Word: fowler
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...brain scans on smokers and abstainers and found that smokers had 40% less of a brain enzyme known as monoamine oxidase B, or MAO B. The enzyme breaks down dopamine, a chemical messenger in the brain associated with feelings of pleasure. Because of its exquisitely satisfying effects, says Joanna Fowler, a chemist at Brookhaven National Laboratory and one of the study's authors, "dopamine is crucially important in reinforcing and motivating behavior...
Scientists have not yet identified what factor in smoke lowers levels of MAO B, but Fowler speculates that it may be working synergistically with nicotine to boost dopamine levels. Earlier research showed that nicotine also increases dopamine levels by gripping like Velcro to receptors clustered in the forebrain...
...even more dangerous synergy at work, according to Alan Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. "Every substance that is addicting leads to an increase in dopamine levels in the brain," he says. That may help explain why people who abuse one substance so often abuse another. Fowler likens the effect to creating a biochemical pathway or channel: "A drug may leave an imprint in the brain, so that the next drug becomes more pleasurable than it would otherwise." In short, the brain gets into a rut that just grows deeper and deeper...
...Fowler notes that he is still playing an active role in U.S. government. He currently serves on the President's Commission on the Roles and Responsibilities of the Intelligence Community, which is "re-evaluating the mission and responsibilities of the intelligence in the US," he says...
...hope that I can help the mission of the Kennedy School and the IOP, which is to inspire a love of public service into students at the earliest possibility; I know that I will learn much from the fellows and students here," Fowler adds...