Understanding Addiction

What dependency looks like neurologically

Derek London
6 min readJul 25, 2021
Image from Pixabay.com

The reason dependence is so complex is because it’s tied in to virtually every mechanism related to memory. It’s why experts struggle to draw the line consistently between behavioural and substance addiction.

Lately, I’ve been writing about behavioural neuroscience. And these discussions are loosely framed around a book I was invited to review, entitled Overloaded: How Every Aspect of Your Life is Influenced by Your Brain Chemicals, written by Ginny Smith. One topic that makes an appearance quite frequently throughout is addiction.

As you can appreciate, this would need to be one protracted exposition to do justice to that subject. There were a couple of findings described in Smith’s book, however, that stood out to me; and they can go a long way in understanding, treating, and even avoiding harmful addictions altogether.

What memory teaches us about addiction

Habituation facilitates learning; is a form of long-term memory; is involved in everything from trauma to perception, movement, and, of…

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Derek London
Derek London

Written by Derek London

Editor for Diogenes Lounge. Writer for ILLUMINATION and a YouTube personality. Subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHBpAoID8i6tqz6ksLSY8ow

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