Now more than ever, public media is essential. Donate Now.

Discover what neurotransmitters are involved in addiction and how neuroscientists are challenging outdated concepts of addiction identification and treatment.

Addiction And The Individual

New ideas in addiction research now focus on a wholistic view of addiction. Dr. Carl Hart, psychologist and neuroscientist at Columbia University, encourages us to look at the psychosocial factors affecting a person who suffers from addiction and how the individual is sometimes lost in an antiquated system of addiction identification and treatment.

The Process Of Addiction

Dr. Wade Berrettini, professor of psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, explains that addiction is a chronically relapsing brain disease – not a moral weakness.

Addiction And The Brain

Dr. Edmund Griffin, a Harvard trained neuroscientist and physician and assistant professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbus University shows how current research has discovered that the neurotransmitter dopamine is a powerful reinforcement in drug use.

Similarities Of Addictions

Do other behavioral addictions like gambling affect the brain similarly to the way drugs do? Dr. Eve Limbrick Oldfield, University of British Columbia illustrates the similarities and differences between gambling addiction and drug addiction.


QED with Dr. B

QED with Dr. B, is a fun and informative science series, co-produced by WOSU Public Media and the Center for Science and Industry (COSI), that talks one-on-one with the scientists, engineers and innovators who are redefining how we interact with our world.

Watch the series online or on WOSU TV on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.