Marywood University will host Donald F. Slish, Ph.D., professor of biological sciences and pre-health professions advisory committee chair at the State University of New York, Plattsburgh, for his presentation titled, “The Neurobiology of Opiate Addiction.” The event will take place on Thursday, March 21, 2019, from 7-9 p.m., at the Center for Natural and Health Sciences, in the Comerford Theatre, and the presentation is free and open to the public.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Every day, more than 130 people in the United States die after overdosing on opioids. The misuse of and addiction to opioids—including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl—is a serious national crisis that affects public health as well as social and economic welfare.”
“The Neurobiology of Opiate Addiction” presentation will address questions, such as “How does addiction to these dangerous drugs happen?” Further, the presentation, aside from the psychological and sociological explanations, will discuss how our neurobiology predisposes us to repeating extremely pleasurable experiences, due to a network in the brain called the limbic system, which is part of our evolutionary inheritance.