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The Neuroscience of Addiction – with Marc Lewis

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The Royal Institution

Neuroscientist and former addict Marc Lewis makes the case that addiction isn’t a disease at all, although it has been recently branded as such.
Watch the Q&A: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEjMi1OPnYY
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In recent decades doctors have branded addiction a brain disease, and treated it as such. But in this riveting and provocative talk, neuroscientist and former addict Marc Lewis makes the convincing case that addiction isn’t a disease at all. Using personal stories and robust science, he explains how addiction really impacts our brains, and how neuroplasticity and a developmental approach to treatment can help to overcome it.

Marc Lewis is a neuroscientist and professor of developmental psychology, recently at the University of Toronto, where he taught and conducted research from 1989 to 2010, and presently at Radboud University in the Netherlands. He is the author or co-author of over 50 journal publications in psychology and neuroscience, editor of an academic book on developmental psychology, and co-author of a book for parents. More recently he has written two books concerning addiction.

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49 thoughts on “The Neuroscience of Addiction – with Marc Lewis”

  12. Yes! I'm an "A & D" counselor in a community behavioral healthcare clinic and 90% of the "evidence based practice" we are supposed to use is worthless @&$&(%$@. And this presenter lays out what I have been thinking and seeing (with the study of many educated and experienced people like Sapolsky and Mate) for so long. Dr. (?) Lewis may just become another valuable resource (gotta get his book). However, I do realize that the old guard and ignorant will be be hard to change.

  13. My experiences with heroin/cocaine among other substances labeled as "addictive" left me feeling like its meaning is somewhat fictional. In the 19th century the word addiction had no negative connotations at all. It was just a love for something you do often. Then in the 20th century with the drug war taking off it became a part of the propaganda arsenal. My experience with addictive drugs was that addiction is not what I thought it was. I realized I was lied to and that people with serious problems with drugs have traumatic sorrowful lives often filled with different forms of abuse. Its fundamentally wrong that our loving governments try to encourage us to hate these people. I think if drug prohibition were to end everybody would be able to have that first hand experience and grasp exactly what is going on. There would be much more understanding and ability to authentically care for our fellow citizen.

    Don't be lied to. End drug prohibition. Have your first hand experience. Realize they are waging a war over fuck all. Get those innocent people out of jail.

  14. Oh my, this is obviously all wrong. All one has to realize is that people are generally not born addicted. People become addicted, for example to cigarettes, because they are stupid as young people and do not realize what cigarettes actually are. In order to see "addiction" as what it is the period before addiction must be investigated. The cause of addiction is a knowledge problem, not a disease. That only happens after the person is addicted. If people had the knowledge and good sense to realize what addicting substances are before they tried them they would not get involved with them.
    Frankly I do not understand how this guy could be so obviously wrong when he claims to have made a study of this. He is obviously not very bright and to use a cliche, cannot see the forest for the trees.

  15. Ridiculous. What does he suggest? I've completely changed my life because of 12 step programs. And if he knew anythinng about 12 steps u do t have to stop using drugs to be a member, you just need the desire to stop furthermore it isn't religous it is spiritual and you don't need to believe in God just a something outside of yourself. It works for millions of people. If this guy thinks he has a better idea, then hes an ego maniac I spent 20 years as a heroin addict and tried everything to get clean go to college,.learn an instrument, start businesses, volunteering, none of that got me clean. Ya know what did AA. He has no idea how 12 step programs work. Misinformation! At the base of 12 step programs is one addict helping another. That's it and that's all. No amount of family pleading, begging or years with psychologists, or 14 years in prison as the criminal system tried to get me to quit didnt stop me. But a 12 step program changed my life. Now I am a father and a family man and have been able to put all that behind me and I'm finally happy. I know hundreds of men and women in recovery who have had 20 years of sobriety and relapsed, so u best believe no amount of clean time will stop.u from using unless your vigilant. 12 step.programs have worked for me and countless others. I've never seen it fail a person who thoroughly worked the program

  17. Thumbs up to Marc Lewis! Not only because he gives a brilliant talk on a highly controversial topic – in my view the only reasonable perspective (addiction as neural learning).
    He is also willing to leave his neuroscience lab in order to reach out to 'ordinary' people in the open public.
    I read his excellent book "Memoirs …" and I'll soon acquire his latest book with lots of anecdotal cases of genuine drug addicts.

