Download Wellness 10 Day #3

Wellness 10 Day #4 of 10
ADDICTION AND THE
HUMAN BRAIN
AGENDA
 Review: How do drugs interfere with
neurotransmission?
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Increase the amount of dopamine released into the synapse
Interfere with receptors by stimulating or blocking them
Slowing/stopping the ability for dopamine to return to the
sending neuron from the synapse
 Explain with the Brain Video
 Worksheet
 Review: Explain with the Brain
1. A heroin addict experiences very strong cravings whenever
he/she sees a needle.
 Certain people, places, or things that are
associated in an addicts mind with taking drugs,
called TRIGGERS, actually cause a surge of
dopamine in the brain. This dopamine release
causes the user to experience very strong
CRAVINGS for the drug.
 NOTE: This is why it is so hard for cigarette
smokers to stop when they are around other
people who smoke!!
2. Over time, a person has to drink 3 glasses of wine to get the
same effects she used to get with just one glass.
 Repeated drug use leads to tolerance, meaning that
the body’s reward pathway begins to adapt to the
drug and doesn’t respond as strongly as it did when
the drug was new to the system. Also, alcohol kills
neurons, reducing the ability of the brain to transmit
dopamine. The brain then needs more and more of
the drug to get the same pleasurable feeling.
3. Teens are more likely to experiment with drugs than
adults.
 Teens may experience a natural dip in their reward
pathway, making them more likely to seek out
extreme things to get a rush.
 The frontal lobes of a teenager – the parts of the
brain in charge of problem solving, decision making,
and planning –are NOT FULLY DEVELOPED!! So,
teens are less likely to think through their decision to
use drugs and anticipate the consequences.
4. A cocaine user does not feel pleasure any more from the drug;
they continue to use cocaine to feel normal.
 When someone uses drugs for a long time, he can
become dependent on them. Cocaine reduces the
number of dopamine receptors in the brain, so it’s
harder to feel pleasure from normal things. The
brain is also tricked into thinking that the drug is
part of it’s normal state. As a result, the addict feels
terrible unless he has drugs in his system.
5. The brains of teen addicts recover less than the brains of adult
addicts after they stop using drugs.
 The teen brain is still developing and able to change
with experience. When a teen becomes addicted to
drugs, the brain adapts itself to functioning with that
drug present. Since the brain did not fully develop
completely without the interference from drugs, the
damage those drugs caused can be irreversible.
6. A first time meth user experiences an intense feeling of pleasure
from the drug.
 Trying a drug like meth for the first time causes a
surge of dopamine in the brain, which gives the user
a great feeling. (Meth also blocks the dopamine
transporter from pumping dopamine back inside the
neuron to be used later, causing an extended high.)
7. A drug addict stops doing things he used to love because he’s
focused on getting drugs instead.
 Drugs take over the reward pathway of the brain,
tricking the addict into thinking that getting the drug
is more important than other things. Things that
used to activate the reward pathway, like food or
spending time with family, no longer do.
 NOTE: This is why addicts tend to drop out of
school, break up with girl/boyfriends, stop playing
sports, etc.
8. After long-term drug abuse, a person simply has no
control over their drug use anymore.
 Addiction is characterized by compulsive drug use
despite devastating consequences – the addict
cannot control their cravings for the drug. Prolonged
drug has changed the brain so much that it doesn’t
function properly without the drug. The addict will
do anything to get the drug regardless of any
consequences of their actions.