Brain, Drugs, Science

Science has always played a major role in my life. I have always been intrigued by how the world works. Ever since I was an adolescent, I have tried constantly to make sense of different aspects of life. The more you know, the better and more informed decisions you can make. For this reason, I’ve always been drawn to the study of science and enjoyed spending time studying it. There is so much to study in science, though. While professionally studying science, you obviously find that there are different branches including chemistry, biology, geology, astronomy, and so on. While I am partial to human biology, chemistry, and physics, I am also very intrigued by how they all work together to form our comprehensive understanding of the world. 

Ideas within different forms of sciences apply to each other in unique and important ways. For example, when focusing on the physiology of how blood is pumped through the heart to the body, one could also be focusing on the biochemistry of the subject matter and how the hemoglobin conforms to attach and release oxygen molecules. The real importance is applying each of the truths we find in the different fields to our understanding of the topic in a broad sense. The study of one topic can give us a deeper understanding of another and vice versa. The brain and drugs are two examples, one biological and one chemical, that are very real examples of how science can relate to our lives and how knowledge of one topic can enlighten our understanding of another. 

The human brain is the most complicated organ in the body. It is probably safe to assume that it is the most complicated and complex thing in the entire universe and considering what we still have yet to understand regarding our universe, is a significant statement. As I have researched the brain, I’ve learned a lot about the physiological and anatomical characteristics of the brain as well. Weighing in at three pounds, on average, this spongy mass of fat and protein is made up of two overarching types of cells—called glia and neurons—and it contains many billions of each. Neurons are notable for their branch-like projections called axons and dendrites, which gather and transmit electrochemical signals. Different types of glial cells provide physical protection to neurons and help keep them, and the brain, healthy. I have taken multiple classes like anatomy and physiology that have taught me about the brain. As I have learned more about how the brain works, I think that we know a lot about what the brain is and the parts of it, but there is still a significant amount that we don’t know about regarding how and why it works. We have learned a lot about the brain over the years, but there is still so much more to know. 

Brain diseases and disorders are the main things that we don’t know a lot about. One of the most notable brain diseases, in my mind, is Alzheimer’s disease. This is because I have had many personal experiences with Alzheimer’s, more than some other diseases. I remember going to visit my great-grandmother in a nursing home when I was young. We went into the room, and she could not recognize anybody, not even her daughter, my grandmother. It was a very sad and changing experience for me. I realized that diseases like these can be a big deal and drastically change lives. This experience continues to resurface because my grandmother is now reaching her later years and I can see some of the same tendencies that indicate a dementia disease. In the PowerPoint given to us about the brain and mental disorders, it said that Alzheimer’s disease has an increased hereditary factor. This is scary for my grandmother, mother, and possibly me. Bringing this disease into context with Ayurveda, there can be no chance for a whole and complete life if you cannot remember anything. There is also currently no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. As I have studied sleep apnea in my presentation for this class, they are seeing correlations between Alzheimer’s and sleep apnea. This could be evidence that other things increase the likelihood of Alzheimer’s or other brain diseases. Treating other diseases could possibly treat brain diseases as well. 

The next example is drugs and the effects of drugs on the brain, which are very significant. Chemically, based on the video about the effects of drugs on the brain, drugs perform different jobs in the brain to release certain neurotransmitters, and illegal drugs are organic compounds that are especially good at what they do. A drug is a chemical substance that affects the way you feel and function. Different drugs are designed for different purposes and have different types. The different types of drugs are prescription, over-the-counter, recreational, herbal, and illicit.
            When thinking about drugs, I can’t help thinking about illicit drugs first. Of course, there are so many drugs that have positive effects on our bodies and can be used to save lives, but illicit drugs are the first thing that comes to my mind. As I think of illegal drugs, the use of prescription drugs, like opioids, illegally is almost the same in my mind. There are so many devastating statistics about the use of illegal drugs in the United States. And the ‘Opioid Epidemic’ takes many lives each year. 

Biologically drugs' effects on our bodies are fascinating. Watching videos and reading articles about the biology and chemistry of illicit drugs is extremely fascinating to me. As I have taken chemistry classes specifically, I have enjoyed knowing the chemical pathways in which drugs work. Especially in organic chemistry and biochemistry, there is so much to study about drugs.

As I have studied Ayurveda, I have come across many of the treatments that they use in ayurvedic medicine. In Ayurveda, there is a focus on using natural forms of treatment as well as having practices of preventative care. The article about Ayurveda and natural products talks about how natural medicine can be used. It makes me think that the term for drug could be used more loosely because there are so many natural things that I do not consider as drugs. While there are still drugs that are considered herbal and natural, the paper suggested that Ayurveda has been used to enhance and further drug research. It said, “Ayurvedic knowledge and experiential database can provide new functional leads to reduce time, money and toxicity – the three main hurdles in drug development.” The authors are concluding that Ayurveda medicine can be used to treat, and it can also be used to further other forms of drugs.

The study of the brain and study of drugs ultimately reveal much on the properties of each other. The more knowledge we can pull from each aspect of science, the deeper we are able to understand the world around us. 

The Brain, Drugs, and Cocaine Trade in Bolivia

    Picture this: you are sitting in an 8 AM calculus class that you have Monday through Friday, and for the third time this week, your head starts to hurt. What could be the cause of it? Maybe it is the three cups of coffee you had before class, the two hours of sleep that you got the night before, or maybe the frontal lobe of your brain is trying to keep up with the fourth new concept that has been introduced to you within the last twenty minutes—the world may never know… but a neurologist would probably tell you that it has to do with your brain. The brain is an amazing part of the body, a deeply intricate and complex organ full of nerves, wrinkles, and intelligence. It is the part of our body that commands the rest of the body with each lobe and portion of the brain in charge of a different task: the frontal lobe is responsible for intellectual activities, behavior, and muscle movement, and the parietal lobe controls sensations, the temporal lobe is in charge of visual and auditory memory, the occipital lobe recognizes colors, words, and movements, and the cerebellum controls essential bodily functions. Of course, each of these portions controls significantly more than can simply be listed, but you get the idea—the brain controls it all. That little nut-shaped lump hanging out in our skull is the reason we are alive and is easily the most important organ of our body because, without it, we would not be able to live. We may not know exactly how it works or why it works, but we do know that our body cannot function without it. As per usual, every organ comes with its own set of struggles and potential problems, as well as the fear that many have of accidentally damaging the organ; the brain is not exempt from those things just because it is important, in fact, it would be significantly more catastrophic if the brain were to be injured or damaged than most other organs. 

