The Brain, Drugs, and Crime

The brain is arguably the most important organ of the human body, as well as the most fascinating. It houses our conscience, our psyche, memories, emotion, and personality as well as controlling and managing all physiological functions of the entire body. Our well developed and evolved brain uniquely sets us apart from other mammals in terms of high intelligence. For such a vital organ, it is surprising that we actually know very little about the brain. Doctors and researchers utilize diseases and injuries of the brain to better understand function and makeup. 

When it comes to diseases of the brain, there are a couple in particular that catch my eye. Korsakoff’s syndrome is a cause for dementia. When I was a senior in high school, I wrote a research paper on what alcohol and certain drugs did to the brain. Korsakoff’s syndrome was one of the key points I had when discussing severe alcoholism. Severe alcoholism can damage the brain, causing Korsakoff’s. With Korsakoff’s, the ability to create and solidify new memories is destroyed. Essentially, a person with the syndrome is living in the past because they cannot make new memories. If someone gets it at 45 years old, they will spend the rest of their life believing they are 45. Someone with the disease could spend the entire day rereading the same exact page of a book because they can’t remember what they’ve read. There is no cure for this, which makes this disease even more devastating.    

Another disease that I had never heard of before was Tay-Sachs disease. It is a genetic disease defined by the destruction of nerve cells in the central nervous system. It is characterized by slow development with eventual early death, typically around four years old. Because it is caused by the absence of the Hexosaminidase A enzyme, I wondered if researchers could synthetically create the enzyme and insert it into nerve cells. Because nerve cells are damaged easily and do not regenerate after death, one possible route could be directly inputting it into the cerebrospinal fluid.  I also wonder what roles geneticists could play in preventing the disease. Because it is such a rare disease, there is much left to research regarding treatments and preventative measures. Researchers and doctors have barely scraped the tip of the iceberg in regards to fully understanding the central and peripheral nervous systems.

Dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases are particularly sad. My grandpa had dementia and short term memory loss for a few years before his passing. I remember several occasions where he would forget who I was, or sit in a room full of people and not recognize who they were. Once, he called me Melissa, a combination between mine and my sister's name (Madi + Alissa). Sometimes he would stare at the floor in silence, not aware that people were around. I would get very upset because he was forgetting me, yet there was nothing I could do about it. It’s very hard not only for the people who have dementia, but those involved in their lives. I would be interested to read studies on the depression/anxiety prevalence amongst those close to or taking care of someone with dementia. 

Aside from diseases of the brain, traumatic brain injuries can also create issues. The Phineas Gage case was a crucial piece to understanding the frontal lobe. In a freak accident, he had a piece of rebar forced through his eye socket, taking out a piece of the frontal lobe and exiting through the top of his skull. He was able to survive and recover, but he had major personality changes. It is a major study case for psychologists. After the bar went through a large portion of his frontal lobe, he had a complete personality change. He went from being well mannered and polite to being disruptive, outrageous, and angry. When I took physiology, we discussed how neural tissue is not regenerative. The areas that control personality are largely controlled within the frontal lobe. If it were possible to go back in time, it would be interesting to test whether the personality changes were due to the brain damage or if the remaining functional frontal lobe was where his aggression, carelessness, and other disruptive behaviors were housed. 

The Henry Molaison case was very surprising to me. We now understand the role of the hippocampus because of this event. In an attempt to fix his epilepsy, doctors removed a large portion of his hippocampus. The hippocampus is vital for memory creation and solidification. Cutting it out would prevent someone from being able to retain any new information. Nowadays, surgery is a last resort. In severe seizure cases, doctors can sever the corpus callosum, a thin sheet of nervous tissue that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain. This procedure doesn’t stop seizures from occurring, but it lessens the effect. Without that connection, a seizure cannot spread to the entire brain. This is just one example demonstrating that we don’t know a lot about the brain. With other organs, there are ways to directly test function. In the Henry Molaison case, it took removing an important portion of the brain to figure out what role it played. In many instances, trial and error has led to the discovery of certain brain functions.  

Drugs can also alter the brain. Many mental disorders can be managed with the use of medications. For example, SSRIs are commonly prescribed for depression. These medications can help individuals live a more normal life. However, I can’t help but think about drug resistance. If you continually take a medication, your body builds resistance to it. This requires either a higher dosage of that medication, or the prescription of a new one that is similar. For people with issues like depression, anxiety, or other mental disorders, this begs the question of whether or not medications or lifestyle treatments are best. From an ayurveda standpoint, a holistic approach might be better. If medications won’t always be reliable, it would be better to rely on yourself and things you can control to treat your problems. But for severe mental disorders (ex. schizophrenia) you could argue that medications are better. Modern doctors are quick to prescribe medications, and I wonder if it would be better overall for patients to try a combination between holistic practices and medications.