  18. Thank you. I'm in a minnesota model treatment center and i noticed it was very pseudo-scientific. This gives me a more balanced view of my condition and recovery.

  19. So, I remember my first temptation to try my first cigerette and I ignored the feeling. But, now I smoke a lot of vape does that make me addicted to smoke? Addiction isnt a disease! The choice and behaviroisms causes the addiction to development out of sheer enjoyment to simply do. Marc Lewis is right on

  20. Very Informative talk. His effort to explain this complex topic is commendable. The profound psychological basis of addiction is clearly explained. The role of Mindfulness meditation (Vipassana) in alleviating addiction is scientifically proved and his emphasis on this is great ?

  21. In the first three minutes of the lecture, conflating the influence of Twelve Step Programs on Science ("these two strange bedfellows") he cites the National Institute on Drug Addiction's assertion that "the disease is produced by chronic administration of the drugs themselves".

    NIDA is not a branch of the Twelve Step philosophy, and clearly is not reflecting the principles of AA when it made this statement, which he quotes. According to the principles of AA, chronic drinking or drug abuse is a symptom of the psychological disease that precedes the organic damage done by alcohol and other drugs.

    The disease is characterized by behavioral and cognitive patterns that can be modified. It is this treatment that initiates a process of recovery. In much the same way that a stroke patient may regain faculties of cognition, speech and movement even after irreparable damage to specific brain tissue by relying on the plasticity of the nervous system in rerouting stimulation and regrowing neural connections, the recovery from the effects of alcoholism and drug abuse depends upon rigorous practice and abstinence from further use of drugs and alcohol.

    Thus, it is not the drugs that cause the addiction, it is the chronic use of drugs that inevitably cause organic damage to the brain structure. The disease (which he terms a "skill") is the cause of the compulsive behavior that leads to that use.

    The next serious misapprehension about Twelve Step programs is revealed following his discussion of the Now Trials around 39:00, when he describes the "perfect experiment" designed to demonstrate the concept of Ego Fatigue. He makes a point that the cognitive dissonance of being faced to choose between a bowl of cookies and a bowl of radishes is analagous to addiction because, "You can't keep trying not to do something". The Twelve Step program does not consist of an endless effort to keep trying to do something. It is based upon inner reflection, on a wider context of perception to those impulses affecting one's behavior, deliberate action in service of those who are struggling to gain this balance in their own lives.

    In other words the effort of recovery is based upon other choices beyond the simplistic and unimaginative one of cookies and radishes, or drugs and hard reality. In its "perfection" Science often simplifies at the expense of comprehension.

  23. This was so helpful!! And agreed, it’s ridiculous to compare my addiction with someone suffering from a disease, it’s a whole different idea. I also have been used as an addict by programs in America. The Bowery Mission uses vulnerable women and destroys their confidence and uses the fact that they can turn you out onto the street at any moment to manipulate us and watch us as they amuse themselves. I’ve heard the men’s program is very good, but the women ‘s program is straight up abuse. They are given a lot of money, clothing and food, and it goes to the people who work there, it’s truly awful. The volunteers are wonderful however, and they have no idea we are messed with like this. And they treat women of color much much better than the white women there as well. Anyway, it’s wonderful to hear that there is hope for me and I can get off this roller coaster one day…

  24. People should always read his book “ memoirs of an addicted brain “ i just finished reading it a week ago and he talks about him as an addict and what he went through! Really good !

  25. 42:00 Nancy Reagan's "Just say no" campaign was directed at keeping children off drugs, not as a means to addiction recovery. This guy totally misses this point because, well, he's got an addiction to…addiction. The "Just say no" advice is one of the best pieces of advice that a parent can give a child because most children don't want to do things that might harm them, they just need a way to get away from the peer pressure. "Just say no" gives them that way. Its a basis for good parenting.

  27. I don’t know what to believe anymore. I think it’s hard to get addicted to something healthy because there’s usually no immediate reward.

