effects of drugs essays

effects of drugs essays Good morning! To start my presentation, (shut off lights) close your eyes, everyone think of a pleasant experience... walking on the beach, cuddling with a boyfriend or girlfriend, eating chocolate cake... Feel the pleasure Biologically, you are secreting dopamine into the amygdala region of your brain. Receptor sites open up to receive the chemical and cause that pleasure part of your brain to fire. Wow, isnt that nice! Most drugs do exactly this, but at much more intensity. They cause huge amounts of dopamine to flood the amygdala region. Today, I am doing my presentation on the effects of drugs on the brain. Even though drugs effect our body in different ways, it most horrifying effects our brain. Drugs of abuse are valuable tools for brain functions because they can mimic or block actions of neurotransmitters, which in return effects our homeostasis and behaviour. If your curious, drugs of abuse range from alcohol, to nicotine, to marijuana, to cocaine, etc. We have a specific region in our brain, called the amygdala region. This region regulates our feeling of pleasure and can be activated by drugs of abuse. Drugs of abuse produce the feeling of pleasure because they alter the neurotransmitter dopamine, a major brain chemical. Most drugs increase the release of dopamine from the neurons, this makes us feel good (reward us). The increased dopamine levels give drug abusers the rush or a high that they enjoy for a short period of time. The feelings of pleasure the drug creates only lasts for a short time, but drugs can cause changes in the brain that last a very long time. Drugs may alter synaptic transmission by directly affecting the receptors. Some drugs activate receptors, such as the THC, the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana, while others block them, such as cocaine and amphetamines. The synapse is extremely complex, there are a variety of sites at which drugs may effect synaptic ...