Drugs

1. Drugs

2. What is a Psychoactive Drug? • Chemical substance that alters perceptions, mood, or behavior through their actions at the neural synapse • Three most common psychoactive drugs: • Caffeine • Alcohol • Nicotine • Cause an altered state of consciousness

3. Drugs and Neurotransmission

4. Neurotransmitters and the Synapse

5. Reuptake

6. Psychoactive Drugs and Synapses • Affect synapses and neurotransmitters in several ways: • Binding with receptors (agonists) • Blocking receptor site (antagonists) • Blocking neurotransmitter’s reuptake • Inhibiting action potentials

8. How Are Drug Effects Studied? • Carefully controlled conditions • Compare behavior before and after use of drug • Often use the double-blind procedure • No one knows who is taking the placebo and who is taking the drug • Tricky because: • Drugs affect different people differently • Drugs can affect the same person differently at different times

9. Drug Classifications

10. Psychoactive Drug Categories • Three different categories we study: • Depressants • Stimulants • Hallucinogens

11. 1. Depressants • Drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functioning • Includes alcohol, barbiturates (anything that ends in an “al”), and opiates (body’s own opiates = endorphins)

12. Affects of Alcohol • Effects: • Part of brain that controls inhibitions and making judgments • Perceptual-motor skills • Visual-spatial processing • Problem solving • Abstract reasoning • Studies have shown that alcohol impairs memory by suppressing the processing of events into long term memory • Alcohol impairs REM sleep, further disrupting memory storage • Can literally shrink the brain What areas of the brain is it affecting?

13. 2. Stimulants • Drugs that excite neural activity and speed up body functions • Include: caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, MDMA (ecstasy) and cocaine

14. Caffeine • Stimulant found in coffee, chocolate, tea, and some soft drinks • Provides user with a sense of increased energy, mental alertness, and forced wakefulness • Blocks neurological receptor sites that, if activated, sedate the central nervous system

15. Nicotine • Stimulant found in tobacco • Very addictive and does not stay in the body very long • Will reach the brain in 7 seconds  releases epinephrine and norepinephrine  diminishes appetite and boost alertness and mental efficiency • Just as quickly addictive as heroin and cocaine • Also stimulates the release of dopamine and natural opiates

16. Facts about Nicotine • Tobacco kills 5.4 million of its 1.3 billion consumers a year • A teen-to-grave smoker has a 50% chance of dying from the habit • If you don’t smoke by the time you get through your college years, you probably never will • Among teens whose parents and best friends are nonsmokers, the smoking rate is close to 0 • Half of all Americans who have ever smoked, quit

17. Methamphetamine • Temporarily triggers the release of dopamine (enhanced energy and mood) • Over time, will reduce the baseline dopamine levels in the body leaving the user with a depressed functioning

18. 3. Hallucinogens • Distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input • Include: LSD and Marijuana • Albert Hofmann – creator of LSD

19. Marijuana • Gets to the brain in 7 seconds • Will linger in the body for a month or more • THC is a anandamide agonist • Triggers release of other neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin) • Alters sensory perception (cerebral cortex), effects movement, impact memory (hippocampus)

20. Biology, Psychological, and Social influences • Some people may be vulnerable to particular drugs • Drug use can be caused by psychological factors • Stress • Depression • Feelings of failure • Social influences • Young, unmarried, and have recently left home – more likely to use drugs • Married and have children, drug use decreases • Peers – also what adolescents think their friends are doing