MONROE - A Monroe High School graduate is doing his part to help fight the growing problem of opioid addiction.
Matthew Hearing recently received a $1 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for his transitional work as new faculty at Marquette University and his research into how opioid abuse and addiction affects rational decision-making.
Hearing, 35, works in the field evaluating how addiction affects behavior.
"As you lose your ability in cortical areas for decisions, your brain allows less restrictive decisions," Hearing said.
Research has found that abuse of these types of drugs can lead to disregarding safety of self and personal health.
For Hearing, a 1999 MHS graduate, research began during his undergraduate education at Marquette in biomedical sciences. Work continued past his undergraduate research and into a doctorate degree in neuroscience at the Medical University of South Carolina. Two post-doctoral research fellowships followed. He returned to Marquette this year, and lives with his wife Amber in Whitefish Bay along with their two young children.
Hearing said during his undergraduate studies in the early 2000s, addictive behavior was seen as deplorable behavior, not a condition beyond the control of the user.
"At the time, drug addiction was just seen as someone's fault, not a disease," Hearing said.
Currently, opioid abuse in Wisconsin and throughout the country is so rampant it is considered a health epidemic. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, improper use of opioids is "a serious public health issue" and is a disease "that results when the opioid has made changes to the brain."
Hearing said his interest was piqued at the idea of certain individuals being more susceptible to drug addiction. His research focuses on how these substances cause the human brain to change.
Hearing would also like to locate the patterns in brain activity which trigger use of the drug. The goal of Hearing's research is to prevent relapse in people by identifying what causes this disregard for health and safety in order to help individuals make better choices again."The ultimate first step has got to be identifying," Hearing said. "Decipher whether or not the change is involved in things like relapse. The idea right now is getting people who are addicted back to a state in which they can regain control of their actions."
Experiments using rat subjects can take time, and Hearing admits the reactions of rodents are different than studying on actual human beings, but tedious work toward accuracy is what is most important. Strong results need to be provable through successful reproductions.
A big piece of addiction to opioids is the withdrawal state. Hearing said not only does the abuse eventually lead to habitual abuse of drugs, but the awful side effects of trying to eliminate them from the system are also factors in why many people never overcome addiction. By allowing individuals the chance to make rational decisions once again, surroundings markers or triggers can become less of a learned behavior for drug use.
Currently, the best treatment to help others addicted to opioids are facilities, such as methadone clinics, to help ease withdrawal symptoms.
Technological solutions could be made to stop those learned behaviors associated with abuse, and Hearing said by "disrupting those associations within the brain," he and other researchers could make great strides toward helping those who suffer from drug abuse.
Matthew Hearing recently received a $1 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for his transitional work as new faculty at Marquette University and his research into how opioid abuse and addiction affects rational decision-making.
Hearing, 35, works in the field evaluating how addiction affects behavior.
"As you lose your ability in cortical areas for decisions, your brain allows less restrictive decisions," Hearing said.
Research has found that abuse of these types of drugs can lead to disregarding safety of self and personal health.
For Hearing, a 1999 MHS graduate, research began during his undergraduate education at Marquette in biomedical sciences. Work continued past his undergraduate research and into a doctorate degree in neuroscience at the Medical University of South Carolina. Two post-doctoral research fellowships followed. He returned to Marquette this year, and lives with his wife Amber in Whitefish Bay along with their two young children.
Hearing said during his undergraduate studies in the early 2000s, addictive behavior was seen as deplorable behavior, not a condition beyond the control of the user.
"At the time, drug addiction was just seen as someone's fault, not a disease," Hearing said.
Currently, opioid abuse in Wisconsin and throughout the country is so rampant it is considered a health epidemic. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, improper use of opioids is "a serious public health issue" and is a disease "that results when the opioid has made changes to the brain."
Hearing said his interest was piqued at the idea of certain individuals being more susceptible to drug addiction. His research focuses on how these substances cause the human brain to change.
Hearing would also like to locate the patterns in brain activity which trigger use of the drug. The goal of Hearing's research is to prevent relapse in people by identifying what causes this disregard for health and safety in order to help individuals make better choices again."The ultimate first step has got to be identifying," Hearing said. "Decipher whether or not the change is involved in things like relapse. The idea right now is getting people who are addicted back to a state in which they can regain control of their actions."
Experiments using rat subjects can take time, and Hearing admits the reactions of rodents are different than studying on actual human beings, but tedious work toward accuracy is what is most important. Strong results need to be provable through successful reproductions.
A big piece of addiction to opioids is the withdrawal state. Hearing said not only does the abuse eventually lead to habitual abuse of drugs, but the awful side effects of trying to eliminate them from the system are also factors in why many people never overcome addiction. By allowing individuals the chance to make rational decisions once again, surroundings markers or triggers can become less of a learned behavior for drug use.
Currently, the best treatment to help others addicted to opioids are facilities, such as methadone clinics, to help ease withdrawal symptoms.
Technological solutions could be made to stop those learned behaviors associated with abuse, and Hearing said by "disrupting those associations within the brain," he and other researchers could make great strides toward helping those who suffer from drug abuse.