Name That Brain
This part of the brain helps you plan, make decisions, solve problems, and control impulses.
What is... the prefrontal cortex.
Your heart starts racing, your muscles tense, and your body prepares you to fight or escape—even though you haven't consciously decided what to do yet. What survival response has been activated?
What is... the fight-or-flight response.
The more often you repeat a behavior in the same situation, the more automatic it can become. What do we call a learned behavior that begins happening with less conscious thought?
What is... a habit.
This term describes how one person's nervous system can help another person's nervous system become calmer and more regulated.
What is... co-regulation.
BrainWise learned that this neurotransmitter is often called the brain’s “pleasure chemical”—but it is actually much more involved in motivation, learning, wanting, and predicting rewards than simply producing pleasure.
What is... dopamine.
BrainWise learned that emotions are not automatically “good” or “bad.” One important job of emotions is to provide us with this.
What is... information.
This small structure is part of the brain's reward circuitry and plays an important role in motivation and reward. Dopamine signaling here helps the brain learn what is worth pursuing.
What is... the nucleus accumbens.
A person in recovery smells something that reminds them of past substance use and suddenly experiences a strong urge to use. What has the smell become?
What is... a trigger/cue.
Every day after work, someone gets into their car and automatically reaches for a cigarette before consciously deciding to smoke.
In the basic habit loop, getting into the car would be considered what?
What is... a cue.
In this famous experiment, a caregiver suddenly stopped responding to their baby—no smiling, touching, or reacting. The babies quickly became distressed and tried harder and harder to reconnect.
What is... the Still Face Experiment?
During a craving, people often feel like the urge will keep getting stronger until they give in. But BrainWise learned that cravings typically rise, peak, and eventually fall—even when you don't act on them. What recovery technique involves noticing and “riding” that process rather than fighting it?
What is... urge surfing.
Your heart is pounding, your muscles tense, and you suddenly feel ready to argue, yell, defend yourself, or take action against a threat. Which survival response best describes this state?
What is... fight.
This larger group of brain structures is involved in reward, motivation, and forming habits and routines. It becomes especially important as repeated behaviors become more automatic.
What are... the basal ganglia.
At first, someone uses a substance because it feels rewarding. Later, they increasingly use it just to escape anxiety, irritability, stress, or feeling terrible.
What type of reinforcement is increasingly driving the behavior?
What is... negative reinforcement.
A person has the thought, “I already messed up, so I might as well keep going.” What relapse concept describes how one slip can turn into continued use because of guilt, shame, and all-or-nothing thinking?
What is... the Abstinence Violation Effect.
Scientists have found that people's heart rate, breathing, movement, and other physiological signals can sometimes become coordinated during social interaction. What BrainWise term describes this?
What is... physiological synchrony?
Your brain represents only about 2% of your body weight, but uses roughly this percentage of the body's energy at rest.
What is... about 20%.
When your nervous system is regulated enough that you can think clearly, manage emotions, connect with others, and respond instead of simply reacting, BrainWise learned that you are inside this.
What is... the Window of Tolerance.
During withdrawal, this brain system can become highly involved in anxiety, irritability, unease, and other negative emotional states—sometimes helping shift substance use from "I want to feel good" toward "I want to stop feeling bad."
What is... the (extended) amygdala.
You're extremely angry and your nervous system is highly activated. You try to "think your way out of it," but reasoning feels much harder than usual.
According to BrainWise, what should you often regulate first?
What is... the body / nervous system.
This is the brain's lifelong ability to change its connections and functioning in response to experience, learning, and repeated behavior.
What is... neuroplasticity.
In a brain-imaging study, women received the threat of an electric shock while either alone, holding a stranger's hand, or holding their husband's hand. Holding whose hand produced the strongest reduction in the brain's threat response?
Who is... their husband/spouse.
Your brain can react to an emotional threat—like rejection, criticism, or conflict—using some of the same neural systems involved in this physically unpleasant experience.
What is... physical pain.
Someone feels their heart racing, their muscles tense, and their thoughts speeding up. They use slow breathing, unclench their muscles, and take a few minutes to settle before deciding what to do.
These strategies send signals of safety from the body upward toward the brain. What type of regulation is this?
What is... bottom-up regulation.
Someone in early recovery drives past a familiar place associated with past substance use. They suddenly experience a strong craving. Their brain remembers the cue, predicts the old reward, and their executive-control system has to decide what happens next.
Name TWO brain systems or regions that could be involved and explain what each is doing.
ACCEPTABLE ANSWERS may include:
Prefrontal cortex — decision-making, inhibition, executive control
Basal ganglia — learned reward associations and habitual behavior
Nucleus accumbens — reward/motivation circuitry
Amygdala/extended amygdala — emotional and stress-related responses
Jordan gets into an argument with their partner. Their heart races, they feel overwhelmed, and suddenly they want to use. They think:
"Why am I craving right now? Nobody even mentioned drugs."
Using BrainWise, explain two reasons the argument itself could trigger a craving.
ACCEPTABLE ANSWERS:
Stress response — the argument activated the body's stress systems.
Learned association — if Jordan repeatedly used substances when stressed or upset in the past, the brain may have learned stress → substance use.
Negative reinforcement — the brain may remember that substances previously provided temporary relief from uncomfortable emotional states.
Emotional regulation — intense activation can make executive control and regulation more difficult.
For years, Taylor responded to stress by using substances.
In recovery, Taylor begins practicing a different sequence:
Stress → pause → take a walk → call someone → let the craving pass.
At first, the new response feels awkward and takes a lot of conscious effort. Months later, Taylor notices that reaching out during stress is beginning to feel more natural.
Using BrainWise, explain what Taylor's brain has been doing.
What is... learning through repetition / neuroplasticity.
Also will accept:
Researchers compared rats housed alone in standard laboratory cages with rats living in a large, enriched social environment containing other rats, space, and opportunities for activity. What famous experiment challenged the idea that exposure to a drug alone was enough to explain addictive behavior?
What is... Rat Park.
This part of your nervous system contains about 500 million neurons, can operate somewhat independently of the brain, and is sometimes nicknamed the “second brain.”
What is... the enteric nervous system (the nervous system of the gut).
During an argument, Jordan is initially angry, yelling, pacing, and highly energized. A few minutes later, Jordan becomes extremely quiet, feels numb and disconnected, and wants to completely withdraw.
Jordan's nervous system appears to have shifted from hyperarousal into this state.
What is... Hypoarousal.
Will also accept: Shutdown/Freeze