The ACE Study shows that there is a dose-response relationship between ACE exposure and engaging in many activities and substances that activate the VTA. A person with four or more ACEs is two and a half times as likely to smoke, five and a half times as likely to be dependent on alcohol, and ten times as likely to use intravenous drugs as a person with zero ACEs. So for anyone looking to prevent young folks from developing dependencies on bad-for-you dopamine stimulators like cigarettes and alcohol, understanding that exposure to early adversity affects the way dopamine functions in the brain
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