Brain Basics
This organ controls thinking, feeling, behavior, and basic body functions.
Brain
About how many neurons is the brain made of?
Billions
The main ingredient in marijuana that causes a high.
THC
This structure plays a role in anxiety, irritability, and other emotions.
Amygdala
What does it mean to "admit" in NA Step 1?
It means to honestly recognize and accept the truth about your substance usage and its impact on your life.
These specialized brain cells send and receive information.
Neurons
Chemicals released by neurons to send messages.
Neurotransmitters
Drugs interfere with the way these cells send, receive, and process signals.
Neurons
This part helps with thinking, planning, decision-making, and impulse control.
Pre-frontal cortex
What is a higher power?
Anything outside of yourself that can provide strength, guidance, hope, or support.
This connects the brain to the rest of the body and carries messages.
Spinal Cord
The small gap between two neurons.
Synapse
Marijuana can activate receptors because it mimics these substances naturally found in the body.
Neurotransmitters
This brain area is part of the reward circuit and is involved in habits and motivation.
Basal ganglia
What does NA Step 3 "surrender" mean?
Surrender means stopping the fight against help and becoming willing to try a different way.
The human brain weighs about this much.
3lbs
The neurotransmitter crosses the synapse and attaches to what?
Receptor
Drugs over-activate this circuit, producing the euphoria of the drug high.
Reward circuit
This brain area helps control breathing, heart rate, and sleeping.
Brain Stem
Step 4 asks us to make a personal what?
Inventory
The brain is often compared to this machine because of its complex networks.
A computer
This part of a neuron carries impulses away from the cell body.
Axon
What are 3 short-term effects of marijuana on the brain?
altered senses, psychosis, impaired learning and memory, changes in mood, hallucinations, difficulty with thinking and problem-solving, impaired body movement, altered sense of time
This structure is important for memory.
Hippocampus
Recovery is not just about stopping drug use; it is about building what?
A better life