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An updated and expanded edition on the roles that brain function and genetics play in addiction. Over the past 10 years, neurobiologic and genetic research has provided an increased understanding of what causes drug addiction in the brain's reward pathway. Knowing this leads to a better understanding of how it may be treated and even reversed in those who successfully overcome the disease. This is especially true with addiction's possible precursors of mild to moderate substance use disorders. These latter disorders can usually be treated more easily by less intensive models of "treatment" that do not require actual brain chemistry re-regulation over time.In this new edition, there are updated scientific references to support addiction as a medical brain disease, using the prevailing neurobiology, genetics, and psychological scientific literature.