Addition is defined as a chronic relapsing brain disease that alters the functioning of the brain as well as its fundamental structure. It is characterized by compulsive drug seeking behavior despite the detrimental effects it has on health and quality of life. Statistics reveal that approximately 8-10% of individuals over the age of 12 years are addicted to drugs, which accounts to a total of 22 million people. Once a person is addicted, they no longer take the drugs to feel pleasure but rather to feel normal. Evidence has shown that consistent use of drugs impacts negatively on the capacity of a person to feel pleasure at all. Once the drug use alters the brain, it would require more and more drugs for them to function at the normal level, since their brain reward center has become less receptive to enjoyment and pleasure. Although addiction is chronic, it is treatable and preventable through use of evidence-based treatments that are efficient in management of the illness. It needs an ongoing treatment, which may include change in lifestyle, therapy, and medication. Recovery is the optimal outcome of managing and treating addiction. Addiction has a long history and it is prevalent in our society but there is no clear evidence established regarding the neurophysiological processes encompassed in the progression and development of addictive disorders. The current and future research studies are confronted with the challenge of understanding the way drugs alter particular systems of the brain to impact on tolerance and contribute to a state of addiction. Also, they are faced with the challenge of identifying vulnerable populations and improving the current strategies of treatment (Mayfield, Blednov & Harris, 2015). This paper seeks to discuss the physiology of addiction that would provide information and comprehension of this aspect, which will also be important in current and future research studies.
Literature Review
According to Blanco-Calvo (2014), the human brain is designed to provide us with pleasurable things. Pleasurable behaviors such as eating or exercising among others is linked directly to health, which triggers the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter. Dopamine makes us feel good and also motivates us to keep doing what we are doing. It causes the brain to repeat the behavior making it part of the normal life of an individual. When a person uses drugs, the same part of the brain is triggered but this occurs at an extreme degree. High amounts of dopamine causes the brain to overreact and rewires the brain in damaging ways. Overreaction of the brain minimizes the production of dopamine in efforts to normalize the unexpected extreme levels the drugs have created and this facilitates the beginning of the cycle of addiction. An addicted person will no longer use the drug for pleasure but rather to feel normal. A brain that is addicted to drugs facilitates changes in behavior. A person addicted to drugs exhibits physical changes in major areas of the brain that are important to behavior control, memory and learning, decision making, and judgment. These changes alters the functioning of the brain and assists in providing explanation about destructive and compulsive addiction behaviors. The recent science research points out that addiction is contributed to by three main factors including genetics, environment, and development. Scientific research have revealed that approximately 50-75% of the chances of a person to develop addiction results from genetics. Also, research points out that growing up in an environment where adults are engaging in criminal behavior or drug use, is a risk factor for addiction. Addiction, beginning to use drugs at an early age poses increased risk of a person developing addiction problem. Introducing drugs at the time when we are we still growing can result in severe, long-lasting damage.
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Sommer, Costa and Hansson (2014) indicate that dopamine plays a significant role in the brain. It is believed that dopamine is the major route for substance drugs such as alcohol, morphine, and cocaine. Administration of addictive drugs is believed to be involved in some way in the dopamine system of the nucleus accumbens. Nucleus accumbens is a primitive structure that is among the vital pleasure centers of the brain. Dopamine is considered by most people to be directly accountable for the exciting urgency that enhances the desire to take drugs by drug addicts therefore, dopamine plays a significant role in the development of drug addiction. These drugs alters the level of dopamine in the brain and are linked to feelings of pleasure and wellbeing and offer positive support that contributes to the continuous abuse of drug. Moreover, repetitive administration of drugs generates sensitization of extracellular levels of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens. Evidence suggests that depletion of dopamine due to drug administration in the mesolimbic system could signify the mechanism in part underlying the anhedonia and dysphoria that compliments drug withdrawal and can also result in increased drug craving among addicts.
Herman and Roberto (2015) states that consumption of drug substances generates temporary feelings of pleasure or euphoria and facilitate development of dependence. In the contemporary society, the cost of addiction to illegal drugs in American is over 600 billion dollars annually. It has caused adverse impacts on the economy and social aspects. Different types of drugs yields distinctive patterns of addiction that involve various elements of the cycle of addiction, which is dependent on the length and dose of use. A shift occurs in the life of an individual as they move from being a user to abuser to an addict. It facilitates changes in the driving motivated behavior from positive reinforcement to negative reinforcement. Development of drug addiction includes changes in the normal brain circuitry that leads to permanent changes in drug-induced neuroplasticity. Having understanding of the major cellular mechanisms and circuits impacted by the severe use of drugs and impact the genetic factors, developmental trajectories, and environmental stressors. These comprehension enhances improved understanding of the process of addiction and facilitates development of more effective therapeutic strategies for treatment and prevention of drug-related disorders. This will offer significant breakthroughs to address addictive disorders and actions to be taken against the addictive substances that are commonly abused such as cannabinoids, nicotine, cocaine, and alcohol.
