It's been known for some time that alcohol in beer, wine and liquor, consumed in large enough quantities, can trigger the release of dopamine in the brain. But a new study reveals that the mere taste of beer, in the absence of any alcoholic mechanism, can touch off a dopamine surge, as well.

This is Drained, a wordless, 10-minute film with a simple synopsis — "the story of how a man's addictions can destroy the woman he loves" — but intensely unnerving stop-motion animation using household items.

In 2011, Dunkin' Donuts teamed up with CareerBuilder to shed some light on U.S. coffee consumption in the workplace. After polling 4,700 American workers, they concluded that "some professionals need coffee more than others."

It's well known that cognitive enhancers like Ritalin and Adderall are all the rage in U.S. colleges. But what's less known is how the practice is starting to take off in high schools. As a recent New York Times article notes, this is potentially worrisome — and not just because of the rampant off-label use of these…

Over on Mind Hacks, Vaughan Bell has put together a great little post that calls attention to just how worthless, misleading and inaccurate the catch phrase "as addictive as cocaine" has become in the popular press.

All drugs affect your brain differently... that's assuming, of course, that these drugs have a brain to affect in the first place.

Scientists this week published a study that reveals what the human brain looks like under the influence of psilocybin, the hallucinogenic chemical found in magic mushrooms.

All humans crave salt once in a while. The desire is hardwired into an ancient part of our brains, the hypothalamus, because we need it to keep our bodies working properly. Now it looks like some of the more addictive drugs out there could be co-opting this neurological system — which means our desire for salt is what …

Cocaine is a hugely addictive drug, capable of fundamentally changing the brains of those who use it. But that dependence doesn't necessarily come out of nowhere, as we've now discovered what part of the brain predisposes people to cocaine use.