, sodas, water?
What about "health store" food?

 

[BenTheMan]

Thanks for the resource maxg.

You mention candy and meat.
What about vegetables and fruit, preferrably fresh?
What about drinks? Does it happen with coffee, tea, milk, fruit juice, sodas, water?
What about "health store" food?

Not really. I mean, I guess I hadn't really thought of it. I drink coffee, but it's like cigarettes---I can go months without a cup of coffee. Soft drinks are the same way---one day I just decided not to drink them anymore, and I didn't for about two years.

It doesn't happen with candy really. Just specific types of cookies. And it doesn't really happen with ``healthy'' food, except perhaps fresh corn, fresh spinach, or fresh green beans.

 

[leopold]

I ask this because, for example, leopold quit smoking like six months ago, and he says he still has cravings.

yep, i do!
you must remember that i've smoked for like 40 or so years.

there seems to be at least 2 mechanisms at work here.
1. addiction
2. habit.

it's hard to say which one has the most impact.
if you've read the "i quit" thread:
http://sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=66902
you will see what i'm talking about. both of them seem to influence the other.

i quit cold turkey relatively easily while my brother-in-law says he's tried everything under the sun, patches, drugs, herbs, but can't quit.

 

[greenberg]

Ben, I have a few more questions:

1. Did you grow up on a farm, or with the sort of food they tend to eat on (traditional) farms?
2. Do you generally feel okay and fit? Any health complaints?
3. Do the cookies that you like contain E621 or otherwise a lot of additives and preservatives? What about home-made cookies - do you like those?

 

[greenberg]

I might be causing you to be biased in your observations by saying this ...

- A liking for particular kinds of processed foods can be due to the additives in those foods. Some are addictive.
- You could be having some health problems that cause you to crave certain kinds of food.
- Your food cravings could be due to habit - the way you used to eat when you were a child and a youngster.
- Or a combination of the above.

 

[BenTheMan]

1. Did you grow up on a farm, or with the sort of food they tend to eat on (traditional) farms?

Not really. I ate a lot of fresh fish and stuff (mostly fish I caught), but other than that I'm more or less ok.

2. Do you generally feel okay and fit? Any health complaints?

I FEEL healthy, but that doesn't mean I AM healthy. I'm overweight, and I don't get a lot of exercize typically.

3. Do the cookies that you like contain E621 or otherwise a lot of additives and preservatives? What about home-made cookies - do you like those?

Ummm... no? I like all kinds of cookies and brownies and cakes. I don't generally eat them or buy them, but when I do I tend to eat too much of them. If I want something like that, I generally buy it at a resturaunt.

 

[greenberg]

But it's a bit different for me when it comes to food. Some people can do the same for food---they can have one or two cookies if they want them, and then not have anymore. Some people eat and eat and eat cookies untill they're gone. If I buy a box of cookies, then I'll eat a box of cookies.

In the simplest case, what you might be experiencing are sugar cravings, exacerbated by irregular sugar intake which make the sugar levels in your blood to go into extreme highs and extreme lows.

You said you don't exercize much and your profile says you are a student - this supports the above assumption. As a student, you need a lot of "brain food". But refined sugars (such as those in cookies etc.) are not a good source for the sort of sugar that your brain and bloodstream appreciate.

I would suggest regularly introducing dry or fresh raisins, plums, berries, apples, pears, honey, bananas into your food, on a daily basis. Get such healthy snacks.
Try to refrain from chocolate, coffee, cookies, cakes and energy drinks - they give you a boost for a short while, but then a bad low follows.

 

[elsyarango]

Is there a specific part of your brain that controll addiction?

no there is none.

 

[Neildo]

I'm the same way, I go cold turkey all the time with cigars or cigarettes, same with booze. I mainly do it in spurts whenever in the mood. I can quit anything at any time, but yeah, certain foods, I can grub all night with. Oh yeah and sometimes with cigarettes, I'll smoke one and go eww and wretch, then quit, heh.

- N

 

[BenTheMan]

I would suggest regularly introducing dry or fresh raisins, plums, berries, apples, pears, honey, bananas into your food, on a daily basis. Get such healthy snacks.
Try to refrain from chocolate, coffee, cookies, cakes and energy drinks - they give you a boost for a short while, but then a bad low follows.

Thanks for the advice! Of the things you say to avoid, I can do without all of them (and regularly do) except coffee. I really enjoy a good cup of coffee at about 3 pm or so, but lately I have been drinking alot of tea (probably because I keep forgetting to get cream at the store).