    There are multiple ways in which the brain can be injured or diseased; injuries may be more easily prevented than a disease, but that does not make them any less harmful to an individual. These injuries are typically known as Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) and can result from a multitude of activities and affect anyone, though they are typically seen in higher numbers in males, substance abusers, infants, the elderly, and prior sufferers of a TBI. Over 1.4 million people sustain TBIs in the United States alone and of those few million, 50,000 die, 235,000 are hospitalized, and 1.1 million are treated and released. TBIs can have serious consequences for the sufferers; behavioral changes associated with these injuries affect roughly 70% of the TBI population with changes in personality, aggression, affective liability, disinhibition, apathy, and paranoia. Patients can also suffer from memory loss, headaches, seizures, dizziness, visual changes, fatigue, balance problems, and paralysis. That football player that just got his bell rung for the third time this season is now dealing with severe memory loss, while that friend that got in a car accident hit their head hard enough on the dash that they are no longer the happy-go-lucky friend you used to hang out with, but an angry, bitter person now. Both scenarios are likely and have happened before with TBIs, but just because that is how an injury present’s itself in one person, doesn’t mean it will be the same for each person who suffers the same injury. Injuries and their symptoms differ from person to person and may never look the exact same as someone else’s which is just another example of the complexity of the brain.

Much like injury, brain disorders can also present themselves incredibly different depending on the person. There are over 600 brain diseases that plague the world, and those can be narrowed down into five types: neurological disorders, storage disorders, personality and mood disorders, developmental disorders, and prion diseases. Each disorder is incredibly different from the others in presentation, effect, and manageability, but they all plague the same organ: the brain. Though I could spend this whole blog post just going over each of the individual brain diseases (more like fill a whole book with them), the one that I am most interested in talking about is dementia and the different implications it can have for an individual. Dementia is a well-known deterioration disease that is commonly paired with personality changes and emotional instability, which affects about 13.9% of Americans following abnormal brain changes. Possibly one of the saddest implications of dementia is that it not only takes a rigorous toll on the individual but can also be just as difficult for the family members that care for someone suffering from dementia who can no longer function independently. Dementia is often one of the end stages of someone who has suffered from another deterioration disease, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s which are often a result of aging. Another potential (though less common) cause of dementia is substance abuse. 

    There always lies the question of what can drugs and alcohol do to your brain, and alcohol-related dementia is but one of many side effects drugs can have on the brain. Alcohol-related dementia is caused by the excess consumption of alcohol, which is also known as alcoholism or alcohol abuse. This type of dementia looks very similar to dementia not caused by drug use, but this type of dementia is much more likely to appear in younger individuals depending on how much alcohol they have consumed in their lifetime. Alcohol-related dementia affects roughly 1 in 10 people with dementia and can present itself as early as 30 years of age; individuals who drink more heavily over a prolonged period of time are more prone to developing this type of dementia as compared to non-drinkers. It is absolutely heartbreaking to know that the devastating disease of alcoholism will not just stop at making an individual dependent on the substance, but will also control their long-term health leading to chronic diseases like dementia. Unfortunately, dementia is just a drop in the ocean of problems that excessive drug and alcohol use can cause. 

    Drugs are a very interesting substance because they are meant to mimic certain neurotransmitters in the body to evoke or stimulate certain feelings or emotions. Though that is incredibly useful for controlled substances that are prescribed by doctors to help balance out neurotransmitters within the brain should someone be suffering from an imbalance, when drugs are used outside of the help of a doctor, it can have detrimental effects on one’s mental, physical, and neurological health. There are thousands of different drugs throughout the world that all affect individuals differently both short and long-term; drugs are often used illegally because they have alluring short-term effects that the individual enjoys, but over time, those effects change to ones that are detrimental and long term—people often feel like the immediate physiological effects of a drug outweighs the long term affect. Drugs can cause a wide range of issues depending on the type that is being used: stimulants increase anxiety and agitation, marijuana leads to paranoia and psychosis, designer drugs lead to amnesia and death, and so on and so forth. Though each drug type may have its own detrimental side effects that come with it, the long-term effects of all of them will have a devastating effect on the individual that uses them with the scariest effect being addiction. Addiction is when an individual has used a drug or alcohol for a prolonged period of time, to the point that it has rewired the brain to believe that the body is dependent on their substance of choice; addiction destroys millions of lives a year—relationships, jobs, income, social lives, etc. Addiction is no laughing matter and is devastating in and of itself, but it has more implications and problems than just “needing” a certain drug and not being able to live without it.

    I love the sociological and anthropological approach to drug use because it focuses more on the causes and effects of drug use outside of just the most noticeable issues; drug use doesn’t just affect the individual, but can affect a whole country. The most interesting example of this that I have read about is the cocaine trade in Bolivia—a country that has been demolished by this designer drug. Bolivia is one of the largest cocaine distributors in the world, so it makes sense that they would have one of the highest addiction rates to the drug in the world, but it goes further than just that. Small communities in Bolivia that use to grow coca leaves (the leaves that get reduced to make cocaine, but in the leaf form have similar effects as coffee and isn’t detrimental to one’s health but actually a healthy source of nutrients) for coca tea, foods, and overall nutrition can no longer afford to grow the crop because their fields were taken from them by the cocaine business and they can’t afford the seeds to grow coca. Due to their fields being taken from them by these companies, these communities no longer had a way to make themselves self-sufficient within the community, so they had to outsource their labor elsewhere to support their families. The men of the houses moved to large cities to work in the cocaine factories to send money back to their families to live, but this had detrimental effects on the men and in turn their families. The jobs these men were able to get in the factories were stomping down the mixture of coca, kerosene, and other chemicals to make the paste that would later become cocaine. The issue with this was the corrosiveness of the mixture, which would eat away at the skin on their feet, leaving them permanently disabled, unable to work, and therefore unable to return home or send money home. To cope with the pain of stomping the mixture down, these factory workers were given cigarettes laced with the byproduct of the mixture, which in turn led to cocaine addiction in the men. These men would stop sending money home long before they couldn’t work because most of their money went to buying more cocaine-laced cigarettes. Not only was a huge part of the country becoming permanently disabled and addicted to cocaine by cocaine production, but once self-sufficient communities were left to fall apart which meant the country lost a huge part of its culture. This is just the tip of the iceberg with the cocaine production in Bolivia as cocaine production also led to an increased amount of venereal disease, higher crime rates, poorer communities, displaced indigenous people, and significantly more. I could go on and on about the cocaine trade in Bolivia because this drug truly has destroyed a large part of this country, not just people who did cocaine and were addicted to it, but also people who have never even touched it, but were a victim of the circumstances. I love the sociological and anthropological approach to drugs because it looks beyond the disease of addiction and shows just how detrimental drug production can be to these poorer countries as it can truly destroy whole cultures—they show you beyond just the addiction level after production but show you post- and during production and just how damaging that can be to a country. While we may be studying the effects that diseases can have on the body, it is just as important for us to look at the effects these diseases can have on our body, mind, spirit, and the environment and world around us. 

