{"id":3709,"date":"2023-08-10T00:05:32","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T14:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/substance-use-messes-with-your-ability-to-adapt-cant-make-smart-choices-for-the-better-when-it-really-counts\/"},"modified":"2023-08-10T00:05:32","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T14:05:32","slug":"substance-use-messes-with-your-ability-to-adapt-cant-make-smart-choices-for-the-better-when-it-really-counts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/substance-use-messes-with-your-ability-to-adapt-cant-make-smart-choices-for-the-better-when-it-really-counts\/","title":{"rendered":"Substance Use Messes with your Ability to Adapt! (Can\u2019t make smart choices for the better when it really counts)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<strong>Alcohol, substance misuse causes brain changes, reducing &#8216;cognitive flexibility&#8217;<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201c<strong>Cognitive flexibility\u201d involves adapting to changes in circumstances to achieve favorable outcomes.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Certain substances influence cognitive flexibility, and researchers are still working to understand the interactions and changes that occur.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A\u200b recent study explored the link between reduced cognitive flexibility and the use of alcohol and cocaine.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The data offered vital insight into the underlying neural pathways involved in these brain changes.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>\u201cCognitive flexibility is a complex phenomenon that typically refers to the ability to shift one\u2019s mental focus and adapt to new obstacles, goals, and patterns. Being able to think and act effectively in response to changes in stimuli, environments, and surprises signifies a healthy level of cognitive flexibility. Cognitive flexibility is important because our environment is rapidly changing, and when our thinking patterns remain rigid and fixed, we become unable to adapt to our environment.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn this study, we see how some of that switch between impulsivity and compulsivity takes place \u2014 neurons are sending signals to release high levels of dopamine, which then inhibits other deep structures that enforce cognitive flexibility. As this cycle of behavioral abuse continues, the structures continue to inhibit cognitive flexibility, thus leading to a negative feedback loop,\u201d Spielberg added.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.medicalnewstoday.com\/articles\/how-alcohol-cocaine-impacts-brain-health?utm_source=Sailthru%20Email&amp;utm_medium=Email&amp;utm_campaign=MNT%20Daily%20News&amp;utm_content=2023-07-20&amp;apid=32370179&amp;rvid=29641d27972af61f33324a5ccb7667f90ff47eef15e469fd88cc0242a1a9ea31\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">(Source: medicalnewstoday.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;Alcohol, substance misuse causes brain changes, reducing &#8216;cognitive flexibility&#8217; \u201cCognitive flexibility\u201d involves adapting to changes in circumstances to achieve favorable outcomes. Certain substances influence cognitive flexibility, and researchers are still working to understand the interactions and changes that occur. A\u200b recent study explored the link between reduced cognitive flexibility and the use of alcohol and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-drug-info-sheets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3709\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au\/wp_site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}