According to Zamora-Martinez and Edwards (2014), consumption of drugs and alcohol have both chronic and acute impacts on various systems of the body including endocrine and central nervous system. It alters the functional and structural factors of these systems, which has harmful effects on the health and quality of life of an individual. The adaptations of addiction both functionally and structurally are perceived as tolerance and withdrawal, which are common in individuals with continued use of addictive substances. Tolerance occurs when there is a declined response to use of chemicals for a long period of time such that at one point it results in enhanced amounts required to acquire desired effects. Withdrawal takes place due to lack of chemical within the system causing the psychosomatic and somatic symptoms to occur both at the molecular and cellular level. The neurons function by transmitting signals back and forth in the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system. The signals are action potentials that take place in the cell with numerous potassium and sodium. The intracellular communication of these neurons take place at the synaptic cleft. Here, the neurotransmitters are released by the pre-synaptic neuron, which bind to the receptor sites on the post-synaptic neuron triggering the occurrence of excitation in the post-synaptic neuron. Continuous use of drugs and alcohol can have negative impacts on the receptor sites density on the neurons. It is perceived as a representative of withdrawals and tolerance in alcoholics and addicts. In these stages, addicts experience structural changes, which in turn affects the proper functioning of homeostasis and reduces the cognitive functioning of a person. Lack of cognitive ability is an indication of decline in reasoning which results in poor decision making and an increased chance of having a relapse. However, the structural and functional changes can be restored back to normal through treatment providing an individual with proper cognitive functioning and improved decision making. Proper treatment will allow an individual to have improved quality of life and ability to effectively handle emotion and stress.
Conclusion
The literature review has provided evidence that mechanisms of drug abuse have adverse impact on the structural and functional parts of the brain. Consumption of simulant substances causes specific parts of the brain known as pleasure reward systems to react thereby releasing high amounts of dopamine. Increased amounts of dopamine can result in depolarization of neurons that is not associated with any substance stimulation in the reward system. Many of the drugs that are commonly abused such as nicotine, cocaine, opiates, ethyl alcohol, and amphetamine results in increased concentration of synaptic of the neurotransmitter dopamine. These drugs each work distinctively but they all have a significant impact on the available amount of dopamine for binding dopamine receptors in the neuron system. Prolonged use of drugs causes a person to shift from being a user, abuser, to being an addict. Once an individual becomes addictive, they do not take the drugs anymore for the purpose of feeling pleasure but rather for the reason of feeling normal. Extreme releases of dopamine damages the ability of a reward center to feel pleasure and enjoyment and thus prompts an individual to continue taking medications in order to feel good. However, since this condition is treatable and preventable, it would assist many people in our society to become better people and contribute positively in our society. Therefore, having understanding of physiology of addiction would contribute significantly towards current and future studies on the topic.
References
Blanco-Calvo E., Rivera P., Arrabal S., Vargas A., Pavón F. J., Serrano A., et al. (2014). Pharmacological blockade of either cannabinoid CB1 or CB2 receptors prevents both cocaine-induced conditioned locomotion and cocaine-induced reduction of cell proliferation in the hippocampus of adult male rat . Front. Integr. Neurosci . 7 : 106 10.3389/fnint.2013.00106
Herman, M. A., & Roberto, M. (2015). The addicted brain: understanding the neurophysiological mechanisms of addictive disorders. Frontiers in integrative neuroscience , 9 , 18.
Mayfield, J., Blednov, Y. A., & Harris, R. A. (2015). Behavioral and genetic evidence for GIRK channels in the CNS: Role in physiology, pathophysiology, and drug addiction. In International review of neurobiology (Vol. 123, pp. 279-313). Academic Press.
Sommer W. H., Costa R. M., Hansson A. C. (2014). Dopamine systems adaptation during acquisition and consolidation of a skill . Front. Integr. Neurosci . 8 : 87 . 10.3389/fnint.2014.00087
Zamora-Martinez E. R., Edwards S. (2014). Neuronal extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activity as marker and mediator of alcohol and opioid dependence . Front. Integr. Neurosci . 8 : 24 . 10.3389/fnint.2014.00024