 

Music therapy as a supplemental treatment for mental health disorders.

 

As I looked back and read over my journaling from the past couple of weeks, I realized that many of the themes around drugs and the brain are very similar. To me this makes a great deal of sense due to the fact that drugs most commonly affect our brain’s ability to either send or receive.  They do this in a number of ways and can have a great variety of effects.  Some drugs can aid in people with brain issues, other drugs can make those issues worse.  I thought it would be interesting to see how these topics can be applied both in my own life and in the lives of the general public.  

As I thought of a topic that I could use to tie in these topics I have been journaling about, I began to think about the effect of music on mental health.  I personally have used music as a type of therapy during my life.  Often times I would combat negative feelings with music that in some way addressed those feelings and made me feel less alone in my fight against them.  While I recognize the importance of therapy from a licensed professional, and also that of taking the appropriate prescribed medication, this semester we have had an overarching theme of Ayurveda and a more complete approach to health.  With this in my it seemed appropriate to me to look into the subject a little more and find if there are any professional studies done on the effectiveness of music on mental health. 

While on the NLM website I found an article addressing music and mental health.  In this article it discussed in detail the benefits of both music therapy and music in general on the mental health of individuals exposed.  Music therapy was established as a profession after WW2 and has been used by therapists to aid individuals who are seeking to express themselves or who struggle to communicate in the normal way.  When many people think of therapy, they think of a person sitting down with a therapist and talking through their problems.  The issue with this is that some people with mental disorders, do not have the capability of having an adult conversation which could in any way be beneficial.  Some individuals I have worked with while I was an employee at Chrysalis do not have the ability to communicate on a level above that which you could communicate with a 2-year-old.  These people need to be able to express themselves.

Music therapy can provide an outlet for individuals who struggle with communication. It has been shown to have a positive effect on the behavior and emotional state of individuals with all kinds of mental health disorders.  Individuals with anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and autism have all been shown to benefit from music therapy. A common issue of mental health disorders is feeling like you don’t have an outlet to express how you are feeling.  People struggle to put to words something that can only really be related to by others with the same issues.  Music helps these individuals by providing both an outlet for communication and also a space where they can make connections with others around them in a way that is more than just exchanging words. 

Music has also been shown to have a positive effect on the immune system.  While this might sound strange at first it makes sense when you think about it a little deeper. Our mental and physical health are very closely related, affecting one will usually affect the other.  An example of this is shingles, a disease that lies dormant in your nervous system until your immune system is weakened to the point where it can trigger a reactivation.  There have been many studies which have shown that significant stress can have a weaking effect on the immune system and lead to outbreaks of certain diseases.  Other mental issues such as depression and anxiety can also have a negative effect on our body’s physical health.  If anyone reading this knows someone with severe anxiety you have probably seen them suffer from an anxiety attack.  The stress this puts on the body is certainly detrimental to ones physical. The study from NLM talks in detail on the effect of stress on the body.  It also talks about how music can aid in reducing this stress and it lays out some of the specific benefits of music therapy on physical health.  “Specifically, music has been shown to modify heart rate, respiration rate, perspiration, and other autonomic systems.” Relaxing music has even shown in some studies to have an effect of decreasing the cortisol levels in the body, a hormone that can be detrimental if the body produces too much.

While relaxing music is often used as an example of how music can affect the body, more upbeat music has also been shown to have a relationship with certain bodily functions.  When listening to upbeat music such as techno, individuals were often found to have higher levels of growth hormone and norepinephrine in their body.  When you think about it, this makes a good amount of sense.  I have often found that I am more motivated to work out depending on the type of music I am listening too.  When listening to an upbeat song I often seem to have more energy and get tired less easily.  There is also a potential warning, listening to music that is extremely loud and aggressive when one is already stressed can possibly have a negative effect on their mental health. 

When we think about mental health, I feel that society has often placed a separation between it and our physical health.  This is detrimental to those who suffer from mental health disorders.  The brain is a physical part of our body and issues that effect it are as real as any disease that affects our ability to walk, eat, or breathe.  There is a reason why there is often a drug that can be prescribed to help people with such mental issues.  The issues of what we feel is all in our heads can often stem from a chemical imbalance.  Drugs can help to fix this as we have learned this unit.  I also think it is important to continue to look for other ways to aid individuals without the use of prescription medication.  Often, prescription drugs can cause as many problems in individuals with mental health issues as they fix.  By using a mix of both physical treatments such as medicine, and mental treatments such as music therapy, I believe that we can achieve a more effective method of treatment for anyone suffering from mental disorders.  I believe that I what a holistic approach to health is all about, using everything that can be beneficial in ways that serve to increase the quality of one’s life.  By doing this I think we can help those who suffer from mental disorders, as well as those who don’t, have more joy and fulfilment from life.

