Healing Trauma and Emotional Pain with EMDR
July 10th, 2007
For most of the history of psychotherapy, we’ve had to guess at how the brain really works. Until recently, researchers believed that all brain development occurred before age 5 or so. But as we learn more about Neurology through research and brain imaging we now know that the brain continues to develop throughout our lives.
Now we know that neurons – the cells of the brain – work in linked clusters or groups. When new information or input is familiar or similar to something from our past, the memory of the past event is often triggered. Game shows that play a snippet of a song rely on this aspect of brain functioning – if we know the song, our neurons will access the next several notes or words until we remember the name of the song. Repetition makes neural pathways stronger – which is why repetition helps us learn and memorize information.
Smoking May Interfere with Recovery from Addiction
July 10th, 2007
Science Daily — Alcoholics frequently smoke. Anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of individuals in North America who seek alcoholism treatment are also chronic smokers. New findings indicate that smoking may interfere with alcoholics’ neurocognitive recovery during their first six to nine months of abstinence from alcohol.
“There are several possible explanations for the concurrent use of alcohol and tobacco products,” said Timothy C. Durazzo, assistant adjunct professor in the department of radiology at the University of California San Francisco, and corresponding author for the study. “Nicotine and alcohol may enhance each other’s rewarding properties; nicotine may decrease some of alcohol’s negative effects on cognition and motor incoordination; paired use of nicotine and alcohol may produce a strong association between the two substances such that the use of one leads to cravings for the other; and there may exist a genetic vulnerability for concurrent active cigarette smoking and alcohol dependence.”
Smoking May Interfere with Recovery
July 7th, 2007
Science Daily — Alcoholics frequently smoke. Anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of individuals in North America who seek alcoholism treatment are also chronic smokers. New findings indicate that smoking may interfere with alcoholics’ neurocognitive recovery during their first six to nine months of abstinence from alcohol.
“There are several possible explanations for the concurrent use of alcohol and tobacco products,” said Timothy C. Durazzo, assistant adjunct professor in the department of radiology at the University of California San Francisco, and corresponding author for the study. “Nicotine and alcohol may enhance each other’s rewarding properties; nicotine may decrease some of alcohol’s negative effects on cognition and motor incoordination; paired use of nicotine and alcohol may produce a strong association between the two substances such that the use of one leads to cravings for the other; and there may exist a genetic vulnerability for concurrent active cigarette smoking and alcohol dependence.”