Many distinguish prescription medications from illegal drugs. In our society, we deem them as if they were very different from each other. I have to disagree with this way of thinking. Yes, they are different in the sense that they are controlled, but from a chemical standpoint a different story is told. In chemistry, we learn that structure determines function. Painkillers have extremely similar structures, differing only in one or two molecules or arrangement of molecules and they all serve the same purpose. This is true for both legal and illegal drugs. Take adderall and meth, for example. Adderall and meth differ by one methane group, but both consist of a benzene ring with a propyl group coming off of it and a nitrogen attached. Functionally, they serve the same purpose. Yet, adderall is normally prescribed while meth is illegal. I think it can be dangerous to so harshly distinguish medications from illegal drugs. Any substance you place inside your body should be carefully researched and all risks need to be evaluated. Because much is still unknown about the brain, I hesitate when it comes to medications that directly affect the brain, or any nervous tissue for that matter. I think medications should be clinically studied for 10-15 years, and even longer to measure direct long term effects. 

Illegal substances are a huge debate today. I took a substance and drug abuse course a couple semesters ago, and crime and punishment regarding drug offenses was a huge topic. The laws regarding drugs are messy and not always helpful. In many instances laws are keeping people safe, for example DUI laws. However, others are doing more harm than good. Take alcohol, for example. It is one of the most risky substances for physical and psychological addiction while harming the body, yet it is promoted in the media and bought legally. Meanwhile, marijuana tends to be less harmful but people have been given life sentences in prison for possession charges. A lot of laws regarding substances were written decades ago and were based around bias and prejudices. I believe more beneficial approaches to addiction and drug abuse is to provide more education and better access to rehabilitation facilities. Addiction is difficult, and if help were offered instead of prison our society may be better off.

On the flip side, some argue that drug abuse is beneficial. I want to discuss an idea that comes from sociology. A specific type of sociologist, called a functionalist, approaches situations with the concept that everything, good or bad, serves a function. It begs the question of whether drug abuse is an important part of society. Drug abuse creates a lot of jobs. It funds the police, rehab centers, psychologists/psychiatrists, and pharmaceutical companies. One could argue that illegal substances contribute to the economy by providing jobs. It is an interesting concept to think about. 

In conclusion, the brain is a delicate organ that is susceptible to many forms of altercation. There are a wide variety of diseases that can affect the brain with different causations. Physical damage to the brain contributes to a variety of issues. Drugs, both prescribed and illegal, can have drastic effects on the brain. There is a lot of debate regarding medications and their uses. Overall, there is much left to understand and learn about this fascinating organ. It will be exciting to see all that will be discovered as time and technological advances continue. 

Drug Abuse, Mental Disorders, and My Experience with Them

Life is full of hardships. Everybody has their own unique challenges that others may or may not know about. Specific challenges in specific are anxiety, depression, disease, addiction, etc. have major effects not only on the individuals who have these types of issues but also on their friends and family. These issues mainly affect one’s mental state and if someone isn’t healthy mentally, many other aspects of their life suffer. That’s why it is so important to get things like this treated and taken care of so these individuals don’t have to suffer.

Addiction can have serious negative effects on a person. Some individuals are more prone to addiction than others due to genetics, personality, environment, etc. With that being said, the end result of addiction is still the same which is an individual addicted to a substance. But how does addiction occur in the first place? Although all addictive substances don’t have the same effect on a person visibly, they do have a similar mechanism and effect on the brain. Most drugs high jack and alter the brains reward system. The brains reward system is tied to seeking thinks like water, food, sex, etc. things we need to survive. A drug triggers this reward system similar to how any of the survival behaviors would. The trigger causes the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter, that passes the sensation on to the next nerve. When drugs are abused, a lot of them will cause immense amounts of dopamine to be released thereby causing a feeling of euphoria. People will then chase that “high” but after repeated use, the amount of dopamine released is less and less therefore creating a reliance on the drug to release dopamine. So, the brain becomes “rewired” and the individual will then seek out the drug like they would seek out food or water (Lipp, 1991). Not all drugs work mechanistically this way but almost all create the intense craving/need for the drug. I know a couple of individuals who have struggled with drug addiction. They have gone to rehab multiple times in order to get clean but ended up falling back into those addictive habits. As someone that is looking at the situation from the outside in, I always think “just stop” but after someone has abused drugs for long time their brain doesn’t think rationally anymore. I sometimes catch myself thinking that if they would just quit participating in that type of behavior a lot of the other issues in their life would go away as well. But like I said earlier, the brain thinks it needs the drug in order survive which takes immense self-control to quit for good. Of course, it’s not impossible to quit a drug addiction. There are lots of people who have but it’s much easier said than done.

