...becoming a habit and pattern within an individual’s life, this behaviour can lead to a risk of disease and other social and personal problems. These habit patterns lead to immediate gratification (short term reward) which then has long term effects. Many individuals are able to recover from their addiction but there is a high risk of relapse occurring. The biological approach see addiction as being due to the individual them self, being an illness and addicts have a predisposed biological vulnerability. The model has 3 different aspects initiation, maintaince and relapse. Initiation is the stage in which the individual begins to become addicted which is then followed by maintaince whereby the individual continuous the addictive behaviour even with the occurring consequences. The final stage is relapse were the individual gives up the addictive behaviour but eventually sign’s and symptoms return and individual continuous these behaviours. The biological model of addiction see addiction as occurring through 3 different ways Biochemistry factors, Genetics and reinforcement. Research has been done in order to prove whether genetics may play a role in addictive behaviour. It is likely that multiple genes play a part in forming addictive behaviour rather than a single gene alone. For instance there is a link between tobacco smoking and genes which play a part in dopamine activity and cannabis having a link with genes in different parts of the brain. There have been many family studies...
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...The chemicals in drugs are capable of targeting the brain’s reward system by overloading the circuit with dopamine. Dopamine which is a neurotransmitter is released in the nucleus accumbens which is the cluster of nerve cells located underneath the cerebral cortex. The nucleus accumben is directly tied to the brain’s pleasure center. The pleasure center is the portion of the brain that regulates emotion and feelings of pleasure. Using drugs can overstimulate the portion of the brain promotes euphoric effects which reinforces the behavior of drug. Typically, drugs that are abused flood the brain’s reward system with dopamine. A primary function of the brain is to generate messages that encourage life-sustaining activities by associating the activity with a pleasure/reward. This activates the reward circuit and the brain identifies something of importance occurred. This behavior/action is remembered and the behavior will naturally happen again. Drug abuse stimulates the same circuit which is the beginning of addiction. Certain drugs can release up to ten times the amount of dopamine than that of natural rewards like sex or eating. When drugs are smoked or injected, this occurs almost immediately and the effects can potentially last longer than those produced by naturally rewarding behaviors. The reward center is impacted much more by drug use than by naturally rewarding behaviors which motivates people to continue the drug...
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...The relationship between cocaine and cocaine dependence on brain physiology is its effects on particular brain regions and receptors leading to synaptic plasticity mediating altered ability of learning and consolidation [pic](Martinez, Narendran et al. 2007; Thomas, Kalivas et al. 2008; Mameli, Halbout et al. 2009). I argue that cocaine dependence is the result of such neurological changes which occur in the brain which induce cocaine dependence. To justify this argument, I will demonstrate that the mechanisms governing the issue, which are the result of the reward systems, particularly that of dopamine receptors blunted response after repeated exposure to cocaine and how this system works in concert with white matter integrity and synaptic plasticity of the neuronal circuitry, including that of extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) and brain derived neurotropic factors (BDNF) as well as the use of modafanil and methadone as plausible treatments in regards to the issue at hand. The reward system and Cocaine Dependence The concept of the reward system is understood to revolve around basic survival functions such as that of sexual arousal, hunger and thirst, whereby the growth to enact to fulfill these rewards can be mediated through related cues, e.g. water and food. Like natural environmental rewards just mentioned, addictive drugs behave in a similar manner, where by drugs like that of cocaine act on the reward mechanism...
