more of the good stuff to feel the same amount of pleasure. The biological changes in the VTA that lead people to crave dopamine stimulators like high-sugar, high-fat foods also lead to an increase in risky behavior. 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.
