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6th Jan 2008

The Science of Addiction


Chris Smith

Kat Arney

Hooked on the Naked Scientists? This week we're looking into the science of addiction, finding out how smoking alters the teenage brain, why a mixture of brain chemistry and psychological habits make drugs hard to kick, and how addiction re-wires the brain in a similar way to school.  Also, how a good night's sleep could stave off diabetes, why traffic pollutes your IQ and why your next prescription could be a placebo!  Plus we bring you the first in our series of Rising Stars, young researchers reporting from the coalface of science, and in Kitchen Science we show you how to levitate a squid!

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Science News

Prevent diabetes with a good night's sleep

Scientists have discovered that a component of your noctural nap, known as slow wave sleep, is critical to helping the body to regulate sugar levels and stave off diabetes. Writing in the journal PNA...

Gene therapy for boozing

If you’ve overindulged at the bar this festive season, you might be interested in the latest research from Professor Yedy Israel and his colleagues.  They’ve managed to develop a gene therapy tha...

Scientists dust off hurricane warning theory

Scientists at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, US, may have a new tool to offer weathermen - a way to predict a bad hurricane season. Hurricanes are "born" in the Caribbea...

Sugar pills for your ills?

A new survey of doctors in Chicago has shown that nearly half of them have given patients a placebo, or dummy treatment, at some point. Nowadays we usually think of placebos as being used in clinical ...

Pollution brain drain

Scientists in the US have found evidence to suggest that exposure to sooty traffic fumes are costing children up to 3 IQ points of intelligence. Writing in the American Journal of Epidemiology Harva...

Kitchen Science

Part 1 Part 2 Listen
Download as MP3 [1] [2]

Levitating plastic bags


Amaze your friends by making a piece of plastic levitate using nothing more sophisticated than a party balloon.

Question of the Week

Why do wires tangle?

Why is it that headphone wires, even when put away neatly, always end up in a tangle - worse even than you could do on purpose?!




Yep...I saw a program about it !!....can't remember the actual condition name...it was NOT Nymphomania....but it does exist Karen....
- neilep - 10th Jan 08



Yep...I saw a program about it !!....can't remember the actual condition name...it was NOT Nymphomania....but it does exist Karen.- neilep - 10th Jan 08



Yep...I saw a program about it !!....can't remember the actual condition name...it was NOT Nymphomania....but it does exist Karen.- Karen W. - 10th Jan 08

Thanks Neily.. I am going to copy it and give it to someone I know!...
- Karen W. - 10th Jan 08
Whole Thread | Post Reply

Interviews

Brain Change for Teenage Smokers

Professor Leslie Jacobsen, Yale University School of Medicine

Addiction - What gets people Hooked?

Professor Barry Everitt, Cambridge University

How Addiction Shapes the Brain

Professor Julie Kauer, Brown University

Rising Stars - Hippocampi and Taxi Drivers

Hannah Critchlow

Why do Diets Fail?

Dr Toni Steer, MRC Human Nutrition Research Lab

Questions

 

I’m a high school teacher and music teacher in Brisbane, Australia. I really enjoy listening to the podcast version of the programme whilst I’m having a cup of tea or coffee. About a month ago I decided to cut back on my caffeine intake and decided to quit cold turkey. Unfortunately, it was a school day and by lunch time I had a splitting headache and was very moody. My students asked me why I was a bit grumpy and they convinced me to have a cup of coffee at lunchtime and to give up coffee during the holidays. What’s happening to cause this?


Is it true that if serotonin levels are down people are more likely to tend towards addiction? Can specific foods, if you eat them, put up your serotonin levels and therefore stave off that effect?


What is ageing? Is it caused by cumulative damage to cells as a result of every day life or is it genetically programmed and if it is can we prevent it with, say, gene modification?


Vitamin C: Some scientists believe it’s the panacea for everything and other scientists seem to think the effects of vitamin C [presumably this is large doses] are negligible. What’s the general scientific gist of it?


I’ve heard on one of your podcasts about sunburn and the damage it imparts but I was wondering what’s the actual cause of the redness in sunburn. What specific damage to the skin causes the redness that remains over days after the initial UV exposure? What are we seeing that’s happening at the molecular level that’s red?


The Science of Addiction - More about this podcast

Kicking the habit

New Year is traditionally the time when we resolve to ditch our bad habits and pick up some healthier ones.  But why is it so difficult to change our habits? And what happens when they go to far and become addictions?  To answer these questions, this week on the Naked Scientists we’ll be looking at the science of addiction and habits, from drugs to dieting.

Training the brain

Habits and addictions form when connections are made in the brain, linking pleasurable sensations or feelings to certain behaviours or substances.

Nerve CellProfessor Julie Kauer will be joining us from Brown University in the United States to discuss her research into synapses – the links that form between our brain cells.  Changes in these connections can either strengthen or weaken addictions.  Professor Kauer has been looking at changes in the synapses in drug addiction, shedding light on this complex physiological and psychological process.

But habits aren’t entirely determined by our brain chemistry – behaviour patterns and psychology play an important part too.  To find out more, we’ll also be joined by Professor Barry Everett from the University of Cambridge, talking about his work on the psychological side of addiction.

Can we use our understanding of brain chemistry and behaviour to help people kick drugs?  And what makes a person an addict in the first place?  All will be revealed on the Naked Scientists this week.

The Science of Dieting

As we sit clutching our bulging stomachs and cursing our Christmas over-indulgence, we look at the psychology behind dieting. Do diets ever work? And how do we manage our expectations when calorie-counting fails to turn us into supermodels. With help from the MRC’s Human Nutrition Research Labs, we’ll be finding out the best way to start a diet – and stick with it.

So if you’ve spent the festive season eating all the (mince) pies, or just need your fix of the latest science news, tune in to the Naked Scientists this week.




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