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Neurons and Drugs

5 min read

Nervous system organization

central nervous system

central with the brain and the spinal cord sends signal to and from the brain and PNS and controls reflexes

brain

directs mental process and maintains basic life functions takes around a third of your daily glucose intake per day

peripheral

caries from the brain and spinal cord to the peripheral

Somatic

voluntary muscles and motor signals

autonomic

involuntary like stress response

Understanding neuron

nerve cells I should be able to draw a loose neuron basic building block of the nervous system

cell body

contains the cell nucleus (aka SOMA)

axon

conveys impulses away from the cell body

key parts and functions of a neuron

cell body

receives information

dendrites

receive information from other cells’

nucleus

center of the cell

myelin sheath / myelination

Covering the axon, made of pieces of myelin which insulate and speed up signals in the axon signals jump in between the gaps of the myelin sheets which are called

nodes of Ranvier

the nodes that a signal actually travels through

terminal buttons

the termination of the axon and releases chemicals called neurotransmitters

SOMA

the cell body

synapse

a connection between neurons

action potential

a voltage across the axon

Myelin production impacted

In the first few weeks and moths of like, myelin is very important. It’s directly connected with social connection and response. Research shows that social isolation during there critical periods prevent cells from producing the right amount of myelin. Sadly this loss of normal levels of myelin leads to long term problems in cognitive functioning (Makinodan et al., 2012)

Communication between neurons

synapse gap / junction or synaptic cleft

gap between neurons

neurotransmitter

chemical messenger (Serotonin, Dopamine, etc.)

Pre-synaptic neuron

transmitting neurotransmitters to the post-synaptic transmitter

post-synaptic neuron

receiving neurotransmitters from the post-synaptic transmitter Many complications with mental health and psychotropic medication interact with this interaction (SSRIs)

SSRI (Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor)

SSRIs interact with the reuptake of serotonin by preventing it and keeping serotonin floating around the synapse for the post-synaptic neuron to receive it. This is used to treat mood/anxiety disorders.

Parkinson’s

could be related to not enough dopamine, psychosis could be too much. Medications like SSRIs that interact with dopamine could change the interaction with molecules to assure a more balances amount of dopamine

sending a chemical signal

released for the terminal button at the end of the axon, across the synaptic gap

receiving a chemical signal

receiving neuron (post-synaptic)_

dealing with ‘leftovers’

reuptake of neurotransmitters that did not get receive by the post-synaptic neuron get reuptake by the post-synaptic neuron

Neural communication

Communications within a neuron is electrical, but Communications between neurons is chemical

Drugs

Agonist Drug

mimics or enhances a neurotransmitters effect most addictive drugs are Agonist ex Parkinson drug (low dopamine) (SSRIs)

Antagonist drug

blocks or hinders a neurotransmitter’s effect ex. anti-psychotic drugs (excess dopamine) can be addictive by blocking aversive feelings

Effects of poisons and Drugs on neural transmission

How natural neurotransmitters work

a normal neurotransmitter has the same characteristic (think a key in a lock) as a receiving neuron’s dendrites. Neurotransmitters without the right characteristic will not fit with the receptors and don’t stimulate the dendrites. This blocks a signal at the receives

A artificial drug on neurotransmissions

Artificially you can emulate both antagonistic (blocking) or agonistic (stimulating) neurotransmitters. These fit the characteristics of natural neurotransmitters and can react to the dendrites as natural ones

natural androgynous Nero transmitters

endorphins that stimulate will be released with stimulation (ex. exercise, sex, rewarding activity) naturally the body will not create excessive amount of endorphins

artificial exogenous opioids

Will release excessive endorphins more than what is naturally possible Addiction is a trained response to these endorphins, and this simplified by the high doses of endorphins. The body will naturally adapt to this to tune the body to a normal amount of received endorphins by losing sensitivity to endorphins. This over time will dull the reaction to natural reactions of endorphins and amplify opioid dependence

Endogenous

inside of body already

Exogenous

anything we’re taking form the outside

natural

made from plants and animals morphine, cocaine

synthetic

made from chemicals in a laboratory. Typically, stronger. Fentanyl

Tools for brain research

Function

electrical recordings

fMRI

tracks oxygen levels, which is an indicator of blood flow since your blood is oxygenated. So more oxygenated means more bloods flow and more oxygen being used. Active areas of the brain use more blood.

PET Scan

Work by injecting a small amount of radioactive material into your blood flow. The PET scan show us what is metabolizing things and where blood flow is going by picking up background radiation from the injection

Structure

MRI

CT Scan

Other Methods

Graph View