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...Running head: Neuroanatomical Differences in ADHD 1 Neuroanatomical Differences in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Influence of Stimulant Medication Administration Zach Grice-Patil University of Minnesota Neuroanatomical Differences in ADHD Abstract: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a common psychological disorder with a pathophysiology that is not well understood. The choice treatment is with strong psychoactive stimulants (methylphenidate), which has helped to establish much of the known pathophysiology of the disorder. Medication administration to young children is becoming exceedingly common and it is suspected here that methylphenidate has effects on neurodevelopmental processes. Much of the imaging data which suggest neuroanatomical differences observed in ADHD are confounded by the inability to control for lifetime-medication use in the sample. Animal data have demonstrated that acute methylphenidate administration can cause significant changes in juveniles. A 2 multi-level analysis of the current literature assessing the structural differences in ADHD with respect to methylphenidate administration is the focus for this review. Methods include: MR structural, MR diffusion, MR spectroscopy, Positron Emission Tomography, and Histology. Based upon this review, the current administration of methylphenidate to young ADHD patients should be reevaluated to account for the uncertainty in medication-induced neurodevelopment. Neuroanatomical Differences...
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...choice as a disorder in the Brain’s Reward (Hedonic) System Dr. McCauley was motivated to analyze the term ‘Disease of Addiction’. The foremost question faced in addictionology, “Is addition really a disease?” It is actually is much more than a disease. Drug addiction deprives brain from the dopamine neurons. Frontal cortex to the midbrain changes and creates the dwindling of the mind with the continued use of drugs. The choice argument states an addict says he cannot stop. Dr. McCauley shows that an addict can stop, by helping them to make the correct choices or making the choice for the addict. The simple experiment cracks me up (normal reaction for an addicted person due to relating to the situation), flooring...
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...Motivation and the Brain: Refraining From Drug Use University of Phoenix PSYCH/355 October 15, 2012 Motivation and the Brain: Refraining From Drug Use Drug addiction within society today has become a big problem. To combat this growing epidemic, research is constantly being done to determine why these behaviors occur and how to refrain from the urge to use psychoactive drugs. Why people do it can be answered simply, because they like the way that psychoactive drugs make them feel. A psychoactive drug is any chemical substance that by affecting the function of the brain alters a person’s behavior and mood (Deckers, 2010). Psychoactive drugs can be anything from caffeine that is obtained by drinking a soda to opiates which are what is in morphine and heroin. In order to refrain from the use of psychoactive drugs, an understanding must be gained about why addictions to these chemicals occur in the first place. Brain Structures and Functions Associated with Refraining From Drug Use In order to understand how to refrain from drug use, it is important to first understand why it occurs. Different psychoactive drugs affect the brain and the body in their own specific ways. While some drugs stimulate the central nervous system, such as cocaine and caffeine, causing a more alert and energized feeling, others work as a depressant such as alcohol, which induces relaxation and can lower social inhibitions and stress levels (Deckers, 2010). Despite the fact that many drugs have...
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...Unwoven: A personal journey about addiction” that addiction is a disorder of the brain, “the very part of the brain we need to make proper decisions.” When a person is addicted to, say, alcohol, a certain part of the brain may malfunction and negative choices may occur. With the choice argument, McCauley (2009) explained that free will allows a person to make either good choices (drinking recommended amounts of water daily) or bad choices (consuming drugs or alcohol), however, a person has the right to make choices; which constitutes a behavior. With a bad choice, the person consumes drugs or alcohol to a point that the body craves it and the urge becomes so strong, that it turns into an addiction. Nevertheless, McCauley (2009) shared that if a person who is addicted to drugs or alcohol is put into a position of life or death based on a particular choice (alcohol, drugs, or life), life wins and the person may choose not to take a drink or use drugs, as viewed on the video. McCauley (2009) concluded with information from new research expressing...
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...Literature Review Traumatic brain injuries are inherently complex in that most do not affect only one brain region or circuit but encompass many different dimensions. In the case of Judy, the frontal and temporal lobes are injured along with generalized stress put on most other brain regions as well (Apps, Newby, & Roberts, 2010). This complicates the process of relating individual symptomology to specific isolated causality. Rather traumatic brain injury being a consequence of specific, repeatable action, each incident is a product of its own unique circumstance constructed from many different connections. Due to this, it makes sense to focus on one or a few different areas that have more profound implications on the system than more minor...
