Free will?

This is NOT a behavior problem. This is a BRAIN problem.

We are not bad....but there are things that we can do to help ourselves...we must find a way to do so.

Then, The Infinite Mind's Marit Haahr reports on a fascinating study that shows a possible link between the dopamine drugs given for Parkinson's disease and compulsive gambling. If a change in dopamine levels can turn a thrifty doctor into a high-stakes gambler, that's important evidence of the biological underpinnings of a disorder often stigmatized as a personality flaw.

Dopamine plays a crucial role in motivating and rewarding our behavior. But what do we actually SEE when we look at how it works inside the brain? Dr. Goodwin then interviews Dr. Hans Breiter, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an expert in brain imaging.

Dr. Breiter has been studying the reward circuitry in the brain, which involves dopamine neurons and dopamine-producing regions of the brain. He says these reward systems were first discovered in rodents -- researchers found that when they placed an electrode in a certain part of a rodent's brain, the animal would repeatedly press a key to deliver electrical stimulation to that area. With modern imaging techniques, we're now able to see these same circuits in the human brain, and we can begin to understand the systems that underlie motivation. He says, "These systems underlie what is at the core of what you might call free will, what is that core of what drives us to do anything at all.""These systems underlie what is at the core of what you might call free will, what is that core of what drives us to do anything at all."

http://www.lcmedia.com/mind330.htm