Neuroscientist and author is all too familiar with addiction

It’s the time of the year when chocoholic jokes are at their most frequent, but as we all know and understand, addiction is no laughing matter.

It’s been thirty years since neuroscientist Judith Grisel last used drugs or alcohol, thanks to a fierce battle she waged against the disease of addiction.

Yet addiction is always on her mind — she studies how drugs work on the brain at Bucknell University, and she has now written a book on the disease called Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction (out February 19).

Grisel spoke at length with Fresh Air’s Terry Gross on her objective findings and her individual experience recently; you can listen to the interview below or read a transcript of it on NPR’s website.