015-TV-02

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jan. 16, 2002

MEDIA ADVISORY / CALENDAR LISTING

UCI NEUROBIOLOGY LECTURE TO EXPLORE THE LINK BETWEEN BRAIN DYSFUNCTION AND DRUG ADDICTION

EVENT:
The eighth Irvine Health Foundation (IHF) Distinguished Lecture Series on Brain, Learning and Memory continues with a discussion by Dr. Nora D. Volkow, leading psychiatrist and neurobiologist, on "Drug Addiction: Why the Brain Loses Control."

DATE:
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2002.

LOCATION:
Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine

COST:
Free to the public; doors open at 7 p.m. Parking is $5.

CONTACT:
(949) 824-4275, or see www.cnlm.uci.edu

BACKGROUND:
What has happened to the brain of a person who is unable to control the desire to take a drug despite a conscious effort to stop? Brookhaven National Laboratory psychiatrist and neurobiologist Dr. Nora Volkow uses state-of-the-art imaging technologies to probe inside the brains of addicted people. These brain images show dysfunction both in the biochemical circuits involved with reward and in the frontal regions involved with drive and motivation. Some of these changes are a consequence of chronic exposure to drugs, but others may antedate drug use and predispose the subjects to addiction.

The IHF Distinguished Lecture Series on Brain, Learning and Memory is a free public lecture series co-sponsored by the Irvine Health Foundation and UCI's Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. The lecture series presents leading neuroscientists to discuss advances in brain-related research and therapies. Upcoming series lectures are on March 19 and May 22.

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Contact:
Tom Vasich
(949) 824-6455
tmvasich@uci.edu

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE: A TOP-10 PUBLIC UNIVERSITY

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