Addictions are caused by many unfortunate factors resulting in becoming an uncontrollable disease. Scientists are investigating the effects of drugs on the brain and behavior. They use this information to develop programs to prevent drug abuse and to help people recover from addiction. Further studies are helping to put these ideas into practice in the community.
Addiction is defined as a chronic disease, a relapsing of the brain of a person, despite the mutation. Acts are thought to be brain diseases, which have housed the brain – they place its structure everywhere.The initial decision to use drugs is mostly voluntary. However, with the continued use of drugs, the user’s ability to exercise self-control may be severely impaired. Studies using brain imaging show physiological changes in areas of the brain that are responsible for judgment, decision making, learning and memory, and behavior control. Scientists believe that these changes change how the brain works, and explain the compulsive and destructive behavior of addiction.One area of the brain that continues to develop during adolescence is the prefrontal cortex – the part of the brain that allows us to evaluate states, make decisions, and control our emotions and desires. This puts adolescents at an increased risk of making unwise decisions (such as drug use and abuse). Therefore, the onset of a period in which the brain is still in development may have serious, long-term consequences. Drug and alcohol abuse can affect the functioning of brain regions that are responsible for motivation, memory, learning, judgment, and behavior control. Therefore, it is not surprising that adolescents who abuse alcohol and other drugs often suffer from family and school problems, academic problems, medical problems (including mental disorders) and criminal involvement.The term “scientific validity” means that these programs were rationally designed, based on current knowledge, carefully examined, and shown positive results. Scientists have developed a wide range of programs that positively influence the balance between risk factors and drug abuse prevention in families, schools, and communities. Studies show that scientifically proven programs, can significantly reduce early use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs. Other programs reduce drug abuse among young people who have already begun to abuse drugs and alcohol.The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. This mass of gray and white matter weighs 1.36 kg and is at the center of every activity – driving, enjoying a meal, breathing, artistic creation and enjoyment from everyday activities. In short, the brain regulates all basic bodily functions, enables the translation and response of life experiences, emotions and behavior. The brain is made up of many parts that work together as a team. Different parts of the brain are responsible for coordinating and performing specific roles. Drugs can affect those areas of the brain that are responsible for the body’s basic functioning and lead to abuse and addiction. The areas of the brain that are affected by drug abuse are:
The brain stem, which controls the basic activities related to the maintenance of life, such as heart rate, breathing and sleep.
The limbic system, which is responsible for the brain’s reward system, connects several brain structures that control our ability to feel pleasure and regulate it. Feeling pleasure makes us repeat behaviors such as eating – actions that are essential to our existence. The limbic system is activated when we perform these actions – and also by using drugs, and the limbic system is responsible for perceiving emotions, both positive and negative, which explains the effect of drugs on mood.
The cerebral cortex is divided into areas that control defined roles.
Different areas process information obtained from the senses, allowing us to see, feel, hear and taste. The front part of the cortex is the brain’s thinking center; It allows us to think, plan, solve problems and make decisions.
The brain is a communication center that contains billions of neurons, or nerve cells. Neural networks transfer messages back and forth to different structures within the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system. These neural networks correlate between everything we feel, think, do and regulate. Nerve cell to nerve cell. Every nerve cell in the brain sends and receives messages in the form of electrical impulses. Once a neuron receives and processes a message, it sends it to other nerve cells.
Drugs are chemicals. They affect the brain’s communication system and interfere with the way nerve cells send, receive, and process information. Certain drugs, such as marijuana and heroin, can activate nerve cells, because their chemical composition imitates that of a natural neurotransmitter. This similarity in the structure “deceives” the receptors, which allow the drugs to connect to them and activate the nerve cells. Although these drugs mimic brain chemicals, they do not activate neurons in the same way as natural neurotransmitters, causing abnormal messages to be transmitted throughout the network. Other drugs, such as amphetamines or cocaine, can cause nerve cells to release abnormal amounts of natural neurotransmitters or prevent the normal cycle of these chemicals. This disturbance causes an abnormal transmission of an increased message, disrupting communication channels. The difference in effect can be compared to the difference between someone whispering to your ear and someone shouting in a microphone. All drugs act directly or indirectly on the reward system in the brain by flooding the neural circuit in dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter present in those areas of the brain that regulate movement, emotion, cognition, motivation and pleasure. Causes us to feel the euphoria and for people who abuse drugs, bringing them back to the same behavior. The brain is connected to nerve-cell networks in order to repeat life-related activities by linking those activities with pleasure and reward. Every time the pleasure system is activated, the brain notices that something important is happening and that it has memory, and teaches us to repeat it over and over, without thinking about it. Because drugs trigger the same system, we learn to abuse drugs in the same way. When using drugs the brain releases between 2 to 10 times the amount of dopamine secreted by natural rewarders. Sometimes this occurs immediately (when you smoke or inject drugs), and the effects can stay longer than as a result of natural reward. These effects on the pleasure system in the brain compy those generated by those naturally rewarding behaviors, such as eating and sex, are so strongly rewarding that it leads people to repeat drug use over and over again, which is why scientists have said that drug abuse is an act that we learn to do very, very well. Just as we lower the volume of the radio that plays too loud, the brain adapts to the increased flow of dopamine (and other neurotransmitters) by producing less dopamine or decreasing the number of receptors that receive and transmit signals. The reward system in a drug user’s brain can be abnormally low, and the ability to feel pleasure is small, which is why a user may feel flat, lifeless and depressed, and can not enjoy the things he has enjoyed in the past. In addition, it should take larger amounts of the drug to achieve – The feel of the high – a phenomenon called tolerance. We know that the mechanisms involved in the development of tolerance can lead to significant changes in neurons and brain systems, and severely damage brain health in the long term. For example, glutamate is another neurotransmitter that affects the brain’s reward system and learning ability. When optimal concentration changes due to drug abuse, the brain tries to cover up the change, which damages the cognitive functioning of the brain. Similarly, regular use of drugs can cause habitual adaptation or trigger unconscious memory systems. Conditioning is one example of this type of learning, when environmental signs are associated with drug use and thus trigger uncontrollable desire for the drug, even when the drug is not available. This “reflex” is very powerful and can arise even after many years of abstinence. Chronic drug exposure interferes with how important brain structures work against one another to control behavior – behavior that is directly related to drug abuse. Just as regular use can lead to tolerance or need for higher doses of a drug to feel its effect, it can also lead to addiction, which will cause the user to seek and use drugs compulsively. Drug addiction undermines self-control and decision-making, and gives rise to a strong urge to use drugs.