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.jpg): Failed to open stream: No such file or directory in C:\Inetpub\vhosts\kidney.de\httpdocs\pget.php on line 117 J+Undergrad+Neurosci+Educ
2015 ; 14
(1
): A39-45
Nephropedia Template TP
gab.com Text
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Non-Fiction Memoirs in the Neuroscience Classroom: A Window into the Minds of
Those Affected by Addiction
#MMPMID26557794
Pollack AE
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ
2015[Fal]; 14
(1
): A39-45
PMID26557794
show ga
When I first developed an Addiction course for the Honors College at UMass-Boston
in 2006, it focused exclusively on the acute and long-term effects of
psychoactive substances on the brain. However, I soon realized that a strictly
biological perspective failed to capture how this complex disorder affected the
whole person. Students had no insight into addicts' thoughts, feelings, behaviors
or how their addiction affected others. To remedy this, students read two
non-fiction memoirs: Tweak (Nic Sheff, young adult addict) and Beautiful Boy
(David Sheff, Nic's father) along with learning underlying neurobiology and
pharmacology. Reading memoirs students saw firsthand the impact of addiction on
individuals. Inspired by the diary structure of Tweak, one assignment asked
students to collect data about themselves in order to determine their daily
patterns/rituals and to contemplate the impact of removing these activities -
like the addict after rehabilitation. Other assignments asked students to do
close reading by selecting passages from Tweak and explaining how they related to
different facets of addiction (biological, environmental, effect on individual),
and to perform a comparative analysis between Beautiful Boy and Tweak to find
points of intersection and divergence. Most recently, students used the text of
Tweak to create interactive performances for a visiting high school class.
Memoirs provided students with detailed, honest accounts of lives affected by
addiction. The assignments and class discussions facilitated students
understanding of the impact of addiction on individuals and their families, which
was a powerful adjunct to learning about its underlying neurobiology and
pharmacology.