Nucleus accumbens

How Processed Foods Affect Our Health Have you ever felt guilty after eating a large bag of Doritos? Food is the fuel that keeps our body functioning correctly. The growth and maintenance of our body are possible because of nutrients and energy we obtain when we eat. Nowadays, many people in the world are getting sick with food related diseases. This is happening because the quality of what we are eating is not adequate. With the development of new technologies in the last years, processed foods…

Music sensors off the Nucleus Accumbens, which gives off the emotional reaction to music (Cooper). For example, let us say that someone is sad. The song they will most likely choose to listen to would be sad. The reason for this is because people like to feel comforted and know that…

The spread of the performing arts, children, teens, and adults in the 21st century have gained an interest in learning how to play musical instruments. Studies have shown that people who not only listen to music, but play a musical instrument themselves, use more parts of the brain. Not only can it prevent them for getting a disease that affects their ability to think, but it also causes people to learn at rapid speed. “The human brain is one of the most complex organs in the human body. It…

On September 11, 2001, The United States changed forever. On that morning four planes were hijacked and flown into three of the United States largest and important buildings. Two of the planes had flown into the Twin Towers, the stars of New York City. The other plane hit the Pentagon in Washington DC, with the last plane crashing into a field were the passengers did not allow the plane to get hijacked which was heading for The White House. The Twin Towers had around 17,000 people in them when…

Legalizing Marijuana Legalized Marijuana can be helpful in all types of ways. Legalizing will further prevent teens from smoking marijuana and will protect people from smoking laced cannabis without their knowledge. However, those against it rely heavily on the fact that there is a possibility that marijuana can cause brain damage, but on the other hand, it can also cure types of pain and aid those with certain diseases. Selling marijuana to teens is a popular trend throughout the Unites States…

Obesity is a global epidemic (Garrett, p. 172, 2011). Defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, obesity has increased by 145 percent between 1980 and 2013 (Stelter, p. 1, 2015). Although many people contribute this to laziness, there is a plethora of reasons contributing to the rising obesity rate (S. Thomas, p. 2, 2008). Socioeconomic status, lack of sleep, leading a sedentary lifestyle (Stelter, p. 1, 2014), personality traits, depression, drug use, food addiction, and…

One of the first studies that looked at the effects of gaming on the dopaminergic pathway was a study by Koepp and colleagues (1998) that took positron emission topography (PET) scans of eight male participants while they were playing a video game. The authors found that there were greater dopamine increases in the ventral striatum (where the NAc is located) in the experimental condition (playing the video game) than in the control condition (looking at an empty screen). Furthermore, while…

Caffeine continues to grow in consumption, even though there just is not enough data to justify its growing use. Are we promoting the use and addiction of the new “cocaine”? 85% of American consume at least one drink containing caffeine (Mitchell, D. C., & Knight, C. A. 2014, January). Some of the drinks where we find caffeine is alarming. Caffeine is added to fruit juice, flavored water, sports drinks, to name a few. Sources used included the USDA Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies…

Drug addiction is a powerful condition that imprisons the mind and body of its users, which leads to the question of whether the option to use remains a choice or becomes a disease. Current statistics reveal that 24.6 million Americans reported using illicit drugs in 2013 (SAMHSA, 2014). That number alone is clear evidence of a significant drug problem in our society. Throughout history there have been conflicting opinions about drug addiction being a choice or a disease. In this paper, I will…

One topic that always seems to catch my eye is addiction. According to American Society of Addiction Medicine, Addiction is characterized by inability to consistently abstain, impairment in behavioral control,Addiction craving, diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships, and a dysfunctional emotional response. Typically, people believe that drug addiction is a choice and that anyone who does it is lacking willpower and is just a typical…