  29. #1 rule. If you try to feel good all the time, with a legal script or illegal drugs, you will build up a tolerance and get addicted. I'm not preaching. I'm on legal opiates because of a bad accident. I am in daily pain. But If I take enough to be pain free all the time, my tolerance quickly builds and I'm on the path to addiction.

  30. This tells me that the medical model of addiction isn't wrong, but it's incomplete. It used to be thought that the brain didn't change after a certain age. We know know that it is 'plastic' much longer. I was an optometrist. Originally, I was taught that if amblyopia was not treated in early childhood, it was too late. Now they are saying it's only too late if you're dead. And the treatment is really training the brain to pay attention to signals it always ignored, to train that pathway to work more efficiently, etc. With addiction treatment, there is a similarity there, although it's likely more complex – to retrain the brain, to strengthen the desired pathways, etc… because the brain CAN change. It gives everybody something to work towards… It gives a better, more balanced view of the situation. Yes, addiction is stubborn, but it can be treated and overcome in most cases. Both and, not either or.

  31. Good info … He sounds like he had first hand experience before the presentation. Better than listening to people that have no idea what they are talking about. Thanks Marc

  33. In my opinion, addiction of substances is achieved by the majority of people for the same and very common reason. That is to feel better about a bad aspect of our life. For me, it was losing my Father at 5yrs old. Murdered and dismembered. With alot of local media attention. Very gruesome and Tragic… which ultimately impacted my life by immediately growing up very fast. I had to be more of a Father to Joshua, my kid Brother 2urs younger than me, instead of just on older sibling. And also, be there for my Mom, for emotional support and the older I got, financially had to contribute. The pain of my Fathers loss had an immediate impact of anxiety, socially conscious, and fear of failure and the consequences that came with it. The first addictive thing I ever tried was a cigarette. 1 was 10yrs old. By the time 7grade rolled around I stepped up to Booze. Then my Junior year Pain Pills, After tearing ACL playing football and having reconstructive surgery.
    After that, it was the same sad story we know all to well. 23yrs I was arrested for my 1st Felony and sentenced to 6yrs for Robbery, Kidnapping, and a Firearm. I was on 10 Oxy 80's a day, by the time of my arrest. I was giving nothing for the 2 weeks of Hell in a Jail cell. From there due to the fact I had very little money sent to me I chose to spend my little money on the necessity rather than impulse. And over time I kept up that way and started to feel better over time. I will honestly tell you that with only surrounding myself with people that had no interest in Pills, exercise daily, and got involved with team sports again…. It wasn't until I had completed my 4th yr I genuinely could say with 100% confidence that no matter if a pile of pills for free were to be placed in front of me. That I would absolutely not do it. And with that experience. It's why I believe most of us take the same road to get to our addiction. But to leave from addiction we all have our own road leave addiction behind. Addiction is a condition acquired through hardships and traumas inflicted by our impulses as a society. I was able to move past addiction with no professional medical help at all… it can be done. The Human Mind is it's own worst enemy. But the Mind is it's greatest allie just the same. Thank you Marc Lewis for having the resolve to seek out a better more effective solution overall.

  34. You can get addicted to anything wether it’s a drug or other stuff. Does that mean mean your brain has a disease or something is wrong with your will power.

  36. Addiction IS a permanent condition. Any addict who has relapsed after years or even decades of sobriety can tell you it picks right back up where it left off. Alcoholics will be back to a 12 pack a day within a week of relapsing. Or by the very next day. You may regain brain matter that allows you to reflect on your decisions more, but the powerful neurocircuits that form during addiction never fade. Relapsing is like a time machine that brings the compulsion back as powerfully as if it never left.

    I agree that AA is not a good model for everyone. Most alcoholics get sober on their own, according to the largest study ever conducted by the NIH. The reason is similar to what this guy describes: AA demands too much effort. It works when a person is able to define their life as being about sobriety. But it comes at the expense of some of your other goals, your free time, your personal autonomy and identity, and the constant mental effort of "living god's will." It's an enormous drain that asks more than most people are willing to give.

    Recovery does demand a lot more than abstinence. But personal growth can happen many ways. AA seems to work best for people who are conformist, social, and capable of religiosity. There aren't many good options outside of AA, so most of us just find our own path. I'm glad I did. I don't "work" to be sober. I work to improve my life because I want to, not because I have to. That's a much less demanding effort in the long run. I was never able to stay sober in AA. Just did not like the lifestyle at all.

