– Why is the brain so effective in adapting to substances like MDMA and Cocaine?
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I think you have that backwards.. the reason that these particular substances are of interest to humans (and many other mammals ) is that we have receptors in the brain that are stimulated by these substances.
Opioid receptors in the brain existed before the powerful opioids were being distilled.
In this respect we are just another creature that developed in the same environment as the plants around us.
Straining feeders eat plankton because they both developed in the same seas.
I think you have that backwards.. the reason that these particular substances are of interest to humans (and many other mammals ) is that we have receptors in the brain that are stimulated by these substances.
Opioid receptors in the brain existed before the powerful opioids were being distilled.
In this respect we are just another creature that developed in the same environment as the plants around us.
Straining feeders eat plankton because they both developed in the same seas.
I think you have that backwards.. the reason that these particular substances are of interest to humans (and many other mammals ) is that we have receptors in the brain that are stimulated by these substances.
Opioid receptors in the brain existed before the powerful opioids were being distilled.
In this respect we are just another creature that developed in the same environment as the plants around us.
Straining feeders eat plankton because they both developed in the same seas.
Homeostasis. The brain, like the rest of the body tends to a state of balance where everything is functioning in ideal conditions. This is true for neurotransmitter signalling in the brain. When you take one of these drugs you drastically increase signalling in their respective pathways. Brain no like this so through a process called neuromodulation, cells in the brain take steps to counteract this signalling. This can involve increasing the signalling of opposing pathways, destroying/ internalizing certain receptors or limiting the production of certain neurotransmitters – all with the same goal of reducing the net signalling of these pathways to a more manageable level.
Homeostasis. The brain, like the rest of the body tends to a state of balance where everything is functioning in ideal conditions. This is true for neurotransmitter signalling in the brain. When you take one of these drugs you drastically increase signalling in their respective pathways. Brain no like this so through a process called neuromodulation, cells in the brain take steps to counteract this signalling. This can involve increasing the signalling of opposing pathways, destroying/ internalizing certain receptors or limiting the production of certain neurotransmitters – all with the same goal of reducing the net signalling of these pathways to a more manageable level.
Homeostasis. The brain, like the rest of the body tends to a state of balance where everything is functioning in ideal conditions. This is true for neurotransmitter signalling in the brain. When you take one of these drugs you drastically increase signalling in their respective pathways. Brain no like this so through a process called neuromodulation, cells in the brain take steps to counteract this signalling. This can involve increasing the signalling of opposing pathways, destroying/ internalizing certain receptors or limiting the production of certain neurotransmitters – all with the same goal of reducing the net signalling of these pathways to a more manageable level.
Imbalance of chemicals bad, brain good at balance, when in doubt your brain will put all the shapes in the square hole if only for the sake or achieving balance.
Imbalance of chemicals bad, brain good at balance, when in doubt your brain will put all the shapes in the square hole if only for the sake or achieving balance.
Imbalance of chemicals bad, brain good at balance, when in doubt your brain will put all the shapes in the square hole if only for the sake or achieving balance.
Cocaine and MDMA (and other drugs) aren’t “crazy alien substances,” to our body. The molecules themselves might not naturally be a common visitor to our bodies, however, sort of how you might be able to sometimes fit incorrect puzzle pieces together, the shape of the drug molecules are close enough to natural chemicals in our body that they fit a lot of the same “locks.”
Therefore, even though they are foreign substances, all they’re really doing is setting off normal, every day processes in our brain. Normal every day neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) are released, those chemicals do what they naturally do, and then our brain (which is always in a constant feedback loop of adjusting to feedback) adapts like it always does. Nothing abnormal.
The difference with drugs is that they often cause the brain to produce/release more of these chemicals than normal, or sometimes just mimic the neurotransmitter itself, so while our brain is technically adapting just like it always does, the drugs cause those neurotransmitters to keep releasing, which means *our brains keep adapting*. Our brain is just doing what it does, it’s just not adapted to detect when it should stop doing certain things since it never had to worry about that before.
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