 

Sources:

Rebecchini L. (2021). Music, mental health, and immunity. Brain, behavior, & immunity - health, 18, 100374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbih.2021.100374

 

Brain and mental disorders.pdf (in modules)

 

MindBrainandPersonalityDisorders.pdf (in modules)

Mental Health Disorders, Drugs, & Ayurveda

     While I was working on the brain and drug modules, I decided to reflect on my personal struggles with mental health and try to connect it to these topics. 

I began experiencing depression symptoms in 2019. At the time, I was a full-time student, had just switched my major, and was a resident assistant in the on-campus dorms. I was chronically stressed and fatigued. I was burnt out, unmotivated to work on school work, and felt really imbalanced. I wasn’t taking care of my body and it clearly was causing problems for my body and mental health. When the pandemic hit in March 2020, my symptoms worsened. There were feelings of hopelessness, extreme sadness, and feelings that I wish I could die. I was sleeping 16-18 hours a day. What started out as mild symptoms escalated into severe symptoms that were impacting my quality of life. I’ve reflected on this difficult time in my life during this class and have realized that my journey with depression connects to Ayurveda and epigenetics. 

I have several extended and nuclear family members on both sides of my family that have been diagnosed with depression. I very likely have a genetic predisposition for depression that I inherited from my parents. Each cell in my body contains these inherited genes from my parents. I found an article that mentions that one gene most commonly associated with depression is a gene called SLC6A4 (serotonin transporter gene). When the gene is turned on, it codes for a specific protein called 5-HTT. I found one review article that explains that when the SLC6A4 gene is turned off, less of these 5-HTT proteins are produced and can increase an individual's risk of developing depression.

Although I don’t know for sure if I have this gene and/or this problem, perhaps I inherited this gene from my parents.  Perhaps my SLC6A4 gene was previously turned on until I began experiencing major environmental changes in 2019-2020. The gene could have become turned off and stopped producing the 5-HTT proteins that my brain needed to function properly. As more of my cells stopped expressing that gene, my depression symptoms worsened. I asked myself this question. If my environment and my lifestyle choices had been different in 2019-2020, would I have ever developed depression? Would my symptoms have been less severe if I had behaved differently or made changes in my environment?

I currently take SSRI medication to treat my depression and it helps tremendously. The SSRI medication is also known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which basically tells my neurons to stop reabsorbing extra serotonin neurotransmitters. This allows more serotonin neurotransmitters to do their job and bind to receptors on neighboring neurons in my brain. More serotonin in my brain means that I can experience an improvement in my mental health and less severe depression symptoms. 

While I was going through the drug module, I watched a documentary series on Netflix called The Business of Drugs that talks about the production, distribution, and selling of legal and illegal drugs. I watched several of the episodes. One of the episodes talked about psychoactive drugs and how they can be used to treat PTSD and other mental disorders. In the documentary, a war veteran that was diagnosed with PTSD took some mushrooms and experienced tremendous relief. He was able to feel more relaxed and open to talking about his trauma. The mushrooms helped him to heal and better handle his trauma from his days in combat. I was extremely fascinated about how party drugs like mushrooms could potentially be used to help people with severe depression, anxiety, trauma, or PTSD. 

There is one chemical of interest in mushrooms that is being researched. A chemical called psilocybin is found in magic mushrooms and has hallucinogenic properties. I learned from one article that when psilocybin is ingested, it is broken down into psilocin, which mimics the neurotransmitter serotonin. When it interacts with 5-HT2A neuron receptors, it acts as an antagonist (meaning it stops the receptors from producing a response/message). Psilocybin is currently a schedule I drug, meaning that it currently has no official known medical uses. However, researchers believe that this chemical could be used to treat PTSD and other mental disorders. 

(Cotlow et al., 2013) studied how psilocybin affected mice who had learned a conditioned fear response. The mice had learned to associate a sound with an electric shock, and would freeze out of fear whenever they heard the sound. The group of mice who were given psilocybin in the experiment were found to not only have increased neural growth in their hippocampus (a part of the brain associated with memory and emotion), but were able to overcome their fear conditioning and resume normal behavior (even when the sound was played). Perhaps this drug could have similar effects on patients with PTSD who experience emotional/physical distress when they encounter triggers.

(Ross et al., 2016) studied how psilocybin therapy treatments could help terminal cancer patients better deal with anxiety and depression. Getting a terminal diagnosis can be a traumatic and stressful thing for many patients. This study found that a single dose of psilocybin, in combination with psychotherapy), resulted in the participants having reduced anxiety and depression. It also was associated with a decrease in feelings of hopelessness, and an increase in a feeling of life satisfaction and that their quality of life was good. Even though this study was small, the use of psilocybin (with other forms of treatment such as hospice and therapy) could help terminal patients to die with dignity and peace.

John Hopkins University has studied psychedelics since 2000 and just received their first federal grant for psychedelic research in 50 years. They have done several studies that I took time to skim over. (Johnson et al., 2014) performed a small study and found that magic mushrooms helped longtime smokers to quit. 12 of the 15 participants (80%) were smoke free at their 6-month follow up. 

I found an additional study from John Hopkins University that was published just this year.  (Gukasyan et al., 2022) found 27 participants with a long-term history of depression. This article summarizes it nicely in the John Hopkins Newsroom. The participants were given a combination of 2 doses of psilocybin and psychotherapy and had follow-ups 1 day and 1 week after the first dose and then 1, 3, 6, and 12 month follow-ups after the second dose. The participants reported having improved depression symptoms and had improved GRID-Hamilton Depression Rating scale scores. There was 58% remission reported at the 12 month follow up. 

After taking time to watch the Netflix documentary and browse through all of these studies, I really am excited to see if mushrooms will one day be considered a drug that has medical benefits and can be safely prescribed to patients. Could this drug help war veterans who have severe trauma? Could this drug be prescribed to people like me who have severe depression? Could this drug reduce suicide rates? Could this drug help empower terminal patients and help them die more comfortably? I think that this drug has the power to change the world and revolutionize therapy and medicine.

Drugs and the Brain

        The brain is a very complex organ being made up of about 100 billion nerve cells. There are different parts of the brain and each part controls many different parts of the body and has various functions. The cerebrum is the largest portion of the brain and is divided into two different divisions, the left and right brain. These divisions are connected by a thick nerve tract called the corpus callosum that allows the two hemispheres to communicate with each other with the left side being more logical and the right side being involved in the more creative functions we experience. Our brains control how we function everyday and anything that sets it off balance can affect our whole lives. Damage to any area of the brain will cause different diseases and disorders to various part of the brain and body.