Of course, addiction isn’t the only thing that can affect and alter the brain and its process. Things like anxiety, depression, bipolarism, etc. are brain disorder that affect many people nowadays and the severity of these disorders are very wide ranging. The disorders themselves are also very complex because scientists don’t really know what causes most of them. Like depression has been thought to be caused by a lack of neurotransmitters like dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Although, dopamine doesn’t really make sense to me because dopamine is more associated with movement and the pleasure center, but serotonin makes much more sense because it regulates mood. Scientists aren’t sure why there isn’t enough serotonin in the synaptic cleft, but they think that is because either the serotonin doesn’t have enough time in the synaptic cleft or the enzymes that make serotonin aren’t making enough. Not sure which it is but the way they are treating it is using SSRI’s which allow serotonin to stay in the synaptic cleft longer to interact with the receptors normally (Schimelpfening, 2021). But in all reality, there could be many causes of depression like environmental factors, genetics, age, etc. and not just due to a chemical imbalance. When one has one mental disorder, a lot of times, they will also have others. Like individuals that have depression, many also have bipolarism and visa versa (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education, 2021). Mental disorders are very hard to understand and relate to coming from an outsider’s perspective. I know people who suffer from depression and anxiety and trying to relate and offer support is sometimes very difficult. But as someone who doesn’t have mental disorders or had any experience with them, it seems very simple to me to just be happy or not to stress so much about things but like I said with addiction, it much easier said than done. It’s not as simple as just changing your state of mind, especially when there could be chemical imbalances working against you. So, what has really helped me understand a little bit of what their going through was realizing that its not something that they can control and relating it to an illness that doesn’t go away.

I guess what I am getting at is that imbalances or chemicals alter an individual’s brain and have deeper effects than what meets the eye. I have heard people say, myself included, that you are in control of your body and mind. So, if depressive or anxious thoughts enter your brain just distract yourself and think of something different. Or if you are feeling cravings for a drug don’t act on those cravings. But those individuals’ brains have been altered permanently whether they were born that way or not and need treatment or therapy to help. It’s like expecting a person with ALS to be able to go to the gym and put in a two-hour workout. Its irrational. There are coping mechanisms, medications and years of self-mastery/discipline in order to be in control of mental disorder or addiction rather than them be in control of you. Luckily, we are learning more and more about the brain and the more we understand about it, the better we can help people who have mental illness or addiction.

Schimelpfening, N. (2021, January 5). The chemistry of depression. Verywell Mind. Retrieved November 6, 2022, from https://www.verywellmind.com/the-chemistry-of-depression-1065137

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2021, February 16). Bipolar disorder. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved November 6, 2022, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bipolar-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355955

Lipp, J. (1991). Possible mechanisms of morphine analgesia. Clinical Neuropharmacology, 14(2), 131–147. https://doi.org/10.1097/00002826-199104000-00003

Brain and Drugs-Brianna Conners

    The brain is one of the most complex organs in our bodies. The brain controls every part of the body by using more than 100 billion nerve cells. Being made up by lobes and different specialized parts, each with a specific function. Controlling thought, memory, emotion, touch, motor and fine skills, hunger, and the vital processes that regulate our body, the brain has an important role and needs to stay balanced. The brain and spinal cord together control the central nervous system, which basically make up the whole body and keeps it functioning correctly. Ayurveda can play a big role in the brain because of the importance to keep the brain healthy and balanced. If the brain becomes imbalanced many things can go wrong. Keeping hormones, chemicals, and our vitals in normal ranges is important for health. That is why Ayurveda healing can be of high importance here, because of all these tiny parts affecting the whole body. I believe that many brain diseases, especially mental health disorders cold be helped by the Ayurveda ways of healing. Being grounded and connected to all parts of one person, may help connect and balance them. This has a huge effect on the brain and would be very beneficial. 

