The Effects of Cocaine on the Brain
Cocaine has always been a prominent drug in society. It has been the cause of many deaths, dysfunctional families and heart breaking stories. The effects of the chemical in the coca leaf were first discovered throughout South America where Coca chewing was practiced because it was believed to be a gift from God in 3000 B.C. Now, Cocaine has claimed the lives of many and will always be a visible problem in our society. Cocaine produces its effects by altering the synaptic mechanisms. Since it alters these mechanisms it is known as a synaptic drug. These drugs usually block an objectionable effect or it will improve a pleasing effect. There are four ways in which these drugs can alter the synaptic mechanisms. Firstly they may modify the synthesis, axonal transport, storage, or release of a neurotransmitter. Another way that cocaine may do this is by adjusting neurotransmitter interaction with the postsynaptic receptor. Cocaine may also Influence neurotransmitter reuptake or obliteration or lastly, replace a deficient neurotransmitter with a substitute transmitter. It is been discovered the cocaine blocks the transporters for three different neurotransmitters; dopamine, serotonin,
David McCann, chief of the National Institute of Drug Abuse Pharmacology and Toxicology Branch, began to develop a number of different cocaine treatment medications that will stop cocaine from acting at neurotransmitter transporters therefore enabling it to produce its effects. When cocaine occupies the dopamine transporter it stays in the synaptic cleft longer than usual and continues to interrelate with postsynaptic receptor sites. Animal studies have been done to show that these compounds have indicated that they are safe and potentially effective in humans. The researchers observed which compartment the mice would move to since they were given a choice. This a due to the permanent molecular adaptations of the neurons involved in the cocaine's effect so that they can no longer transmit normally across synapses without increasingly higher doses of the drug. From the mid 1980's cocaine has been a popular drug in our society. A large reason why the American Government outlawed cocaine in 1914 is that is a very addictive drug. As a result of these studies researchers are now thinking that an explanation for cocaine's powerful attraction may be because it affects several neurotransmitters and not just one. Then when the cocaine molecules diffuse away the sense of pleasure that cocaine gives evaporates because the normal level of dopamine no longer satisfies the overly needy demands of the postsynaptic cells for stimulation. However, it has also been thought that different neurotransmitters may produce different aspects of the reward. Now they are in the early phases of clinical human trials. Uhl's group also tested the serotonin transporter to see if the cocaine effect would still take place and the results were the same as in the dopamine experiment. Ichiro Sora at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethseda, Maryland and by Dr. Marc Caron's group at Duke University used a procedure in which the mice pressed a level to receive a cocaine injection.
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