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Once the drug cannot pass back through the barrier the drug can be concentrated and made effective for therapeutic use. [7] However drawbacks to this exist as well. Once the drug is in the brain there is a point where it needs to be degraded to prevent overdose to the brain tissue. Also if the drug cannot pass back through the blood–brain ...
One form of behavioral neuropharmacology focuses on the study of drug dependence and how drug addiction affects the human mind. Most research has shown that the major part of the brain that reinforces addiction through neurochemical reward is the nucleus accumbens. The image to the right shows how dopamine is projected into this area.
Many neurological diseases arise due to an imbalance in the brain's neurochemistry. For example, in Parkinson's Disease, there is an imbalance in the brain's level of dopamine. Medications include neurochemicals that are used to alter brain function and treat disorders of the brain.
A stimulant is a drug that stimulates the central nervous system, increasing arousal, attention and endurance. Stimulants are used in psychiatry to treat attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. Because the medications can be addictive, patients with a history of drug abuse are typically monitored closely or treated with a non-stimulant.
Drugs that prevent a neurotransmitter from binding to its receptor are called receptor antagonists. For example, drugs used to treat patients with schizophrenia such as haloperidol, chlorpromazine, and clozapine are antagonists at receptors in the brain for dopamine. Other drugs act by binding to a receptor and mimicking the normal ...
“The brain changes, and it doesn’t recover when you just stop the drug because the brain has been actually changed,” Kreek explained. “The brain may get OK with time in some persons. But it’s hard to find a person who has completely normal brain function after a long cycle of opiate addiction, not without specific medication treatment.”
A 25-gauge needle is used to puncture the scalp into the reservoir. A few milliliters of CSF are withdrawn before injecting the drug. This technique is typically used for long-term drug administration. Rarely will repeated taps be conducted to administer drugs due to the risk of damaging brain tissue. [13]
An implicit premise in neuropsychopharmacology with regard to the psychological aspects is that all states of mind, including both normal and drug-induced altered states, and diseases involving mental or cognitive dysfunction, have a neurochemical basis at the fundamental level, and certain circuit pathways in the central nervous system at a higher level.