Sugar and the Brain

SUGAR!!!!!

A colleague was looking for examples and descriptions for the economic idea of diminishing marginal utility.   He ran across this video on sugar and the brain.  It deals with taste buds, brain parts, dopamine and all sorts of brain and physiology ideas.  It's only 5 minutes and has some fun graphics to keep the kids interested. Not all the various terms we use are in here, but may are referenced. Check it out.


posted by Chuck Schallhorn

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Junk Food and Addictions

I am not a small man.  BTW, this is Chuck.  You could call me large, big, fluffy (ode to Gabriel Iglesias), husky, bouncer-like, and more.  I am 6'3" 310 pounds.  Large, but proportional. 

I've always had a sweet tooth--I love the junk food and sugar in nearly all its incarnations.  This morning, I saw an article on NPR called, "Junk Food Jones Is Wired in Your Brain."  This confirmed what I suspected--I am an addict.  It was shown in a fascinating bit of research which could even diverge into a discussion of ethics and animal research.
One quote:  "Inside their little brains, the junk-food eating rats developed a big problem. Just like drug takers, the rats needed a bigger fix of junk food over time to maintain their pleasure. So they kept on eating, and kept on getting fatter. As the scientists explained in their paper, "extended access to palatable high-fat food can induce addiction-like deficits in brain reward function," which can spur overeating and lead to obesity."

If nothing else, this offers some good insight into the workings of the addicted brain and one factor in the obesity epidemic in the US.

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Using Drug Abuse to Teach Neuroscience

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has designed five lessons (packets) using PowerPoints to explain the physiological aspects of drug use and abuse. While each lesson would work well within a States of Consciousness or Drug Abuse unit, they can also be used to explain the workings of the brain and neural impulses. The graphics on the Powerpoint are outstanding and each slide includes basic information and hints on how to present the material.

Go to http://www.nida.nih.gov/pubs/Teaching/ for general information on the teaching packets or click on the links below to download each individual packet.

Packet 1: The Brain & the Actions of Cocaine, Opiates, and Marijuana
Packet 2: The Neurobiology of Drug Addiction
Packet 3: Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction: What Science Says
Packet 4: The Neurobiology of Ecstasy (MDMA)
Packet 5: Bringing the Power of Science to Bear on Drug Abuse and Addiction

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