How do Addicted Brains Differ from Nonaddicted Brains?

It gives me a great deal of pleasure to introduce this critical review of the neuroimaging science of addictive disorders written by E. Laura Wright, CRNA, PhD, MNA. Wright has recently joined the Health and Wellness Committee’s Peer Assistance Advisors Committee. Her doctoral research focused on those resilience factors that were part of the shared experience of CRNAs in long-term recovery from chemical dependency. The evolving neuroscience that is beginning to define the persistent morphological and physiological alterations that are mediated by the processes involved in neuroplasticity are essential to our understanding of how the alterations in brain functioning parallel the alterations in physiology of other chronic diseases such as coronary artery disease. These diffuse alterations in brain physiology and downstream motivation, learning, and behaviors underpin the chronic, progressive nature of addictive disorders. I thank Dr. Wright for her significant contributions to our understanding of the neuroscience, particularly as it applies to our recovering colleagues.