Addictive drugs can cause dopamine levels to become ten times higher than normal

Addiction develops when the pleasure circuits in the brain get overwhelmed

Normal pleasure circuits become overwhelmed by addictive substances, triggering dopamine floods many times stronger than those induced by everyday reward experiences. The understanding of addiction as a brain disease has led to treatments pairing medication and counseling.

Drug tolerance and withdrawals are consequences of overloading dopamine circuits

Addictive substances or behaviors will typically flood our brains with more dopamine than usual. In response to the overstimulation, our brains will decrease the number of available dopamine receptors. This results in the need for more stimulus for the same response (tolerance) and a rise in negative feelings when the stimulus is absent (withdrawal).

Chronic drug use can cause neurological changes in the brain

Neuroscientist Judy Grisel breaks down the biology of addiction, examining how drugs hijack the brain’s natural reward system and create lasting neural changes. The physiological and neurological impacts of chronic drug use require a multifaceted treatment approach.

Fame can trigger addictive, drug-like highs in the brain

Differences in the type of fame, such as movie stardom, sports, and internet virality, can produce varying degrees of dependence on individuals based on their age and background. Some individuals—particularly children—can develop drug-seeking behavior as they pursue continuous dopamine spikes if they lack an existing sense of fulfillment from elsewhere.

Addiction is defined as chronic compulsive drug use despite adverse consequences

This resource from the National Institute on Drug Abuse provides a comprehensive look at addiction as a complex brain disorder. It explores why people initially take addictive substances and how continued use alters the brain’s reward system.

Can the gut microbiome drive addiction?

New research suggests an imbalance of gut microorganisms may influence the likelihood of addiction and addictive behaviors by increasing the severity of withdrawal symptoms, triggering brain inflammation in regions of impulse control, and more.

What exactly is dopamine?

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter—a chemical released by neurons that enables neural communication—that makes people want things with an "almost animalistic desire," compelling them to snack or check phone notifications. Often misrepresented as a "pleasure" chemical, dopamine is involved in motivation, learning, attention, habit formation, and more. Trends like dopamine fasting overinflate its role in mental health and often use it as part of "straw man" biohacking claims.

'Susan's Brain': what happens to the brain during addiction

This engaging animation from Harvard Online breaks down the neuroscience of addiction through the story of “Susan’s brain,” demonstrating how addictive substances hijack normal reward pathways. Through clear visual metaphors and approachable narration, it explains complex brain chemistry in understandable terms.

Opioids mimic naturally produced endorphins to dull pain

Once in the body, opioids bind to naturally occurring opioid receptors typically used by endorphins to temper pain. They trigger the release of dopamine, a desire-related hormone, and decrease noradrenaline, a neurotransmitter involved in heart and breathing rate regulation, meaning high doses can slow these processes to dangerous levels.

Some people may be genetically predisposed to loving roller coasters

Recent studies indicate that individuals with higher levels of dopamine may be more prone to thrill-seeking behaviours like riding roller coasters or even doing drugs or shoplifting.

Coffee is, indeed, addictive

Caffeine enters the brain through the bloodstream, where it blocks receptors that cause us to feel tired and enables stimulants like dopamine to increase alertness and focus. Over time, the brain begins to expect this level of stimulation, and caffeine addiction can develop. Caffeine withdrawal causes headaches, irritability, and fatigue.

How alcohol rewires your brain

Alcohol doesn't just make you tipsy—it rewires your brain chemistry in real time. It slows your brain with GABA, spikes dopamine to make you feel unstoppable, and blocks glutamate so you can't form memories. That mix explains everything from slurred speech to blackouts … and brutal hangovers.

Fantasy sports can have adverse health effects

Experts warn that fantasy sports, including fantasy football, can encourage obsessive use because they offer hits of dopamine. Daily fantasy games, which function more like gambling, are especially problematic.

DBS effectiveness in treating addiction remains uncertain amid inconsistent results

Critics argue that deep brain stimulation should be considered a last resort and not a scalable solution, given its high costs and trials limited to small samples. However, it has helped some patients manage severe opioid use disorder when conventional methods didn’t work.