People can have many different mental disorders and there are many different kinds of them. There are neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease, personality and mood disorders like anxiety and depression, developmental disorders like autism, and many more. These different types have different symptoms and affect people in various ways and therefore have many options to be treated with. 

Parkinson’s disease is a neurological disorder as I mentioned previously. A family member was recently diagnosed with it so I wanted to look into it more. This disease is caused by the basal ganglia cells being damaged or dysfunctional. The basal ganglia process signals flowing from the cortex which allow the correct voluntary movements to occur. Damage to this area can change this whole process. This decreases the production of dopamine causing tremors, muscle stiffness, and impaired coordination. It is believed that this disease is related to genetics and environmental factors and usually affects people in their 60’s and above. Treatment for this disease includes drugs that lessen the symptoms but nothing has been found to prevent the damage to the cells. 

There are also brain injuries known as traumatic brain injuries (TBI’s) caused by external forces to the brain and usually result in cognitive abilities or physical functions being impaired. When the brain experiences external damage it affects the entire portion of the body that it controls. These injuries are also never experienced in the same way by two people that receive these same injuries which means that the healing process is also unique to each of those individuals. The impacts of a traumatic brain injury can affect a person’s personality impacting their everyday life at work, with their family and friends, and in many more instances. These behavioral changes after TBI are severe about 65% of the time and are mild only about 15% of the time. Most are caused by car accidents, falls, hypoxia, concussions, tumors, and chemicals. Therapy is the main use to stop the progression of a second injury from occurring.

Phineas Gage’s case caused a big breakthrough for traumatic brain injuries but there is a TBI that has become more prevalent in recent years. CTE is a disease that has been talked about more recently as many athletes have been talking about it more and passing away due to the symptoms. CTE involves the presence of certain protein deposits that spread to the adjacent cortex of the brain. This protein, p-tau, is also found in the brain of Alzheimer's patients. This condition continues getting worse over time and is mainly seen in athletes that play contact sports like football and boxing. Early signs of this include short term memory loss and changes in mood but can lead to aggression, depression, and suicidality years after the trauma to the brain has occurred. CTE has only been diagnosed after death occurs and it needs to be researched more to hopefully find a way to diagnose people while alive and find ways to help the individuals affected. 

        While Parkinson’s disease impacts the body physically, there are other disorders that lead to an effect on the mental state of the person. These are known as mood disorders and an example of this is depression. Depression is caused by abnormal brain chemistry and involves three neurotransmitters, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Dopamine creates feelings of positivity and motivation and the reduction of this neurotransmitter can contribute to depression. Norepinephrine is involved in the Sympathetic Nervous System and some scientists have proposed that too little of this hormone can lead to depression. Serotonin helps regulate your mood and is the main neurotransmitter that is getting affected while using antidepressant medications. This is one way drugs are able to be used to maintain balance in our brain chemistry.

Drugs are small molecules affecting cell pathways that can cause changes to happen in the body. They do this by interfering with signals through neurotransmitters which are chemical signals that are naturally occurring and happen in the brain. Drugs can mimic these neurotransmitters and activate neurons in a different way than they would be activated by naturally produced neurotransmitters. These drugs get into the body either by ingestion,  inhalation, or injection, each taking different amounts of time to cause effects to occur in the body and can either help or hurt the person taking them.

Dependence can occur when drugs affect the brain, mainly the reward circuitry of the brain. The reward system is responsible for seeking natural rewards like getting water when we’re thirsty or getting food when we feel hungry by using a neurotransmitter called dopamine.  Some drugs mimic the chemical structure of dopamine or just activate neurons to increase the production of it. Once drugs get through the blood brain barrier and are used often enough, your body deems the drug necessary for survival and is reliant only on that form of dopamine production which can lead to a decrease in production of natural dopamine and addiction to that drug. Using drugs like these enough can permanently change the pathways occurring in your brain which alters the balance of your brain and imbalance changes more than we know, especially when we’re dealing with the brain.

When we think of addiction, oftentimes we think of illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroine, methamphetamines, and many more. However, drugs that are obtained legally play a huge role in addiction as well. Utah has a very big opioid problem and I believe it’s due to a lack of education around addiction and drug abuse in our school systems because it’s so stigmatized. Our state is ranked the 28th state in the country for the amount of unintentional drug poisoning deaths with an average of 323 people dying from prescription opioid overdose every year. This being a predominantly religious population, the use of illegal drugs is especially frowned upon. Because prescription drugs are legal and people are allowed to take them, their use isn’t seen as something that shouldn’t be done at all and are used quite frequently. 

A friend of mine is a detective here in Utah and specifically worked in the field of drugs and narcotics and was able to give me some of his insights on drugs. He was the one that brought the aspect of religion to my attention on how it may play a role in drug abuse and addiction. One thing he mentioned was that a lot of times abuse of prescription drugs could lead to the use of illegal drugs because of price and built up tolerances. Due to these things it’s important to have an understanding of how drugs work and know the possible consequences of using them in excess or incorrectly.

Diseases in the brain are great examples of why Ayurveda is so important. One imbalance in some neurotransmitters could lead to the death of a young teen and hits to the head in the wrong place one too many times could lead to the same result in an adult. Balance is arguably the most important thing needed in our brain and mind because little changes can lead to major outcomes. We need to make sure to keep our brains extremely protected not only physically but also mentally. Wearing helmets to ride skateboards, taking mental health days, and taking drugs that can help maintain that balance are all very helpful in keeping balance in our lives to stay healthy and happy.

