1 / 12

Drug Effects & Neurotransmitters

Drug Effects & Neurotransmitters. Dopamine. Natural “Reward System” Critical to learning and desire. Most commonly associated with our “pleasure” system. Crucial in encoding of sport-oriented motor skills.

dory
Download Presentation

Drug Effects & Neurotransmitters

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Drug Effects & Neurotransmitters

  2. Dopamine • Natural “Reward System” • Critical to learning and desire. • Most commonly associated with our “pleasure” system. • Crucial in encoding of sport-oriented motor skills. • Disorders with dopamine levels are linked to problems with memory, attention, problem-solving, social anxiety, bipolar, depression, ADD, Parkinson’s disease, and schizophrenia.

  3. Serotonin • Plays important role in regulation of body temperature, mood, sleep, sexuality, appetite and vomiting. • Low levels of serotonin are found in people with depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, migraines and irritable bowel syndrome. • Sunlight can naturally increase serotonin release!

  4. Norepinephrine • Part of your “fight-or-flight” response. • Commonly called adrenaline. • Released at times of stress. • Excitatory to many regions of the body and brain. • Plays a large role in attention and focus. • Changes in normal levels are linked to ADD and depression.

  5. Endorphins • Released to inhibit/stop pain receptors. • This is the brain’s own Morphine. • Released at times of intense exercise or severe injury.

  6. GABA • The chief inhibitory neurotransmitter of of the CNS. • Stops most neurons by creating a hyperpolarization. • Increased GABA causes relaxation, anti-anxiety and anti-convulsive effects.

  7. Histamine • Released by white blood cells to increase blood vessel diameter (vasodilation). • Increases brain activity. • Anti-histamines are common over the counter cold medicines – that will cause drowziness. • Many anti-histamines are chemically altered to produce methamphetamines.

  8. Example of Anti-depressant Medication Action: NARI or MAOA inhibitors

  9. Why is drug use dangerous to normal neurotransmitter function? • Can cause excess neurotransmitter release. • Can act to block NT receptors. • Can block NT uptake/removal. • Can stop normal NT production (too much or too little) for the long-term. • Can damage normal NT receptors (create too many or have too few) for the long-term. • Can impair development of permanent neuron connections, critical to learning and pleasure for the long-term. • All of these NT problems lead to a variety of neurological disorders and mental illness.

  10. Cocaine’s Action on a Neuron

  11. Illegal Drugs and the NTs they affect. • Marijuana = +dopamine, +serotonin, +GABA, - norepinephrine. • Ecstasy – +serotonin, +dopamine • Methamphetamine = +dopamine • Cocaine = +dopamine, +norepinephrine and +serotonin

  12. Legal Drugs and the NTs they affect. • Vicodin – mimics endorphin. • OxyContin – mimics endorphin. • Alcohol – +GABA, -ACH, +endorphin • Nicotine – +dopamine, +norepinephrine • Caffeine – blocks Adenosine (an inhibitory NT) in CNS.

More Related