TikTok's personalized algorithm activates the brain's reward system

A 2025 Washington Post study found that 75% of the TikTok users it studied nearly doubled their time spent on the app within a month. Experts in design and psychiatry say this is due to the app's interface and algorithm, which, after learning about the user's preferences, recommend videos more likely to activate that person's dopamine reward system than non-personalized suggestions.

US FDA recently approved the first new schizophrenia drug in decades

Though other antipsychotics block dopamine receptors, a new drug, Cobenfy, influences dopamine levels via a different pathway—it stimulates a pair of specialized receptors in the brain that control the release of a substance called acetylcholine. This alternative approach may help patients avoid serious side effects like weight gain. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

This is the human brain on the world's strongest psychedelic

Within seconds of inhaling a high dose of vaporized synthetic 5-MeO-DMT—a lab-produced substance that otherwise is naturally derived from the glands of the Colorado River toad—it induced slow brain waves. Such waves are typically associated with unconsciousness due to a coma or anesthesia, perhaps explaining why users describe feeling like everything falls away. The compound is currently in clinical trials for treating depression.

'The opposite of addiction isn't sobriety—it's human connection'

This thought-provoking TED talk from journalist Johann Hari challenges conventional wisdom about addiction, with a special focus on his global research investigating its root causes. Through personal stories and scientific evidence, Hari debunks some of the most common myths around addiction.

Love and heartbreak trigger powerful, neurochemical-driven changes in the body

The feeling of falling in love floods the brain with dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin, which collectively dull pain and boost immunity. However, the loss of these chemicals during a break-up produces withdrawal-like symptoms and heart issues, such as high blood pressure.

Diabetes is a hormonal disorder

Hormones are naturally produced in the body in concert with cell receptors, influencing how cells behave, but diseases that affect hormonal production, including those produced by the pancreas or the thyroid, can upend those processes.

'Why'd I take speed for twenty years?': an exploration of stimulant ADHD medication

Many people with ADHD are prescribed stimulant medication to assist with symptoms ranging from time blindness to executive dysfunction. This hour-long podcast episode by Search Engine explores the host's experience with ADHD medication and the history of amphetamine and methylphenidate use in the US.

A video showing how drug dealing really works

What motivates people to sell drugs? The “News on Drugs” series asks how people get drawn into the drug trade, unpacking the different goals and aims involved in dealing drugs. While there is a lot of focus on cartels, traffickers, and gangs...

The myth of sugar rushes vs. the reality of sugar crashes

It's generally accepted that sugar rushes are a myth, and that hyperactivity is a more psychological experience. However, there is real science behind the rare sugar crash that primarily impacts those with diabetes. Read this article to understand how historical and cultural factors have shaped sugar perceptions, and how low blood sugar can trigger shakiness, fatigue, weakness, and more in diabetes patients.

Certain medications that affect blood flow or mood boost the risk of heatstroke

Drugs that narrow blood vessels, beta blockers that regulate blood pressure, diuretics, antidepressants, and antipsychotics can all affect the body's ability to regulate its internal body temperature, and so individuals taking these medications need to take special care in extreme heat and when exercising in hot conditions.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

Ultra-processed foods are made to maximize cravings and encourage overeating

Often disguised as healthy options like granola bars and low-fat yogurt, these foods silently fuel chronic diseases, despite dominating diets. Reviewing labels for ingredients like stabilizers and emulsifiers can serve as indicators to help identify these products.

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.

Watch how viruses like Ebola can spill over from animals to humans—and vice-versa.

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

Scientists testing how climate change affects plants found, in a years-long simulation study, that poison ivy grew 70% faster with the resulting extra carbon dioxide.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

A vending machine run with Anthropic's AI went out of business after it was convinced to give away items for free and sell a video game console.

The power and influence of the American presidency have expanded significantly over time—far beyond what the founders envisioned.

Watch how algorithms can be designed to train themselves and self-improve without human input, to the point where the optimized code is too complex for programmers to understand.

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

A pickleball's loud 'pop' sound can reach 120 decibels, which is equivalent to a hammer hitting a nail

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.