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Human cocaine brain research
Neurobiology of cocaine on the brain
Papers on the effects of cocaine in the human brain
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The Actions of Cocaine in the Brain
Cocaine’s mode of action has been shown to involve the dopamine receptors. This paper will discuss how cocaine affects dopamine receptors, the mode of addiction, how cocaine affects the frontal brain metabolic activities, as well as the role of excitatory amino acids in cocaine’s mechanism. I will also discuss how cocaine affects another system through its mechanism on the brain—the renin angiotensin system.
Cocaine influences dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin neurotransmission by inhibiting their reuptake. Pimozide, alpha-flupenthixol, perphenazine and chlorpromazine, all dopamine antagonists, were used to pre-treat rats in an attempt to demonstrate the reinforcing effects of dopamine. Because rats demonstrated a reduced rate of self-administration during extinction as well as after pre-treatment with antagonists, it is conceivable that dopamine receptors are involved in the reinforcing effects of cocaine (Hubner & Moreton, 1991).
Two dopamine receptors, B1 and B2, are believed to be involved in these rewarding effects of cocaine. Rats were trained to self-administer cocaine intravenously on a fixed-ratio (FR) 5 schedule of reinforcement. When these rats were pretreated with SCH23390, a D1 antagonist, and spiperone, a D2 antagonist, their response rates varied. At doses up to l0ug/kg, the rats exhibited an increased response rate; whereas at doses higher than this, the rats showed a decrease in their response rate. A similar decrease in response rate was produced when central dopamine containing neurons were destroyed with the neurotoxin, 6-hydroxy-dopamine (Hubner &Moreton, 1991).
The mode of action of the D1 receptor subtype is on adenylate cyclase. Upon activation, it s...
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2. Hubner, C. and Moreton, J. Effects of selective D1 and D2 dopamine antagonists on cocaine self-administration in the rat. Psychopharmacology, 1991, 105: 151-156.
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6.Volkow, N. et al. Long-Term Frontal Brain Metabolic Changes in Cocaine Abusers. Synapse,1997, 11:184-190
Pascal’s Wager was a major strength of his theory on God and Religion. The argument made in Pascal’s Wager is an example of apologetic philosophy. It was written and published in Pensées by the 17th century French philosopher Blaise Pascal. Pascal’s Wager claims that all humans must bet their lives on whether God exists. He argues that rational people should seek to believe in God. If God does not exist the loss is minimal, but if God does exist there is an infinite gain, eternity in Heaven. It was a ground-breaking theory because it utilized probability theory and formal decision theory. Pascal’s Wager is applicable both to atheists and theists. While other philosophies may
Horvath, T., Misra, K., Epner, A., & Cooper, G. (2017). Biological Approaches to Addiction Treatment: Medications. Centersite.net. Retrieved 11 July 2017, from
David, A.G (2013). Cocaine use disorder in adults: Epidemiology, pharmacology, clinical manifestations, medical consequences, and diagnosis. ©2014 UpToDate, Inc.
Pascal’s Wager is an argument that tries to convince non-theists why they should believe in the existence of the Christian god. Pascal thinks non-theists should believe in God’s existence because if a non-theist is wrong about the existence of God they have much more to lose than if a theist is wrong about the existence of God.
Koob, G. F. (2011, Winter -). Neurobiology of Addiction. Retrieved from Focus: The Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry: http://focus.psychiatryonline.org/data/Journals/FOCUS/4266/foc00111000055.pdf
Wang, G., Smith, L., Volkow, N., Telang, F., Logan, J., Tomasi, D., & ... Fowler, J. (2012). Decreased dopamine activity predicts relapse in methamphetamine abusers. Molecular Psychiatry, 17(9), 918-925. doi:10.1038/mp.2011.86
...between faith and reason but I think Clifford has a way more logical way of considering faith and belief in God than Pascal. Clifford offers a very sound argument for why it is important not to call pragmatic considerations justification for God, and also and argument for why it is so important that we have really good evidence when making justifications. I believe that both reasoning, and faith are required to believe in anything and that the reasoning side of the equation needs to be diligently and mindfully considered. I also believe that to find empirical evidence of God may be impossible, so it’s important that faith and belief are based on strong reasoning even without empirical evidence. Believing in something because it’s comforting in the will only cause a great deal of people to blindly follow and never ask questions leading to a very misguided society.
Goldberg, J. (2012, October 10). Drug abuse, addiction, and the brain. In Mental Health Center. Retrieved November 13, 2013, from http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/drug-abuse-addiction?page=3
Cocaine, a powdered narcotic derived from the leaves of the cocoa plant, has been a curious participant in the history of several contemporary cultures. Its ubiquity is an outgrowth of its unique and highly effective properties. While cocaine is commonly known as a highly popular recreational drug, its underlying chemical properties, chemical mechanisms, and chemical effects on the human body, offer an understanding of why the drug remains a resilient participant in today’s culture. We explore these chemical characteristics further.
According to Leshner, drug addiction is a chronic brain disease that is expressed in the form of compulsive behaviors (Leshner, 2001). He believes that drug addiction is influence by both biological, and behavioral factors, and to solve this addiction problem we need to focus on these same factors. On the other hand, Neil Levy argues that addiction is not a brain disease rather it is a behavioral disorder embedded in social context (Levy, 2013). I believe, drug addiction is a recurring brain disease that can be healed when we alter and eliminate all the factors that are reinforcing drug addiction.
There are many factors that are integrated into the successful development of a child from Prenatal growth into toddlerhood. Teratogens (outside factors) have a great impact on the babies’ inutero development. Some outside factors like second-hand smoke, smog, or fumes from cleaning chemicals can cause negative effects on the child inside the womb. A few major affects from teratogens could result in low birth weight, head circumference, slow physical growth as well as an effect on mental, behavioral and motor skills (Berk, 2003). The environment around the mother provides many of these outside factors affecting the baby’s growth. But the main link to teratogens during the gestation period is most likely the mother. Daniel S. Messinger and the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that 2.8% of pregnant women admitted to using illicit drugs during their pregnancy (1996). Through illicit drug use, tobacco use and alcohol use, the mother disrupts her baby’s growth with possibly permanent damage.
Cocaine. National Institute of Drug Abuse: The science of drug abuse and addiction, Retrieved from http://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/directors-page Holman, B. (1994) The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary Biological effects of central nervous system stimulants. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pd fviewer?sid=118723c1-a0ab-413a-ace1.
One of the main differences of these two arguments is that the teleological argument has examples to back up its claims and Pascal’s wager does not. Another contrasting aspect is that according to Pascal’s wager, there is a possibility that God does not exist. In the teleological argument, there is no scenario where God does not exist. The teleological argument explains this world was deliberately created and offers only one scenario, that God does exist. Pascal’s wager does not explain a purpose and offers two different scenarios.
The world involving drug addiction is a taboo topic to many. However, drug addiction is a very real topic that occurs worldwide. The widespread use of drugs is not restricted to the United States, with roughly five percent of the world’s population using in the past few months (Mosher & Akins, 2014). Many scientists, doctors, and specialists study addiction and try to find an explanation for why so many become addicted.
Leshner, A. (2011) Addiction Is a Brain Disease, and it Matters. Frontiers in Neuroscience: The Science of Substance Abuse.