The Brain is Unique and Complex

Nate Griffiths

BIOL 4500      

30 October 2020

The Brain is Unique and Complex

            The Brain, a complex organ with the most important job in the human body. Filled with billions of nerve cells that communicate with each other to carry out the functions of the human body. The complexity of this organ can be shown by all the lobes and their functions. The cerebrum a major part of the brain consists of four lobes: the frontal lobe for cognitive functions, the occipital lobe for vision, the temporal lobe for memories, and the parietal lobe for senses. The cerebellum, the other part of the brain, is used for balance and coordination (LetsTute 2018). With these things we can see that the brain is magnificent and complex. It preforms everything we need to function properly, but with such an important organ comes complications. Imagine losing memories, experiencing an injury, or putting too many prescription or illegal drugs into your body. With these things we can see that complications can arise. In this paper, I am going to speak about injuries to the brain, effects of drugs on the brain, and how addiction can affect us. With these things we can learn and understand how complex the brain truly is and begin to understand how important it is to research these things.

            Injuries range in many categories from major traumatic brain damage, to something as forgetting everything around you, which also could be considered a disorder. Injuries can affect our brain, and can have a major toll on us. When thinking about injuries we also must consider disorders. Disorders are something in which we are seeing an increase. Some examples we are seeing rapid increase in are: depression, anxiety, personality changes, autism, Alzheimer’s, and the list could go on and on. However, we have little to no knowledge of why so many of these disorders occur. With this little knowledge comes extensive research. However, we have cracked very little when it comes to disorders such as Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s leaves a person forgetting things and almost takes them to a childlike stage where they require care and a watchful eye. This is just one example of how disorders can take a toll on us. With injuries on the brain comes a whole different perspective. Injuries can permanently or temporally effect our ability to function. One injury in particular that I have seen in my life many times are concussions. Concussions happen when someone gets hit in the head causing a swashing of the brain inside the brain cavity. The brain then tries to recover because it was just traumatically hit. The way I see it is like hitting a computer hard and it shuts down. It then slowly reboots until it comes on. Most concussions are related to sporting activities, however they can occur in many circumstances. My experiences with them occurred while I played sports in high school. I never personally experienced a concussion, but I had many friends who did. They experienced many symptoms of forgetting who they are, what they were doing, and what day it was, but the symptoms only lasted hours. The thing that scares me is those who do not report or get checked for their concussion. There has been a rise in those who do not report their concussions in fear of not playing (Christine et al 2019). I saw this occur in my school where kids feared they would have to sit out and not play, which could cause more damage. Though studies show that those who get a concussion have a lower chance to get one again in the same season (Pfaller et al 2016). We can see that there are many known disorders and injuries that have damage to our brain. With concussions and their recovery, we can see that our brain is complex and unique. 

            With the brain being a complex and unique organ, there comes the discussion of how drugs affect our brain. Drugs come in different forms. Whether they are prescription or illicit drugs, they can affect our brain. We have many pathways that occur in our body that help us function. These drugs, whether they are prescription or illicit drugs, affect our pathways by either hindering or blocking them from working, or they speed up and work better. It all depends on how we take these drugs. There are three main ways that someone could take these drugs affects the speed and function of these drugs. First, there is taking drugs orally. When taking it orally, it will slowly work its way down to the stomach where it will be broken down and sent through the system to the brain. This is known as a slow way of taking a drug. The second way is inhaling a drug. This will enter the body rather quickly by going through the mouth or nose immediately to the lungs where it will enter the blood stream fast. This will help the patient feel the effects of the drug quickly. For example, a person with asthma when experiencing an asthma attack, will use an inhaler to allow the medicine to enter the body quickly. The last way for drugs to enter our body is through injections. This will be injected through the muscle allowing it to enter the blood stream quickly as well. The endpoint for all these drugs is the brain. No matter how we take the drug it will end up in the brain causing it to make a change or help it function even better. The way it makes a change, is by tricking our brain into thinking it should actually be there. With receptors resembling those in the body they are able to accomplish their end goal. Depending on the drugs being used, they perform many different things that cause the brain to act differently for good or bad. However, drugs are something that proves that our brain is complex and unique in so many ways signifying that what happens in our head can be altered by using drugs.  

            With drugs altering the way we act, think, and perform, there comes a term known as addiction. Addiction, is the condition of desiring or wanting a particular substance because of how it makes you feel. When a controlled prescription or illicit drug enters the brain, it affects our dopamine receptors causing that person to feel good, or get the relief they need. This will then cause a structure change of our brain. With this structure change we will then not produce dopamine or other hormones making the person rely on the drugs to get a temporary dopamine fix. With that comes the gateway theory, which is when someone uses these drugs for long periods of time, they will become used to the drug requiring them to seek stronger drugs (Lynskey et al. 2018). They are led on a path with no end in sight thus causing them to seek something they will never obtain. Addiction is a serious matter which we are seeing grow rapidly here in the United States. We as future medical care workers have a job to educate ourselves and know when people are abusing their prescription drugs. When I worked at a pharmacy, I personally saw people line up at the pharmacy doors before we opened just to get their controlled substances filled. The way drugs cause changes in our body that leads to addiction is complex and unique, but it just shows how amazing our brain truly is.

            With the brain being complex and unique, we see that how it works is still under intense study. We have seen that there are many injuries that can affect the human body causing temporary or permanent damage. There are also many disorders that happen in the brain that can cause peoples personalities to change or cause them to forget everything. We have seen that drugs can affect our brain in many ways by tricking our brain into thinking they belong. Finally we have learned that addiction is taking over millions of lives in this country by leading them down an ongoing path of seeking something stronger. With these things about our brain, we have learned that the brain is a powerful organ. There are things that can happen to it through trauma or we can change it by what we put into our body. No matter what the process is, we have seen that our brain is unique and complex, and we should be careful to protect it at all costs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

Christine M. Baugh, William P. Meehan III, Emily Kroshus, Thomas G. McGuire, and Laura A. Hatfield.Journal of Neurotrauma.Jul 2019.2065-2072.http://doi.org/10.1089/neu.2018.6161

 

LetsTute. “Human Brain | Parts & Functions | Cerebrum & Cerebellum | Biology | LetsTute.” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 27 Mar. 2018. 

 

Lynskey, M. T., & Agrawal, A. (2018). Denise Kandel’s classic work on the gateway sequence of drug acquisition. Addiction, 113(10), 1927–1932.

 Pfaller, Adam Y., Nelson, Lindsay D., Apps, Jennifer N., Walter, Kevin D., & McCrea, Michael A. Am J Sports Med. published online July 1, 2016. DOI: 10.1177/0363546516651821