Microbiome and Drugs

The microbiome can be defined as all the bacteria inhabiting the gastrointestinal tract. The amount of microbial cells in the body outnumber host cells by 10x making up 1-3% of total body mass.The microbiome is unique to each individual and is influenced by multiple factors. There are many different processes within the body that are linked to the microbiome including sleep patterns, weight gain/loss, immune system, brain functionality and development, cardiovascular function, and bowel disorder.
    The gut microbiota are also linked with cancer. When there are changes within the interaction between the gut microbiota, intestinal epithelium, and host immune system are associated with cancer. Through observation, the authors of Cancer Dysbiosis showed that anticancer therapy can promote two functionally opposite types of dysbiosis, which according to dictionary.com is defined as “an imbalance between the types of organism present in a person's natural microflora, especially that of the gut, thought to contribute to a range of conditions of ill health.” These two types of dysbiosis include detrimental dysbiosis, and beneficial dysbiosis. This provides evidence that the pharmacological manipulation of the microbiome may be able to improve anticancer therapy treatments. 

We have all taken drugs such as ibuprofen or tylenol to help subside that awful headache, or decrease pain when injured, but how do these drugs actually work and affect our ayurveda? Drugs often interfere with our brain’s neurons, causing messages to be sent throughout our body. Some drugs can mimic the brain’s own chemicals, however, the neurons do not interact with the drugs the same way they would interact with our body’s natural neurotransmitters. Other drugs can cause an increase in the amount of natural neurotransmitters being released which alters the brain’s chemical balance and can disrupt normal communication processes. While some drugs are meant to block pathways, other drugs are meant to help improve the functionality of pathways, but do scientists really understand the long term effects these drugs can have on the balance and functionality of the brain? 

Abuse of certain drugs can lead to a disease called addiction. Addiction can be defined as the compulsive use of a drug despite the effects using the drug has on the individuals life, and relationships. Addiction can also be explained as excessive use of a drug in order to produce a specific/desired mood. Addiction affects ayurveda by altering the chemistry and even the structure of the brain. We often talk about the importance of brain development during puberty, and teen years. This is because development and structure of the brain is dependent on the individual's activities during this crucial time period. 

There are certain factors that may increase the risk of addiction. One of these factors is genetics. It has been shown that genetic exposure may lead to higher risk of addiction or drug misuse. There are also social factors that may increase the likelihood of using certain drugs. Some of these factors include major life stressors, abuse (whether physical, sexual, or verbal), low self-esteem, mental disease, as well as lower socioeconomic status. However, use of drugs can lead to increase in anxiety, depression, agitation, among any other effects. 

Drugs go far beyond just science. Throughout society, drugs are used in cultural traditions and these traditions can affect a society as a whole. Culture can play a very central role in forming the experiences about potential problems with drug use. Addiction affects many different areas of an individual's life and can destroy personal relationships. 

The Human Brain on Drugs

 The brain is the control center of the body, it is a part of the central nervous system and controls all mental and physical actions. Most sensory systems of the body are located within parts of the brain allowing for the interpretation of many different senses. The intake and addiction to drugs can alter a great deal of brain activity, dysregulating typical brain function. Drugs can create an interference in how neurotransmitters send and receive signals. Some drugs can have the ability to activate neurons due to mimicking the natural neurotransmitter, other drugs can cause an influx and excess release of neurotransmitters. There are many structures in the body that are altered by the use of drugs, the three brain structures I want to focus on are the basal ganglia, amygdala, and the prefrontal cortex.

Basal ganglia play the important role of reward based motivation where it acts as a reward circuit where behavior is learned. When drugs or substances are overused it becomes problematic as there is an overproduction of dopamine in the basal ganglia. The body adapts to the surge and excess of dopamine causing tolerance in the body to dopamine. After the body creates a new tolerance to dopamine it decreases the overall effect dopamine has on an individual, this decreases the amount of pleasure received from any activity that may have previously caused pleasure. The tolerance to dopamine in the basal ganglia is part of the reason why drug users increase their intake more and more in order to receive a similar euphoric or high feeling. Reward based motivation trains high behaviors as it associates happiness with the intake of drugs or situations in which drugs are frequent. The basal ganglia are altered by the use of drugs both by tolerance to dopamine and amplifying learned drug based motivations.

Another important structure of the brain that is altered by drug use is the amygdala. Parts of the amygdala are responsible for the body's stress response. The amygdala drives the body away from stressful situations and pushes individual’s to escape the situation that causes stress. An issue with drugs is that as a person experiences withdrawal from drugs there is unpleasant stress. After extended periods of taking drugs there is a shift in the amount of stress and discomfort an individual feels when withdrawing from drugs, this then leads to negative reinforcement. When drugs are taken the adverse stimulus of negative physical and emotional pain from withdrawal is removed. This leads to a constant cycle of continued drug use in order to halt the pain from not having drugs.

The prefrontal cortex plays a major role in daily life of decision making, impulses control, and problem solving. One major thing that is often thought about drug users is the extreme emotions that are felt, this is due to damage to the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex helps with regulating emotions and suppression of extreme emotions which means after the prefrontal cortex is damaged with prolonged drug use then emotional outburst can become frequent and unpredictable. The dysfunctional prefrontal cortex creates all impulses and decisions to begin to revolve around drugs themselves. An altered way of thinking puts drugs at the center of the user's life due to increased intrusive thoughts purely focused on drugs.

As a whole it is evident that extended drug use alters brain function negatively. Unfortunately the way the brain reacts to drugs leads to a difficult cycle to break. The basal ganglia decreases sensitivity to dopamine causing the main form of happiness to be drug induced. The amygdala creates a pattern of drug based on negative reinforcement and drugs are repeatedly taken to reduce negative physical and emotional states. Overall the altered thinking of impulses and decision making continues the cyle as the prefrontal cortex is altered. Drugs impact the brain in such a way that repeated use becomes rewarding and unfortunately can easily cause addiction.

Sources:

Goldstein, R. Z., & Volkow, N. D. (2011). Dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex in addiction: neuroimaging findings and clinical implications. Nature reviews. Neuroscience, 12(11), 652–669. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3119

Koob G. F. (2009). Brain stress systems in the amygdala and addiction. Brain research, 1293, 61–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2009.03.038

NIDA. (2022) Drugs and the Brain. https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/drugs-brain

Brain and Drugs

 Brain and Drugs

            The brain is the most complex organ in our body and has ability to control every process that regulates our body and mind. The brain does this by sending and receiving both chemical and electrical signals and transforming those signals into responses. The brain is divided into two halves, a left and a right cortex. The left cortex is responsible for controlling language and speech, and the right side deals with visual information. The brain is further split into four lobes: the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe, and occipital lobe. Each controls a range of different functions throughout the body. 

