Straiker and Mackie used hippocampal neurons from mice with the human CB1 receptor in order to study
the effects of cannabis. The study found that the mice exhibit similar addictive behaviours to humans when
dosed with cannabis as excess dopamine was found in the neural pathway.This suggests that neurotransmitters and the reward system work in similar ways, therefore giving us evidence to support neurotransmission in humans
Problems with animal research The basic transmission processes in mammals are similar. But some differences arise because
the human brain is more complex than the rat brain. For example, isolating the effects of just
one neurotransmitter greatly oversimplifies the process. It is very unlikely that the complexity of
recreational drugs effects on transmission can be explained by just one mode of action of a drug.
The interactions of dopamine with other neurotransmitter systems (e.g. noradrenaline,
