Drug Abuse And Addiction - NIH Office of Science Education

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The Brain: Understanding Neurobiology Through the Study of Addiction3. After students have completed their answers to the questions,discuss the questions as a class.Drug addiction is a disease that causes physical and functionalchanges in the brain. This is similar to other diseases in whicha part of the body does not function properly.4. Encourage students to learn about how drugs affect other bodysystems by doing library or Internet searches.Because the focus of this unit is the brain, the curriculum supplementdoes not address how drugs act on other parts of the body. However, agreat deal of additional information is available online. See the sectionAdditional Resources for Teachers for some informative Web sites.The following procedure is for classes using the printversion of the activity.1. Give each student a copy of Master 4.6. Instruct students to read thehandout Long-Term Effects of Drugs on the Brain and answer thequestions.After students finish reading and answering the questions, discuss theresponses as a class.Sample Answers to Questions on Master 4.6Question 1. What are some of the ways that drugs cause long-termchanges in the brain?The continued use of drugs may cause the brain to become resistantto the effects of the drug (tolerance). Some drugs, such as alcohol,methampheta mine, and MDMA, are neurotoxic; that is, they candamage or kill brain cells. Cocaine and amphetamine can cause theactivity level of the brain to decrease for a long period of time afterdrug use is stopped.Question 2. How does the brain adapt to the presence of drugs?The brain adapts to the presence of drugs through various alterationsin cellular, molecular, and genetic processes that affect its function.The decrease in the number of dopamine receptors in the reward areasis one example of a brain adaptation. Changes in the brain can leadto the development of tolerance—a person needing more of a drug toachieve the desired effect—and to cravings for the drug when druguse has stopped.114
Question 3. How may the abuse of drugs relate to the plasticityof the brain?Plasticity means that the brain can modify connections (synapses)in response to experiences. Drugs that damage or kill neurons candecrease the plasticity of the brain because neurons are not presentto form new connections and because existing connections are lost.Drugs also hijack the learning and memory systems of the brainso that cues (people, places, or things) that are associated with thedrug experience become powerful motivators of craving and druguse. In fact, addiction is sometimes described as a disease oflearning and memory.Question 4. What are some problems that scientists have when theyinves tigate the effects of drugs on the brain?Scientists have difficulty investigating the effects of drugs on thebrain because many people who abuse drugs abuse more than onedrug. Scientists must understand how each drug affects the brain andbody because drugs taken in combination may have different effects.Also, many people who abuse drugs have other medical conditionsthat make it difficult for scientists to determine what effects are dueto the drug and what effects are due to those conditions. Scientistsalso don’t know what someone’s brain was like before they used drugs.This makes it hard to determine whether drug use caused the changesor a vulnerability existed before drugs were used that made someonesusceptible to addiction.2. If students want to learn more about how drugs affect other partsof the body, encourage them to do library or Internet searches foradditional information.Because this unit focuses on the brain, it does not address how drugsact on other parts of the body. A great deal of information is availableonline. See the section Additional Resources for Teachers (page 143) forsome informative Web sites.115Student Lesson 4
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Drug Abuse And Addiction - NIH Office of Science Education

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