Public Lectures

The Biology of Addiction

by Prof. Eric J. Nestler (Nash Family Professor and Chairman, Department of Neuroscience, Director, Brain Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA)

Thursday, February 4, 2010 from to (Asia/Kolkata)
at Homi Bhabha Auditorium, TIFR
Description
Drugs of abuse target discrete circuits in brain that normally regulate responses to natural rewards in the environment, like food, sex, and social interactions. Drugs corrupt these circuits by activating them with abnormal power and persistence, actions that trigger adaptations in brain reward regions that attempt to compensate for the drug-induced effects. These adaptations enable a drug to gradually take control over a vulnerable individual's life. Eric Nestler will describe these drug actions and how knowledge gained from this work can be used to develop more effective treatments of addiction.
Material:
Organised by Prof. Vidita Vaidya
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