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...four times more than girls. Is it more prevalent now or just recognized more within our society? Those diagnosed with ADHD have a hard time concentrating and are prone to outburst based on the emotions they are feeling at the time rather than reason. This is caused by lower levels of dopamine in their brains. The most commonly prescribed drug to treat ADHD is Ritalin. The dopamine transporter within the brain moves dopamine from the synapse to the sending neuron. Ritalin blocks the dopamine transporter, therefore, increasing the dopamine level at the synapse. Similarly, in recent studies, “cocaine has the same affect on the dopamine transporter protein responsible for the reuptake of dopamine at the synapse”. “Both Ritalin and Cocaine have similar chemical structures, but Ritalin is a pill to be swallowed and can take longer to reach the brain, where cocaine is taken in higher doses by injection or snorting”. This method reaches the brain quicker and floods the brain with dopamine, making it addictive and dangerous. Unfortunately, Ritalin is relatively cheap and easier to obtain by today’s teens and is quickly becoming a drug of choice. If taken as prescribed Ritalin is not addictive, however, when taken without a prescription and in much higher doses, it can be just as addictive as cocaine. “Misdiagnosis of ADHD is common and many believe that it can have undesirable changes in the brain over time”. My son has a hard time focusing, but has not been diagnosed with...
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...able to pass from your body into your brain. Once inside your brain, drugs can change the messages your brain cells are sending to each other, and to the rest of your body. They do this by interfering with your brain's own chemical signals: neurotransmitters that transfer signals across synapses. Drugs lead primarily to a intoxication or emergence of a dependency syndrome. They change the awareness and the perception of the consumer during their impact and beyond. They affect three primal parts of the brain: • The brain stem which is in charge of all of the functions our body needs to stay alive • The limbic system links together a bunch of brain structures that control our emotional responses. • The cerebral cortex is the mushroom-like outer part of the brain. In humans, it is so big that it makes up about three-fourths of the entire brain. It’s divided into four areas, called lobes, which control specific functions. Some areas process information from our senses, enabling us to see, feel, hear, and taste. The front part of the cortex, known as the frontal cortex or forebrain, is the thinking center. It powers our ability to think, plan, solve problems, and make decisions. How do they proceed in our brain ? Drugs are chemicals. They work in the brain by tapping into its communication system and interfering with the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information. Some drugs can change the brain in ways that last long after the person...
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...Motivation and Brain: Healthy Eating PSY/355 University of Phoenix Motivation and Brain: Healthy Eating One could declare that at the core of life’s potential is motivation. Motivation is like a large mass of possibilities hanging in the balance, simply awaiting a push or pull force. That mass of possibility can be directed at a specific target (goal/incentive) such as healthy eating. The desire to succeed and avoid failure helps guide the mass in the needed manner. We must also consider the importance (behind our motivation) of underlying neurological brain structures included in hunger, satiety, intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and the environmental stimuli involved. (Deckers, 2010) For individuals that eat healthy regularly it may not have been an automatic way of eating. It more than likely derived from the learned behavior of healthy eating during childhood rearing or from self-motivation, either push, pull, or both as a source. (Deckers, 2010) Intrinsic & Extrinsic Our parental influences include modeling, opportunity, limitation/rules, and the encouragement of healthy eating. Healthy eating is a result of a drive from within a person. (Wickens, 2005) Intrinsic factors that motivate a person to eat healthy are developed from wanting to avoid healthy issues in our life. Health issues can be extremely debilitating and life altering, such as cancers, diabetes, obesity, death from disease, and heart conditions. The intrinsic factors of experience, loss, gain...