            The signals that the brain receives from throughout the body start at a single synapse. This synapse will produce an electrical signal to release neurotransmitters, which are chemical messengers that diffuse to more neurons and bind to their specialized receptor proteins (Kirichik, 2018). These specialized receptor proteins typically are on the ends of dendrites and are responsible for receiving and processing the electrical messages. Once the signal has arrived at the dendrite, it will be sent through the axon to more neurons or to the target body tissue. These neurotransmitters cause changes to take place throughout the neurons, as the body responds to the signals. These neurons can connect to one or several neurons at once, leading to a calculated response. After the body has responded accordingly, the neurotransmitter will then be broken down by enzymes or reabsorbed for later use. 

            The use of drugs and other substances can inhibit brain signaling or cause abnormal messaging to occur. Each drug has different effects on the brain and its chemical signaling, however the process of each is generally the same. The effect of drugs starts at synaptic transmission, and mimic or activate normal neurotransmitters. This interferes with the way the neurons not only send but receive messages. Even though drugs can activate natural neurotransmitters, they don’t occur the same as natural signaling, leading to abnormal messages to be sent to the brain. This can cause drugs to rewire the brains normal functions, and permanently damage and change our brains functions. 

            Some areas of the brain that are affected by drug use include basal ganglia, the extended amygdala, and prefrontal cortex. The basal ganglia are responsible for motivation, the extended amygdala controls anxiety and irritability, and the prefrontal cortex controls our thinking abilities (NIDA, 2022). Addiction and dependence escalate these effects and can decrease your body’s natural pleasure centers. Your brain will stop releasing its normal production of endorphins and dopamine, causing your brain to feel dependent on the drugs for feelings of pleasure. 

            While the root of this problem seems to be through the use of illegal and illicit drugs, that isn’t the case. The pharmaceuticals used and prescribed commonly in Western Medicine can lead to the same effects, and the abuse of these drugs is on the rise. Prescription drugs are becoming more readily available, and with that the number of cases involving drug abuse and misuse are increasing. Because of this, it would be beneficial for modern medicine to implement some of the ideas and practices of ayurvedic medicine. Having a more holistic and natural approach to medicine would help to shut down the increase in prescription drug use, and abuse. 

 

References

Kirichik, Roman. “Introduction to Brain Signaling.” Diversity in Neuroscience, 2018, https://neuroscience.mssm.edu/nestler/nidappg/introduction_to_brain_signaling.html. 

NIDA. "Drugs and the Brain." National Institute on Drug Abuse, 22 Mar. 2022, https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/drugs-brain Accessed 29 Jul. 2022.

The Brain and Balance

 

            The brain is an incredibly complex and important organ in the body. The brain controls every aspect of our lives from muscle movement to autonomic function, and even our personalities. The brain is like the body's switchboard. It takes in, interprets, and communicates every signal in the body and allows the body to function properly. Malfunction in the brain can be detrimental to so many other parts of the body. 

            Brain science is completely foreign to me and is something I will probably never fully understand. the brain, being so complex, is the source of so many disorders that it's difficult to even wrap my own brain around it. Many of the disorders dealing with the brain are caused by imbalances or something going awry in the nervous system. The wide range of disorders includes dementias, personality disorders, mood disorders, injuries within the brain itself, debilitating fatal diseases, and addiction. Many of these disorders do now have exact known causes, and many affect the entire body while some are central to the brain and nervous system. 

            Mood disorders, and mental health disorders are some of the more confusing brain disorders that I would love to have a better understanding of. There is so much research available but knowing where to begin seems a little overwhelming. The connection between brain function and psychological research is so strong that is seems like all the answers should be available. Many psychologists operate under the idea that the brain is a muscle and can be trained and changed over time to produce proper functioning. However, there is also the other side that thinks psychological disfunction is the product of chemical imbalances that requires intervention from other sources to maintain chemical balance in thee brain. Finding the middle ground here is the key when discussing mental illnesses , and psychological disfunction. This goes back to the idea of Ayurveda and creating balance within the body and life. 

            Another aspect of the brain that has a huge impact on society is addiction. This is a hard topic to discuss (so it will be brief) as addiction runs in my family, and currently we are dealing with several family members actively suffering or trying to recover from addiction. 

            Addiction is so strongly connected to brain chemistry. The brain becomes overwhelmed with a rush of signals, and when it no longer receives those signals, it craves more in order to restore the chemicals that were missing or lost. Seeing exactly how addiction has affected my family, and my growing knowledge of science and the brain, I have become more empathetic and able to better understand exactly why addiction and drug use is such a hard habit to break. Drug use, in the beginning, is a choice but addiction and the affects afterwards are in no way a choice, and restoring proper chemical balances in the brain is a lifelong battle. 

            So many aspects of the brain and diseases can be related back to the idea of balance and Ayurveda, and even metabolism. Since the brain is the center of nearly every aspect of our lives, it is connected to so many biological processes. Relating more to Ayurveda and the idea of balance, the brain is arguably the center of everything. 

Diseases of the Brain and their Consequences

 

In order to understand the diseases of the brain, we must first have a basic understanding of the brain. Every human being has a brain. Many would argue that the brain is one of the most important organs in the human body. It is made up of sixty percent fats. The other forty percent is comprised of water, proteins, carbohydrates, and salts. It is split into three main parts: the cerebrum, the brainstem, and the cerebellum. The cerebrum is the largest portion of the brain. The cerebrum is split into four lobes. The frontal lobe is responsible for a person’s personality, speech, movements, and sense of smell. The parietal lobe aids in spatial awareness and object identification. It also allows a person to recognize touch and pain. The occipital lobe is responsible for our ability to see. Lastly, the temporal lobe controls short-term memory and a sense of musical rhythm. The brainstem is also made up of multiple parts. The brainstem is what connects the cerebrum to the spinal cord. The final part of the brain is the cerebellum and it maintains posture and balance. All of these parts of the brain work together, allowing us to function the way we do.