  37. To George Marcunis. Marks presentation combined with your response is genius; so thank you, but, plus, nature, nurture, culture, structure, trauma and language as separate pillars of causation and this is not an exhaustive list.
    G.P.

  42. it's so sad….I am having a hard time dealing with the idea that my teen daughter is attracted to both alcohol and drugs :(. It kinds of makes sense, no matter how well I raised her to be she still ran to the dark side of things :(. I feel helpless, I know from now on I have to be there for her, for making the wrong choices in her life. I personally don't believe in the 12 step bs, once you get in the hard core drugs in your system even if you try to get better, you'll get addicted to something else. Sorry for being hard on those who wants to get help etc. Everything starts from the get go say no to drugs and don't let peer pressure get to you, I did I never touch anything in my life and I've seen teens and adults do it, and a friend from childhood passed away last year from hanging with the wrong crowd. I hate drugs and alcohol and dealers much more!!!!

  44. Mmmm, quote – "all mammals, even pigeons" ……and he is scientist?? Difficult to treat him seriously if he doesn´t understand the definition of a mammal. Birds are not mammals, fish are not plants, reptiles are not insects, this is basic biology. I suspect that his forrmer addiction has addled much of his brain.

  45. Havent watched yet: To put it simple: Does addiction boil down to the frontal cortex seeking to; or habitually seeking to over stimulate the Limbic System? If so its extremely ironic:
    What I did with Back Pain and self induced addiction via opiods was to come to a conclusion: The Pain was never gone and the struggle was made worse:
    So seeking to help myself I began a study of self: Self observation I mean:

    I gathered small books of information which opposed me and my warped ideology of addiction being ok and sat them all around the house: After reading and getting fed up reading my mind finally succumbed to the information: I noticed how I would take the junk then await its reward but not be doing anything about my Back Pain [Degenerated Discs on S1 to L3 L2 etc] Pain relief is an illusion or rather a delusion to an addict:

    So what I personally did was observe my behaviors before and after the `medicines` and for some reason I began to destruct the idea of this `medicine` and reconstruct it as a poison in my mind: Each time I looked at the poison I was intentionally telling myself that this urgency to take it is a sickness and I should feel sick instead of good: Gradually upon taking the junk I would feel an actual illness and not the `effects` so to speak:

    After a few weeks of mental struggle/no sleep and vomiting `roasting water` [well worth it] I began to feel an almighty pain in my stomach [intentionally] whenever I poisoned myself resulting in my entire gut system rejecting the poison anytime I dared take it: Now I feel ill on the idea of taking opiods/opiates and also know a lot about myself and the methods of deployment via the mind:

    I also learned how to not simply Eat on demand but instead to `Fast` during this period of self reflection: Stuffing pills down the throat over time requires a stomach filled with some type of food or liquid: Both become afflictions: I havent had a better state of life than NOW: I have routine and forward projections and all the normal stuff life has to offer: Not everyone takes their self on though: But those who do; succeed: Thanks to everyone who gave me input of course:

    MIND BODY SYNDROME WORKS BTW:

  47. Recovery, has shown that; Knowledge of ones conditions of being an addict or alcoholic has never recovered one person that is suffering from the disease…
    I have seen many people recover in the 12 step program's and more that don't because they don't or won't do the 12 steps. I don't know or see a better choice or ratings then the 12 step program's today.
    If your drinking your self to death and want help, please make the call for help. Good sponsors are hard to find at times, but dont you give up the recovery miracle is still happening every day in the 12 step program's today.

    Good luck in your efforts, I enjoyed your talk.

  49. Most people fail explaining AA saying your powerless, broken, have a disease etc because they are stuck in the basics of AA..but the meat and potatoes is from step 4 -12 where the x drinker addresses root issues and undergoes a transformation, hence he is enlightened..now who is gonna tell a totally transformed person that he is broken? no one! So the trouble is all these meetings are stuck between steps 1 and 3, the 11th step recommends meditation and spiritual seeking outside of AA and the intro to the AA text says clearly that the classification of the alcoholic is outside the scope of the AA big book..

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