Now there's an explanation. It offers insight into the bizarre behavior of drug addicts. But it also raises troubling questions about the long-term use of stimulants used to treat kids with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, ADHD.
Learning experiences literally change the brain, note Bryan Kolb, PhD, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, and colleagues. These changes in brain structure are thought to be how we learn from experience. It's why we do things better -- or know better than to do them -- the second time around.
Drug users don't seem to learn from experience. Even when it seems obvious that they're ruining their health and destroying others' lives, they persist in risky and irresponsible behavior. Why? To find out, Kolb and colleagues gave amphetamines and cocaine to lab rats.
After being moved to new cages filled with places to explore and interesting toys, the brains of normal rats grew lots of new connections. Rats given cocaine or amphetamines also explored and played in their new cages. But their brains didn't grow new connections.
"We gave these drugs to the animals and put them in environments that should make big changes in their brains. But that didn't happen. It was quite surprising," Kolb tells WebMD. "It does lead to the idea that some of the stupid things addicts do -- self-hurting behavior, risky acts -- could be related to the fact that they are not learning the consequences of their behavior the way you and I should."
Stimulant ADHD Drugs
Kids with ADHD have something in common with speed freaks. Both often take the same kinds of drugs -- stimulants -- day after day.
The rats in Kolb's study took amphetamine. Different amphetamines -- such as Adderall and Dexedrine -- are effective ADHD treatments. Other stimulant drugs with similar effects include Ritalin, Concerta, Cylert, and Metadate.
These drugs aren't the subject of Kolb's report in the August 25 early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. But Kolb's ongoing work is looking at the effects of Ritalin.