    An important concept is to understand the difference between the brain and the mind, and how they relate. The mind refers to concepts like environment, psychosocial, and psychotherapy. The brain is genes, biology, and medication. Many different psychological or brain diseases can cause changes in one or both of those, and they connect. Doctors and psychologist use a multiaxial system to assess each patient. There are five different axes, that they will go through to help identify all symptoms of the patient. Axis 1 is mental health and substance use disorders, this is most mental health disorders that are not personality or intellectual disorders. Axis 2 is personality disorders and mental retardation, this could be like schizophrenia, narcissism, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. Axis 3 is general medical conditions, this could be anything that is affecting the health of a person that could affect mental health but isn’t that specifically, this could be like if a person is diabetic and needs treatment, they may experience anxiety or depression. Their diabetes would be considered and axis 3 condition because the health issue they have, diabetes, is influencing mental health. Axis 4 is psychosocial and environmental problems, this would be issues in their family, education, job, or general life Axis 5 is global assessment of functioning, this is a scale that goes from 0-100, this is a way to summarize how adaptively a person is functioning. 100 means no symptoms and 10 is a persistent danger of severely hurting self or others, this would mean the person is having a hard time with personal hygiene or are suicidal and have plans to die. This system is used to helps diagnose patients and collect comprehensive data. This system allows for medical condition and mental health conditions to overlap, which is important. Understanding the connection between the two can allow for a full picture diagnosis and all patients to receive help in all areas of their health, not just physical.

    The last four years I have worked as a CNA, I have worked with brain disorders of all sorts but a huge one being dementia and Alzheimer’s. Dementia, is a deterioration of mental abilities, including memory, judgement, personality, and behavior. There are many different causes of dementia, and it is mostly unknown. One common disease that is classified under dementia is Alzheimer’s. This is genetic, but like most dementias the cause is unknown. A protein called beta amyloid makes plaques that form in the brain. Beta amyloid is in the neurons, which is normal. When there are small amounts, the neurons can get rid of it, but when there is too much, they clump together forming the plaques. This will cause the neuron to function abnormally and eventually die off. Another cause is from microtubules in the brain breaking apart, when this happens it will collapse and cause a big tangle. This also makes the neurons function abnormally, and eventually die off. Both cause many neurons to die, making the brain shrink in size. There is no current cure for dementia but there are some drugs that can help symptoms and stimulate neurons. One being acetylcholine inhibitors, which stimulates receptors on neurons in learning/memory areas. This basically just slows down the progression of the disease but won’t stop it completely. 

Dementia often changes the personality and mental abilities of a person. I have seen some patients when they act very childish, selfish, and rude, however, their families will tell stories of quite the opposite behaviors. It can also make people hyper fixate on certain things that happened in their life. I had a patient once who lived in the time period after her brother had passed away, and she would repeat day after day, “my brother died, and I don’t know what to do about it.” Dementia can also make people aggressive, I have seen a lot of elderly women try to fight or yell/swear aggressively, when they normal wouldn’t hurt a bug. This is often very devastating for a person and their family and can be really hard to deal with. This disease can also make people very sick, due to their brains abnormally functioning. It can change heart patterns, weight control, pain control, and can eventually lead to death. Many people use medications or more ayurvedic methods to help the whole body heal and connect. Ayurveda healing of dementia often uses music, food, herbs, and spices. These things people believe can affect the whole body, music is often used to bring a center or calmness to a person. Different foods and spices have different remedies but can be used to help heal either different parts or the whole body. 

In the first assisted living I worked at, I had a patient who was super sweet, and I just loved her. As the dementia got worse, she would become more and more aggressive, and sometimes would have panic attacks. Calm music or pet noises, like purring or small barks, would help calm her. She could match her breathing to the noise, and it would help her brain relax. I use this example because it shows how an alternative medicine can be the most beneficial things to someone’s health, even with a disease that is slowly killing them. 

