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Researchers who study early childhood attachment – the emotional connection or bond that forms between babies/adolescents and their primary caregivers – are using science to better understand how attachment affects the development of the brain and how early childhood attachment impacts how humans form relationships throughout their life span.

I felt like I was always swimming with Tom Petty. His songs were a staple of music blaring from the speakers of our local pool, evoking memories of Coppertone, Sun-In and my parents old Camry, where the cloth seats were always wet from our bathing suits and always seemed to smell like chlorine in the summer.

Addiction is often thought of as a decision or selfish behavior. What if I told you that the process of addiction is an automatic unconscious process of the brain that acts like a reflex? Dopamine is a big player in how the brain works and continues cycles of addiction. Dopamine is released in abundant amounts while using drugs or engaging in compulsive behaviors (e.g. gambling, sex, and compulsive eating.) But dopamine is also released as a reaction to stress, which creates the cycle of addiction.