'Your brain on drugs': Fishhooks of addiction
Depending on which study you read, the relapse rate for drug and alcohol addiction ranges from 50 to 90 percent. These numbers do not surprise Kyung-An Han, associate professor of biology, whose primary work seeks to understand how molecules in the brain mediate behavior. Han argues that addiction has nothing to do with willpower. She says, "Addiction is a problem of the brain that can be chronic and progressive. It is not a moral issue. Our behavior is largely controlled by brain function." (more)