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Behavioral neuropharmacology focuses on the study of how drugs affect human behavior (neuropsychopharmacology), including the study of how drug dependence and addiction affect the human brain. [2] Molecular neuropharmacology involves the study of neurons and their neurochemical interactions, with the overall goal of developing drugs that have ...
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.
The effects of alcohol on the body's neurochemistry are more difficult to examine than some other drugs. This is because the chemical nature of the substance makes it easy to penetrate into the brain, and it also influences the phospholipid bilayer of neurons.
“Both types of medications improve cognitive functions like attention and working memory by optimizing neurotransmitter [chemical messenger] levels and enhancing brain network connectivity.”
The long-term effects of benzodiazepines are very similar to the long-term effects of alcohol consumption (apart from organ toxicity) and other sedative-hypnotics. Withdrawal effects and dependence are not identical. Dependence can be managed, with a medical professional of course, but withdrawal can be fatal.
“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.”
Psychoactive drugs operate by temporarily affecting a person's neurochemistry, which in turn causes changes in a person's mood, cognition, perception and behavior. There are many ways in which psychoactive drugs can affect the brain. Each drug has a specific action on one or more neurotransmitter or neuroreceptor in the brain.
How does the nicotine in e-cigarettes affect the brain? [6] Until about age 25, the brain is still growing. [6] Each time a new memory is created or a new skill is learned, stronger connections – or synapses – are built between brain cells. [6] Young people's brains build synapses faster than adult brains. [6]