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...and Cannabis Work in the Brain Drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, ecstasy, heroin and cannabis, are of natural or synthetic origin, which can alter the emotional state, perception, body functioning and behaviour of an individual. Drugs are known to work in the brain by activating certain brain circuits via different mechanisms, and stimulate or inhibit different neurons in the pathway. However, due to the effects of each drug being different, a drug will affect either different pathways and neurons in the brain to that of another, or through a different process, i.e. direct or indirect activity. This essay will discuss the different mechanisms of action that cocaine, ecstasy, heroin and cannabis have in the brain, in terms of their similarities and dissimilarities. Recent studies are also discussed in relation to such theories, with findings of research having been derived from both humans and animals. Ecstasy and cocaine are psychostimulants that temporarily increase alertness and awareness. They both act as ‘indirect agonists’, which increase neurotransmitter binding to receptors in the synapse. By binding to the transporters that normally remove the excess of these neurotransmitters from the synaptic gap, ecstasy and cocaine prevent them from being reabsorbed by the neurons that released them, and therefore increase their concentration in the synapses. Changes in the activity of serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline neurotransmitters in the brain are believed to occur when...
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...Caffeine is the most-widely consumed psychoactive substance by human beings throughout the world (Reid, 2005). This report will detail its natural origins, chemical structure (as well as those of similar substances), and the methods and dosages in which it is rendered into its usable form. Additionally, this report will detail caffeine's various biological pathways within the human body, including access to the brain and various neurotransmitter pathways. Caffeine is a chemical that occurs naturally in over 100 plant species throughout the world (Steffen, 2000). Perhaps the most widely recognized of these plants is the coffee tree, whose small seed (commonly referred to as a "bean") is roasted and then crushed into a fine powder (Weinberg and Bealer, 2001). Caffeine also occurs naturally in cocoa beans, tea leaves, kola nuts, and gurana seeds, and mate. Some of these plants, such as tea, actually bear a distinct, but similar chemical to caffeine (i.e. theophylline); these chemicals will be discussed further in the chemistry section (Steffen, 2000). Caffeine is chemically known by two names. The first is 1,3,7 -trimethylxanthine; the second is 3,7,-Dihydro-1,3,7- trimethyl-1H-purine-2,6-dione. Historically, caffeine has also gone by the name of methyltheobromine, as well as thein (Weinberg and Bealer, 2001). The chemical formula of caffeine is C8 H10 N4 O2. The molecular weight for this chemical is 194.19 atomic units. Its composition...
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...consequences (Volkow & Li, 2005). The drugs are used multiple mechanisms like positive reward, inhibitory control, and executive function to modulate the brain functions. In this paper, I am going to examine how addictive drugs alter the brain function and result in mediating our behaviors. The primary function of the brain is to monitor the external and internal environment of the individual, then respond to an unconscious and/or conscious level. However, our body requires more complex works for a living. What are the fundamental concepts of how the nervous system mediates behavior? The brain does not work independently...
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...worse, a woman may be experiencing the effects of postpartum depression (PPD). Abrupt hormone withdrawal is the most obvious change in immediate postpartum, but clues to the mood disturbance may lie in the deregulation of neuroendocrine systems, including how hormones affect neurotransmitters and their actions within the brain. The baby blues are common for numerous reasons. The baby’s crying and the mother’s interrupted sleep and breast-feeding are enough to make any woman feel irritable if not overwhelmed. The onset of postpartum depression, on the other hand, is believed to be caused by chemical imbalances in the brain; specifically shifts in hormone levels. According to postpartum Support International (PSI), the theory to date suggests that a sharp drop in estrogen and progesterone following delivery is the culprit.1 Ovarian steroids play an important regulatory role in a women’s general sense of wellbeing. Studies have found significant positive correlations between the onset of PPD and postpartum withdrawal of estrogen and progesterone levels.2 Aside from estrogen’s many roles in our developmental health, it is also known to be a neuro-stimulant with anti-depressive effects. High levels of estrogen produce an imbalance in the system that aggravates symptoms of anxiety. On the other hand, low levels of estrogen can lead to episodes of depression.3 A...
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