Markus Heilig: Addiction in the Age of Brain Science

[17:13]

The talk presents how a new science of addiction is emerging, and opening up for new methods for effective treatmernt.
The basic mechanisms behind the devopment of addiction. Contributions from brain science. Impact from stress and social exclusion. . The genetic and epigenetic components. Findings from neuroscience. Influence from social and cultural environment. Experience from different approaches to treatment.

Markus Heilig arrived at Linköping University in 2015 as a professor of psychiatry and the founding director of a new Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience. For over a decade before this, he led a major NIH intramural translational research program focused on the neuropharmacology and pharmacogenetics of addictive disorders. His new research group studies brain processes through which stress and negative emotionality contribute to psychiatric disorders, and the research strategies include behavioral pharmacology and gene expression analysis in rat and mouse models, and experimental medicine in humans using behavioral, neuroendocrine, and functional brain imaging methods.

[Video and text source: TEDx Talks YouTube channel]