Drugs and the Brain - The Neurobiology of Addiction
A 3-hour course intended to provide need-to-know information about current neurobiological research findings that are of critical importance to all addiction professionals.   It is an original course based on information from the field of addiction research, as well as the publication "Your Brain on Drugs" (click to order), copyright 1997 by Hazelden Foundation, and "Drugs, The Brain, and Behavior," copyright 1998 by Haworth Medical Press (available through Haworth Medical Press, 1-800-HAWORTH, in both soft and hard copy). The course was updated and revised in April or 2004. 

 Goals/Objectives

By participating in this Distance Learning Course the trainee will:

  1. Examine the structure of the neuron (nerve cells) as the "brains" of the nervous system;
  2. Learn about the function of neurotransmitters  which send chemical "messages" between neurons;
  3. Develop and understanding of the neurotransmitter Dopamine  as one neurotransmitter that is useful in understanding addiction;
  4. Explore other important neurotransmitters which can be compared to dopamine;
  5. Learn how drugs interfere with neurotransmitters;
  6. Review new findings through research which indicate addiction is a disease, and treatable

Your Course Instructors:
Carlton K. Erickson
Ph.D.

Carlton (Carl) K. Erickson, a research scientist, has been studying the effects of alcohol on the brain for over 25 years. Carl received his Ph.D. degree in pharmacology from Purdue University in 1965. He has held tenured teaching and research positions at The University of Kansas and The University of Texas since 1969. He presently is the Pfizer Centennial Professor of Pharmacology and Director of the Addiction Science Research and Education Center in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a member of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA), the College for Prevention of Drug Dependence (CPDD), and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP).

Carl is broadly knowledgeable about the alcoholism research literature, since he is an active scientist and Science Editor of the new Betty Ford Center newsletter, Findings. Publisher of over 150 scientific and professional articles, he is also co-editor of the book, Addiction Potential of Abused Drugs and Drug Classes (Haworth Press, 1990), and co-author of Your Brain on Drugs (Hazelden, 1996), and Drugs, The Brain and Behavior (Haworth Medical Press, 1998). He formerly wrote a regular commentary called "Voices of the Afflicted" for, and is now an Associate Editor of, the scientific journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. He has participated in the Professionals in Residence program at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, CA and is a recipient of the Betty Ford Center Visionary Award (2000). As a neuroscientist, Carl believes that alcoholism and other addictions are neurochemical disorders which present themselves clinically as different subtypes, each related to a different neurochemical pathology which produces the primary symptom of compulsive drug taking.