Drug Influence and Brain Chemistry

Neural Pathways Exist In The Brain

1 Neurons transmit messages in our brain
• Neurons are responsible for passing signals throughout the passages of the brain.
• Neurons are different shapes, sizes, and perform different functions based on this.

2 The Reward Pathway Reinforces Behavior
• The reward pathway lies within the middle of our brain.
• The reward pathway is responsible for motivation, rewards, and behavior.
• The reward pathway helps us feel good when we take part in survival activities (i.e. eating, drinking, "reproducing")
• The pathway connects to the parts of the brain associated with memory, and behavior.
• Neurons in the brain send out messages releasing Dopamine once one of the activities has taken place.

3 Neurons Communicate Via The Synapse
• One neuron can send signals to another by sending an electrical signal along its axon, and transferring the electrical signal into a chemical signal at the end of the axon, sending bubbles of chemicals across a gap called a Synapse, and into receiving areas on another neurons dendrites.

4 Other Cells In The Brain
• Neurons aren't the only cells in your brain though, there are plenty of others that support our brain function.
•Astrocytes are a supporting cell in the brain, along with oligodendrocytes, and microglia.
• many of the supporting cells in the brain can fall under the category of Glia.

Drugs Alter The Brains Reward Pathway

1 The Physiology Of The High
• Drugs can bypass all of your other senses and directly activate the feeling of being "high"
• As an example, Cocaine blocks your dopamine transporters, and blocks left over dopamine in the synapse, and leads to overstimulation.
• Either the drug acts as another kind of releaser so that dopamine can be released, or it acts as a blocking agent so the dopamine cant get back through the dopamine transporters.

2 The Brains Coping Mechanism
• A way that the brain copes with drugs, is a reduced level of dopamine receptors.
• If there are to many dopamine receptors in your neurons, then you can become overloaded and suffer tremendous consequences.

3 Hardwiring An Addict
• As your brain is continually adjusting to handle the drug, the areas that are associated with judgment, learning, and behavior begin to chemically, or physically change.
• Eventually, your brain is "hardwired" to the use of these drugs, so things associated with the drug become a reflex.

4 Changes Last Long After Use
• Even after a sustained period of time since the last dosage of (insert drug here) your brain levels are still affected by the drug.
• People who have gone 100 days without drugging up still have decreased brain levels, when compared to people who haven't done drugs.

5 Death By Overdose
• Drugs can affect a lot of things, they can harm you and/or others, and they can even kill you.
• some of the ways that drugs can kill you are
A: Polydrug Cocktails
a: when more than one drug is mixed (I.E. heroin and alcohol)
B: Stimulants can cause Brain damage, heart attacks, and even overheating.

Key points and discoveries of chemistry

Radiations penetration of objects is molecular
Fully synthetic plastic comes from coal
Plastics are polymers
Table of elements came from a man who wanted to explain the elements to his students in a textbook
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