Your brain on Drugs Dr. Chris Hasegawa drchasegawa@gmail.com https://drchrisbrain.weebly.com

Three sessions Intended to help you understand how your brain works. Oct. 11:  Your Brain on Drugs Oct. 18:  Your Brain and Dementia Oct. 25:  Your Brain on Music  I’m a PhD, not a MD, so I’m not giving medical advice

A couple of myths We once thought that after puberty, we had all the brain cells that we were going to have, but we really lose and grow brain cells all through our lives. We believed that the brain consisted of only gray neurons. Now we know that glial cells, blood vessels and lymphatic vessels are also in the brain. We use more than 10 % of our brain. We actually use almost all of it all the time. Now, do we use it well??? Our brain is like a computer … a gland … a Lizard brain … a mouse brain … a gorilla brain

Dr Suzana Herculano-Houzel and Brain soup "We found that on average the human brain has 86bn neurons. And not one [of the brains] that we looked at so far has the 100bn. Even though it may sound like a small difference the 14bn neurons amount to pretty much the number of neurons that a baboon brain has or almost half the number of neurons in the gorilla brain. So that's a pretty large difference actually."

Neurotransmitters Neurotransmitters carry messages across a synapse setting off electrical impulses that go down the axon.

Reptilian Brain The brainstem links the brain to the spinal cord. It controls many functions vital to life, such as heart rate, blood pressure and breathing. This area is also important for sleep

Reptilian Brain The cerebellum is a wrinkled ball of tissue below and behind the rest of your brain. It works to combine sensory information from the eyes, ears and muscles to help coordinate movement.

The Limbic System The thalamus acts as a gatekeeper for messages passed between the spinal cord and the cerebral hemispheres.

The Limbic System The hypothalamus  controls emotions. It also regulates your body's temperature and controls crucial urges — such as eating or sleeping.

The Limbic System The hippocampus sends memories to be stored in appropriate sections of the cerebrum and then recalls them when necessary.

The Cortex The frontal lobes control thinking, planning, organizing, problem solving, short-term memory and movement.

The Cortex The parietal lobes interpret sensory information, such as taste, temperature and touch.

The Cortex The occipital lobes process images from your eyes and link that information with images stored in memory.

The Cortex The temporal lobes process information from your senses of smell, taste and sound. They also play a role in memory storage.

UPPERS – Stimulants Cocaine increases levels of Dopamine in brain circuits controlling pleasure and movement. Methamphetamine increases the amount of the neurotransmitter dopamine, leading to high levels of that chemical in the brain.

PHYSIOLOGICAL ADDICTION

Emotional State Normal Comatose Euphoria

Downers – Depressants Morphine Binds to opiod receoptors, especially those involved in the perception of pain located in the brain stem. Alcohol increases the amount of the neurotransmitter dopamine, leading to high levels of that chemical in the brain.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ADDICTION

All Arounders – Halleucinogens LSD appears to activate sensory neurons randomly Marijuana appears to shrink neurons in the brain

There is a lot of dissention about the brain and drugs

Any Questions? Dr. Chris Hasegawa drchasegawa@gmail.com https://drchrisbrain.weebly.com