The Brain
Brain Communication
Alcohol & the Brain
Drugs & the Brain
100

Area of the brain affected by recreational drug abuse

What is the brain reward system

100
Your brain contains about 100 billion of these.
What are neurons?
100
Alcohol can produce detectable impairments in memory, the most severe of these are called ______, when you have no recollection of events.
What are blackouts?
100
Drugs imitate the brains natural chemical messengers and overstimulate this area.
What is the "reward circuit."
200
This is in charge of all the functions our body needs to stay alive - breathing, moving blood, and digesting food. It also links the brain with the spinal cord, which runs down the back and moves muscles and limbs as well as lets the brain know what's happening to the body.
What is the brain stem?
200
This "chemical messenger" makes it possible for messages to travel through the body.
What are neurotransmitters?
200

Neurotransmitter released into the reward center neuronal synapses as a result of taking heroin (and other opioids)

What is dopamine

200
Dopamine receptors decrease to try to regulate the flood of dopamine in your system from drug use, causing you to become less sensitive to dopamine.
What is tolerance?
300
This links together a bunch of brain structures that control our emotional responses, such as feeling pleasure when we eat chocolate. The good feelings motivate us to repeat the behavior.
What is the limbic system?
300
As a neurotransmitter approaches a nearby neuron, it attaches to this, acting similarly to a key and a lock.
What is a receptor?
300
Sweating, shaking, anxiety, and nausea are examples of this.
What are withdrawal symptoms.
300
The reward circuit in our brains are wired to make sure we repeat healthy activities. When it's activated our brain makes a note to remember the activity. The same area is activated when we use mood altering substances which can lead to _____.
What is addiction?
400
The cerebral cortex or gray matter is broken up into four lobes. This lobe is our thinking center, it powers our ability to think, plan, solve, problems, and make decisions.
What is the frontal cortex?
400

Shaped like a pine cone, plays a crucial role in processing emotions

What is amygdala

400

Part of the brain that is unconscious, acts immediately, no future planning or assessment of long-term consequences

What is midbrain?

400
An inability to feel pleasure results in feelings of _____.
What is depression?
500
Daily use of this will increase your grey matter in your prefrontal cortex and thus greatly improve your ability to self-regulate your emotions and allow for well-adjusted responses to whatever life throws your way.
What is meditation?
500
These are three neurotransmitters.
What are Dopamine, Seratonin, GABA, Adrenaline...
500
Five areas that can be affected by alcohol use on a single occasion or over time.
What are brain, liver, pancreas, heart, and immune system?
500

True or False: Monkeys and rats will self-administer opioids and if they have access, will become dependent on them.

What is true?

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