Recreational Drugs

• What do recreational drugs alter?

  Perception, mood, and conscious experience
• Give 2 examples of recreational drugs

  Cocaine

  Nicotine
• When recreational drugs are taken, what is activated?

  The reward pathway- make us want to repeat the behaviour
• What can cocaine make individuals feel?

  Euphoric

  Energetic

  Alert

  Hypersensitive
• What does cocaine block the reuptake of?

  Dopamine left over in the synaptic gap
• What does the lack of reuptake of dopamine cause?

  Feelings of euphoria
• However, what has occurred if individuals are addicted to it and need more cocaine to feel the effect?

  Desensitisation
• What do individuals experience with nicotine?

  a “kick”
• Why do they experience a “kick”?

  nicotine results in release of adrenaline and a release of glucose which causes increase heart rate and blood pressure
• When nicotine binds to a receptor, what does it cause the release of?

  Dopamine
• If a person stops taking nicotine what will the experience?

  Low mood due to a lack of dopamine release
• Give 2 strengths of this

  1.Supporting evidence:Olds and Milner- rats who had wires connected to their reward pathway could give their brans a pleasurable shock by pressing a lever and the rats would keep returning

  2.Evidence through observation of drug addicts
• Give 2 weaknesses of this

  1.Generalisability: much of the evidence comes from animals- cannot be generalised to humans

  2.Reductionist: there is more than one reward pathway in the brain and drugs normally effect more than one area of the brain
• What is caffeine?

  A stimulant- increases the activity in the brain
• What is the mode of action?

  Activates noradrenaline neurones and affects release of dopamine

  Blocks the adenosine (sleepiness) because it takes all the receptors
• How does it affect behaviour?

  Insomnia

  Nausa

  Increased heart rate

  Increased alertness

  Lowers the ability to concentrate