Question

1. do you think that shopping, smoking, and gambling may activate the reward pathway and lead to addiction for some people?
2. how do you think addiction will affect the amount of dopamine in the brain? increase, decrease or stay the same?
3. rat brains also have a reward pathway. scientists use rats to study the effects of the reward pathway. why do you think they would use rats instead of people when conducting research on the effects of drugs on the brain?

Explanation:

1. Shopping, smoking, and gambling can release dopamine in the brain's reward - pathway. For some people, repeated activation can lead to addiction as the brain craves the dopamine rush.
2. Addiction initially increases dopamine release as the reward - pathway is activated. Over time, the brain may become less sensitive and require more of the addictive behavior to achieve the same dopamine level. But overall, the body tries to maintain a balance, so there can be fluctuations. However, in the context of the initial activation, it increases.
3. Rats are used instead of people in research on drug effects on the brain because they have a similar reward - pathway to humans, are easier to manage and breed in a lab, and using them raises fewer ethical concerns compared to human experimentation.

Answer:

1. Yes, they may activate the reward - pathway and lead to addiction for some people.
2. Increase
3. They have a similar reward - pathway to humans, are easier to manage in a lab, and using them has fewer ethical issues.