The brain and the mind are often discussed as if they are the same. In reality, the mind is the activity of the brain. Most disorders of the mind tend to be caused by an entanglement of genetic imbalances and environmental factors. Some research has shown that psychosocial stressors have a significant effect on the way the brain functions. One of the most common psychosocial stressors people face is trauma. Trauma is one of the leading causes of the development of mental illnesses. There is no easy way to undo the effects of trauma on the brain. However, the brain must be healed to heal the mind.

Many types of diseases can affect the brain. Neurological disorders can impact motor, cognitive, and emotional functions. Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, and Parkinson’s fall into this category. Personality disorders, such as schizophrenia and OCD, affect behavior and mood. There are also developmental disorders like autism and Prader-Willi. Storage disorders are characterized by defective lysosomal enzymes. When this happens in the brain we see conditions like Tay-Sachs and Gaucher. Lastly, there are prion diseases which are rare and fatal. They are caused when prion proteins are misfolded and clump together in the brain. Many of these begin during childhood and continue into adulthood.

Alzheimer’s is a neurological disease. It is unknown what the cause of Alzheimer’s is but there is a genetic factor in the odds of developing it. Most patients have plaques in the brain which hinder neuron functionality. The second common thing seen in Alzheimer’s patients is broken microtubules in the neurons. These two things are extremely important because neurons are responsible for sending action potentials. Action potentials are the body’s way of signaling that some change must occur in order to maintain homeostasis. Without these action potentials, many bodily functions cannot occur. This disease has an immensely negative effect on memory and thinking. Millions of people have Alzheimer’s and it is one of the top ten causes of death in the United States. Alzheimer’s treatment is expensive. In 2020, healthcare institutions spent over 300 billion dollars on treatment.

Another common mental illness is depression. This falls under personality and mood disorders. There are many types of depression. Postpartum depression is seen in women shortly after giving birth. Psychotic depression is seen when someone suffers from a form of psychosis as well as depression. Seasonal depression is present during the colder months when there is less sunlight. This is usually “healed” after winter passes but can return. Bipolar disorder is sometimes considered a form of depression because one may experience lows that meet all criteria of depression. Depression is caused by an amalgam of genetic and environmental factors. The greatest risk factor for depression is a family history. It is also commonly brought about by stress. Lastly, injury to the brain can give rise to this ailment. Forty-four percent of people who experience a traumatic brain injury will develop depression.

Another way the delicate system of the brain can be disrupted is by consuming drugs. Drugs are substances that have a physiological impact on the body. These molecules disrupt neural physiology. There are many categories of drugs. Prescription drugs can be retrieved from pharmacies for medical uses. Over-the-counter drugs are sold at regular stores and most do not have restrictions on who can purchase them. Recreational drugs are used for fun. Lastly, illicit drugs are those that the government has banned such as cocaine and methamphetamine. Some drugs work by activating neurons, whereas others block the activation of neurons. Drugs are only effective if they can reach the brain. To do this they must first enter the blood. The method of administration determines how quickly drugs enter the bloodstream. Oral consumption is the slowest and injecting is the fastest. Once in the blood, the drug(s) must pass the blood-brain barrier. They can do so because they resemble chemicals that the body naturally produces. Drugs are a common part of our lives, yet we do not understand the full physiological, sociological, or ecological impacts they could have now or in the future. 

The repeated use of drugs can permanently alter your neural network and can lead to a disease called addiction where drugs are prioritized over work, family, and health. People are more at risk of developing an addiction if they have an impulsive personality or have suffered abuse.  Due to the fact that addiction affects the prefrontal cortex, some people may be unaware of the ramifications their addiction has. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, twenty-one million Americans suffer from addiction, yet many do not get treatment because of the negative stigma around it.

Caffeine is the most commonly used psychoactive chemical globally. Caffeine works by binding to adenosine receptors, which causes an increase in the production of adrenaline. The increase in adrenaline increases blood flow and sugar output from the liver. This is what causes the sensation of having more energy. Caffeine is found in coffee, tea, chocolate, sodas, and energy drinks. One study found that almost ninety percent of American adults report regular caffeine intake. Fifty percent of adults regularly drink coffee. Consumers in the United States spend billions of dollars on coffee annually. Soft drinks also generate billions of dollars in revenue. In Cedar City alone, there are ten coffee-based stores and six soda-based stores. Furthermore, eight of the top ten most popular sodas are caffeinated. The substantial economic benefit from the caffeine industry is believed to be the main reason that caffeine use is not regulated. Caffeine levels in foods are not restricted by the FDA. The FDA previously tried to limit synthetic caffeine levels but received great opposition as it would decrease soda profits. Caffeine intake should be monitored as negative side effects following prolonged caffeine use include insomnia, increased anxiety levels, and gastrointestinal problems. 

Another commonly used drug is tobacco. Tobacco use became popularized because it was a symbol of wealth. Today, there are about six million tons of tobacco harvested each year.  Tobacco leaves are dried and then smoked, releasing nicotine. Nicotine is an extremely addictive chemical. Nicotine binds to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and acts as a stimulant, increasing dopamine and epinephrine release. Oddly enough, as more nicotine is consumed its effects slowly shift from stimulating to sedating. According to the world health organization, tobacco can kill up to half of its users. In 2020, they found that twenty-two percent of the global population used tobacco. Unlike caffeine which has significant economic benefits, tobacco has a large economic cost. The use of tobacco leads to 200 billion dollars of economic damages annually. Some smokers spend up to a thousand dollars each year on tobacco products. Tobacco is also dangerous because it can be a gateway drug.

Untreated diseases of the brain can have immense economic consequences. Those suffering from mental illness are less like to complete school and less likely to maintain a job. One study from Denmark showed that treatment of mental illness directly correlates with a decrease in economic losses for families. In the United States, the federal government budgets some money for treating mental illness. There are two programs that this money funds. The first is Medicaid. In 2020, 70 billion dollars from Medicaid went to treating mental illnesses. Social security disability insurance also helps treat mental illness. 29% of those receiving SSDI have some mental illness. This is about two and a half million people. More people receive SSDI for treatment of mental illness than those who need it due to injuries, cancer, circulatory problem, and nervous system issues, combined.