Lesson 4

Effects of Drugs
 Focus Question

How can drugs affect the nervous system?

 New Vocabulary

drug
dopamine
stimulant
depressant
tolerance
addiction
 Review Vocabulary

threshold: the minimum strength of a stimulus

that causes an action potential to be generated
 How Drugs Work

• A drug is a substance, natural or artificial, that

alters the function of the body.
• Common substances such as caffeine, nicotine,
and alcohol are drugs.
 How Drugs Work

• Some drugs affect the nervous system in the

following ways:
• Can cause an increase in the amount of a
neurotransmitter that is released into a
synapse
• Can block a receptor site on a dendrite,
preventing a neurotransmitter from binding
• Can prevent a neurotransmitter from
leaving a synapse
• Can imitate a neurotransmitter
 How Drugs Work

• Many drugs that affect the nervous system

influence the level of a neurotransmitter called
dopamine.
• Normally, dopamine is removed from a
synapse by being reabsorbed by the neuron
that released it.
How Drugs Work
 Classes of Commonly Abused Drugs

• Drug abuse does not necessarily involve the use

of illegal drugs.
• Any use of a drug for reasons other than
legitimate medical purposes, whether
deliberate or unintentional, can be considered
abuse of that drug.
 Classes of Commonly Abused Drugs

Stimulants
• Drugs that increase alertness and physical
activity are stimulants.
• Nicotine
• Increases the amount of dopamine
released into a synapse
• Caffeine
• Works by binding to adenosine receptors
on neurons in the brain
 Classes of Commonly Abused Drugs

Depressants
• Drugs that tend to slow down the central
nervous system are depressants.
• Alcohol
• Known to affect at least four different
neurotransmitters, resulting in a feeling of
relaxation and sluggishness
• Inhalants
• Generally work by acting as a depressant
on the central nervous system
 Classes of Commonly Abused Drugs

Depressants
• Illegal drugs
• Amphetamines and cocaine both increase
dopamine levels.
• Both prevent dopamine from being
reabsorbed, so it remains in the synapses.
• This increases the levels of dopamine in
the brain.
• The active chemical in marijuana is
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
• THC binds to the brain’s neuron
receptors.
 Tolerance and Addiction

• Tolerance occurs when a person needs more

and more of the same drug to get the same
effect.
• The psychological and/or physiological
dependence on a drug is addiction.
• Most physical addiction involves dopamine.
• Psychological addiction involves emotion.
• Counseling is often necessary to overcome an
addiction.
 Treatment
• People dependent on a drug experience
serious withdrawal symptoms without it.
• It is difficult for dependent users to quit, and
medical supervision is often necessary.
• The best way to avoid an addiction is never to
use drugs in the first place, even when
pressured to use them.
• Encourage people who abuse drugs to seek
treatment for drug dependency.
• Physicians, nurses, counselors, clergy, and
social workers are trained to direct people to
the resources they need to get help.
 Quiz

1. If a person is suffering from depression, which

drug is one recommended treatment of the
presynaptic neuron?

A one that increases the C one that decreases

reuptake of dopamine the receptors for
dopamine

B one that increases the D one that decreases

production of the reuptake of
dopamine dopamine
CORRECT
 Quiz

2. Which is true about caffeine?

A It is not a drug. C It is a naturally

occurring
neurotransmitter.

B It temporarily raises D It is a depressant.

epinephrine levels.
CORRECT
 Quiz

3. Which is NOT considered to be a drug?

A nicotine

B antibiotics

C aspirin

D All of these are drugs.

CORRECT
 Quiz

4. What is the most likely function of amphetamines?

A to stimulate the C to stimulate the

sympathetic nervous sympathetic and
system parasympathetic
CORRECT systems equally

B to stimulate the D not to affect either

parasympathetic the sympathetic or
nervous system parasympathetic
nervous system