Essay Example on Effects of Substance Abuse on the Brain

Brief introduction: The brain is the central nervous system responsible for reception, processing and sending of signals throughout the body. When drugs are taken into the body, they cause a change in the physiological operations thus causing stimulation of the nervous system. These changes in the normal operations of the body induced by drugs obviously start from the brain that coordinates the entire body systems. Addiction, which is one of the common psychological effects of drugs, result from triggers of the neurotransmitters and the brain reward system. Multiple neurological processes result in both short term and long-term changes in the normal functioning of the brain, especially with repeated use of narcotics.

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Research questions:

Primary Question:

What neurochemical processes and changes occur in the brain due to drug use?

Secondary Questions:

What is addition and how does it come about?

Do all drugs have neurochemical effects on the brain?

What are the short term and long term mental effects of drug abuse?

Conclusion:

Related research reports:

Anda, R., Felitti, V., Bremner, J., Walker, J., Whitfield, C., & Perry, B. et al. (2005). The enduring effects of abuse and related adverse experiences in childhood. European Archives Of Psychiatry And Clinical Neuroscience, 256(3), 174-186. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00406-005-0624-4.

Goldstein, R., & Volkow, N. (2017). Drug Addiction and Its Underlying Neurobiological Basis: Neuroimaging Evidence for the Involvement of the Frontal Cortex. Retrieved 30 March 2017, from http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.ajp.159.10.1642.

Leshner, A. I. (1997). Addiction is a brain disease, and it matters. Science, 278(5335), 45-47.

Conclusion:

Abstracts

Abstract 1:

Goldstein, R., & Volkow, N. (2017). Drug Addiction and Its Underlying Neurobiological Basis: Neuroimaging Evidence for the Involvement of the Frontal Cortex. Retrieved 30 March 2017, from

OBJECTIVE: Studies of the neurobiological processes underlying drug addiction primarily have focused on limbic subcortical structures. Here the authors evaluated the role of frontal cortical structures in drug addiction. METHOD: An integrated model of drug addiction that encompasses intoxication, bingeing, withdrawal, and craving is proposed. This model and findings from neuroimaging studies on the behavioral, cognitive, and emotional processes that are at the core of drug addiction were used to analyze the involvement of frontal structures in drug addiction. RESULTS: The orbitofrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate gyrus, which are regions neuroanatomically connected with limbic structures, are the frontal cortical areas most frequently implicated in drug addiction. They are activated in addicted subjects during intoxication, craving, and bingeing, and they are deactivated during withdrawal. These regions are also involved in higher-order cognitive and motivational functions, such as the ability to track, update, and modulate the salience of a reinforcer as a function of context and expectation and the ability to control and inhibit prepotent responses. CONCLUSIONS: These results imply that addiction connotes cortically regulated cognitive and emotional processes, which result in the overvaluing of drug reinforcers, the undervaluing of alternative reinforcers, and deficits in inhibitory control for drug responses. These changes in addiction, which the authors call I-RISA (impaired response inhibition and salience attribution), expand the traditional concepts of drug dependence that emphasize limbic-regulated responses to pleasure and reward.

Abstract 2:

Anda, R., Felitti, V., Bremner, J., Walker, J., Whitfield, C., & Perry, B. et al. (2005). The enduring effects of abuse and related adverse experiences in childhood. European Archives Of Psychiatry And Clinical Neuroscience, 256(3), 174-186. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00406-005-0624-4.

Background

Childhood maltreatment has been linked to a variety of changes in brain structure and function and stressresponsive neurobiological systems. Epidemiological studies have documented the impact of childhood maltreatment on health and emotional wellbeing.

Methods

After a brief review of the neurobiology of childhood trauma, we use the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study as an epidemiological case example of the convergence between epidemiologic and neurobiological evidence of the effects of childhood trauma. The ACE Study included 17,337 adult HMO members and assessed 8 adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) including abuse, witnessing domestic violence, and serious household dysfunction. We used the number of ACEs (ACE score) as a measure of cumulative childhood stress and hypothesized a "doseresponse" relationship of the ACE score to 18 selected outcomes and to the total number of these outcomes (comorbidity).

Results

Based upon logistic regression analysis, the risk of every outcome in the affective, somatic, substance abuse, memory, sexual,and aggressionrelated domains increased in a graded fashion as the ACE score increased (P <0.001). The mean number of comorbid outcomes tripled across the range of the ACE score.

Conclusions

The graded relationship of the ACE score to 18 different outcomes in multiple domains theoretically parallels the cumulative exposure of the developing brain to the stress response with resulting impairment in multiple brain structures and functions.

Abstract 3:

Leshner, A. I. (1997). Addiction is a brain disease, and it matters. Science, 278(5335), 45-47.

Scientific advances over the past 20 years have shown that drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease that results from the prolonged effects of drugs on the brain. As with many other brain diseases, addiction has embedded behavioural and social-context aspects that are important parts of the disorder itself. Therefore, the most effective treatment approaches will include biological, behavioural, and social-context components. Recognizing addiction as a chronic, relapsing brain disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use can impact society's overall health and social policy strategies and help diminish the health and social costs associated with drug abuse and addiction.