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How Drugs Affects The Brain

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Drugs have a lot of effects on the brain. They affect three primary areas of the brain. One of them is the brain stem, which is in charge of all of the functions that our body needs to survive, such as, breathing, moving blood, and digesting food. It also links the brain with the spinal cord, which runs down the back, and moves muscles and limbs, as well as lets the brain know what is happening to the body. Another part of the brain that drugs affect is, the limbic system, which links together a bunch of brain structures, such as, someone feeling pleasure when they eat a food that they like to eat. Another part of the brain that drugs affect is, the cerebral cortex, which is the mushroom-shaped outer part of the brain. In humans, it is so big …show more content…

Also, some areas process information from our senses, allowing people to see, feel, hear, and taste. Drugs are chemicals, and when someone puts them into their body, they tap into the brain's communication system, and tamper with the way nerve cells usually send, receive, and process information. Different drugs work differently, and there are at least two ways that drugs work in the brain. One of them is imitating the brain's natural chemical messengers, and another way is by, overstimulating the "reward circuit" of the brain. Also, drugs that are like marijuana and heroin, have chemical structures that imitate that of a neurotransmitter that naturally occurs in peoples' bodies. These drugs could "fool" peoples' receptors, lock onto them, and activate the nerve cells. But, they do not work the same way as a natural neurotransmitter, and the neurons end up sending abnormal messages through the brain, which could cause problems for peoples' brains, and their …show more content…

This leads the brain to get messages that are exaggerated, and it causes problems with communication channels. It is like the difference between someone shouting into a microphone, and someone whispering into someone's ear. A lot of drugs of abuse, such as marijuana, nicotine, cocaine, and others, affect the brain's "reward" circuit, which is a part of the limbic system. The reward circuit would normally respond to feelings of pleasure by releasing the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that creates feelings of pleasure. If drugs take control of this system, it causes large amounts of dopamine to flood the system, and that is what causes the "high, or intense excitement, which is sometimes called euphoria. It is linked with drug abuse. People learn to use drugs in the same way that people learn to eat, because peoples' brains are wired to repeat activities, by connecting those activities to feeling good. The brain adjusts to surges of dopamine, after repeated drug use. Neurons might begin to reduce the number of dopamine receptors, or simply make less dopamine. Then, less dopamine signals the

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