    There are many terms used to describe someone’s health or body that could be used together or separate, a physician Glen Gabbard, wrote a paper on dichotomies and how they apply to personality disorders. They begin with studies on antisocial behaviors in relation to genetics and environment. They discuss different aspects of nature and behaviors that trend in lifetimes. They conclude by saying that “genes and environment are inextricably connected in the pathogenesis of antisocial behavior,” (Gabbard 3). This shows how related our genetics are to the way we are raised and what happens in our lives, environment affects genes. They go on to discuss childhood trauma and the effects that has on a developing brain. Many studies are showing how trauma can affect how the two lobes of the brain communicate, and how it can turn the right hemisphere into only memories of trauma. This is crazy that because of how someone is raised, there can be detrimental and lifetime effects on the brain. Another cause of issue is attachment and belonging, when a child does not receive that they can have a harder time understand their own mental state or mental states of others. This can make it more difficult to resolve previous trauma, and to move on from history. Neurons play a role in personal understandings and truths. Therapy and medication are often used to help combat many personality disorders, the use of both of these things may or may not help a person. Sometimes they help combat symptoms, but many psychological disorders are too hard to fight off and win completely. Psychotherapy should be used as a medically necessary treatment and should be seen as highly important because of the effects the brain has. The brain is way too important to ignore and not treat correctly. The language used in talking about the brain and personality disorders should be regarded as important and should be chosen carefully. Overall, I think this article is written well and has many examples we could learn from. I felt like it shows how different everyone’s brains are and how different circumstance can affect one’s brain. There is so much that goes into growth, learning, development, and mental health that it’s hard to say what is best. I think for anyone going to raise children should learn about the effects of childhood trauma on the brain and should be more aware what damage they are causing if they raise the child wrong. I also think that everyone should get therapy, just in case it could help resolve any older trauma. 

    When my significant other was growing up, their dad was highly abusive. Not just to them but also to their siblings. They all experienced different levels of physical and mental abuse from their dad. I have noticed many different affects this has caused but a huge one is feeling like their childhoods were only abuse, and they have a hard time remembering fun and happy times. Especially when thinking about their parents, all the siblings have struggled to find positive things to say and believe about their parents. While, their childhood was not all abuse and bad times, because it was so prominent, they have a hard time finding the good times. Even when thinking about good memories or holidays, it is often followed by memories of abuse and something traumatic that happened after. Other things that have been seen in all of the kids is depression, anxiety, feelings of being unworthy, not feeling good enough. A paper written by the Children’s Bureau on Brain Development in Traumatized children, shows many affects that trauma can have on the brain as a child. Many children who go through trauma will have delayed speech and not as developed reading ability. Smaller amounts of gray and white matter in the prefrontal cortex, has also been seen through brain scans, as well as a smaller hippocampus. Many children will have a harder time making friends, not focus as well, and have a harder times setting goals, planning, and problem solving. It is super important to support brain development both physically and mentally when a child is young and can change the child’s future. My significant other did begin college but often had a very difficult time setting goals and studying for longer periods of time. They also have had a hard time relearning about holidays and special occasions, because of the abuse that followed those times during their childhood. 

The brain is so important and can change throughout a lifetime. Disorders of the brain and mind can affect the whole body and increasingly important. Ayurveda believes in healing the whole person and trying to stay balanced and clean. Doing this could help the brain stay healthy and sharp, however, it may not stop the disease. Talking about treatments is very important, I think it would be most beneficial to use both western medicine and some sorts of Ayurveda to stay the healthiest. 

    Drugs are chemicals that are used to stimulate a certain feeling and they work because they resemble natural chemical found in the body. Drugs effect emotions, thoughts, and how the body acts. There is a correct dose, route of entry, and time that drugs should be used. Misuse is using a drug in a way that was not intended. Abuse is excessive use of drugs and addiction is reliance on a drug to induce a desired emotion. Factors that may increase a person’s risk for drug use is genetics or family history, parental behaviors, substance use is adolescent years, mental health issues, and sorority/fraternity membership.

Drugs effect physiological factors, mental dependence, interpersonal relationships, individual productivity, and physical health. Some of the physiologic effects of drugs depends on whether it is a stimulant or depressant. Stimulates increase heart rate, blood pressure, heart contraction strength, blood glucose levels, and muscle tension. Depressants relax the central nervous system in our brain and decrease functions. In our brain we have a reward system, which seeks natural rewards that increase survival. Drugs change the reward system, and how it works. When drugs are first introduced the brain will immediately increase dopamine, however, after a while of using drugs, than there will be less dopamine, which then allows the brain to believe drugs are good. That is why drug seeking behavior is vital, because it shows how that brain changes in response, it will believe that drugs are good. This is what causes addiction, because our brain is tricked and then will enforce cravings and daily dependence. Addiction to drugs is the compulsive use of any drug, despite the consequences they may have of health, social life, and family. Addiction is a disease that changes how the brain is structured and works.

