Tim Parker, a retired Augustana University professor, will be bringing a discussion on addiction to the community of Edberg.
Parker, author of Trapped by the High: What Addiction is and How It Changes the Brain, spent 37 years as a professor of biological psychology at the University of Alberta Augustana Campus.
"In my last few years, I did a lot of research," said Parker, also the author of a textbook. "The textbook was on basically all aspects of biological psychology. As a result of that, I had written a chapter on emotion and I got very interested in positive psychology ... that led to an interest in euphoria and my own focus was how drugs affect the brain."
According to Parker, the presentation he does on addiction looks at the topic from a general perspective, working to dispel "myths and misconceptions" about addiction.
"I don't talk very much about specific regions in the brain," said Parker. "I just talk about the fact that they change and what the significance of that is, and more importantly, why they change. And, I talk about how those changes lead to things like tolerance and withdrawal symptoms."
Parker has done his presentation in Cold Lake, St. Paul, and a number of Rotary Clubs in Edmonton and has plans to do more around the province.
"I do have a chapter on behavioural addictions," said Parker. "Waht's interesting about them, and what qualifies them as actual addictions is they produce very much the same kind of brain changes that happen when somebody uses drugs of abuse. They include basically all the internet and all the phone addictions and gambling, shopping, even running."
Parker most recently spoke at the Battle River Arts and Innovation in Neurology (BRAIN) Conference held in Camrose at the end of October.
The Edberg presentation is taking place on Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. at Freedom Heritage Church, a short distance from New Norway, Alta.