    A new development that is being heavily researched is the use of natural medications. Traditional medication and therapies are an important part of medicine history and should still be used today. A personalized, holistic approach could be the next step for medicine and could be a positive change. Plants can be a significant source because they can fight diseases that are currently incurable, and they can fight tolerance. Using more plant-based medicine is a holistic approach that is being proven to work well on our bodies. Ayurveda used natural medications because they come from plants and living things, they are not made in labs. Natural medications can help us stay balanced and keep us more natural. This is very important, and we should strive to continue researching natural medications. Marijuana is a drug that is now often being used for medicinal reasons. It causes blood vessel dilation in the eyes, increased appetite, lowered blood pressure, and muscular weakness. Many people with severe anxiety, panic, paranoia, and psychosis use because it may help decrease symptoms. Marijuana is often used in Ayurveda because of where it comes from and the way it can be used. It is often considered a natural medication and if used correctly can be effective. This can also help the brain relax and remain balanced. 

            While drugs may be bad, they can often help in many ways. Finding a balance of medication and natural remedies is important for each person. Using things such as music, food, and therapy can be just as beneficial as medications. Learning about disorders and finding the correct ways of healing is specific to each person and should be a process of growth. Drugs can often cause many mental disorders or be abused when trying to treat a mental disorder. Understanding how and when to use drugs is important and can be vital when dealing with a brain or mental disease. 

Refrences

Gabbard, G. O. (2005). Mind, brain, and personality disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 162(4), 648–655. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.162.4.648 

Garofalo, S. (2017, June 29). How do drugs affect the brain? . TEDEducation. Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qK0hxuXOC8&feature=emb_title 

letstute. (2018, March 27). Human brain | parts & functions | cerebrum & cerebellum | biology | letstute. YouTube. Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HieUJTLaOZY 

Schimelpfening, N. (2022, September 2). What is the DSM-IV multi-axial system? Verywell Mind. Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://www.verywellmind.com/five-axes-of-the-dsm-iv-multi-axial-system-1067053 

Supporting brain development in traumatized children and Youth. (2011). PsycEXTRA Dataset. https://doi.org/10.1037/e552932013-001 

Cancer the physical and mental connection link

 https://youtu.be/hjcphP-GpQU

Use the link to access the video 

Ebstein Anomaly - Oral Presentation

 

Classic Hallucinogens: Threat or Therapy Oral Report

 https://youtu.be/4BNT08ONmb4

Brain Structure, Brain function, and drug design differences in Women and Men

    The nervous system of the body is responsible for sensory, integration of information, and response to stimuli. It is also responsible for complex thought, memory, and personality. The brain is the primary organ of the nervous system and can be thought of as the central controller of the body. The brain is very complex and is still not understood how different segments of the brain have different jobs and how they work together with biochemical molecules to produce memory, learning, personality, and a variety of other complex functions that makes the human mind. Women's and men's brains are different, and the structure and function of different brains and their neurotransmitters help us understand the function of the brain, and our ability to design drugs that impact the brain.

     There are many differences between male and female brains, major differences in not only the psychology of the brain but the chemistry and biology as well. They found that male brains use 7 times more gray matter while females use 10 times more white matter. Gray matter is the localized parts of the brain that relate to information and action centers in the neurons. This is why when men are deeply focused on a single task, they do not notice their surroundings. White matter is the network connection of the brain that connects events and allows for transitions between tasks. This is why women are often better at multitasking and can engage in conversation while doing another task. However, this is not the only structural difference. Females have a larger hippocampus than males do. The hippocampus is related to the memory center of the brain. This is why females are better at remembering details than males, because of the larger hippocampus. Another interesting detail was that during development females develop a verbal center on both sides of their brains compared to males. This is why girls often talk more when explaining details compared to males who have fewer verbal centers and in turn use fewer words.

     

    There are also chemical processing differences in the brain between genders. Serotonin, testosterone, estrogen, and oxytocin are neurochemicals that help the brain form connections and process thought. Males tend to have ADHD and cannot sit still for as long as females can. Evolutionary experts have deemed this back to evolution and state that these traits tend to come from the hunter-gatherer aspect of early human life. However, this has to do with the levels of serotonin produced in the brain. Serotonin, known as the chemical of happiness, controls the body temperature, breathing, and other functions of the body, which will help to relax the body and in turn help the individual to sit still. Because women produce more, they are better able to sit still for long periods compared to men. This is a reason why men are more often diagnosed with ADHD compared to women. Also with serotonin, while females produce more on average, this chemical is secreted far more slowly than the male brain, which is another theory on why women suffer from depression more than men do because the spike in serotonin takes longer to go into effect. Additionally, men produce less oxytocin than women do, which is a neurotransmitter that affects sleep and reduces cortisol levels in the blood. Females produce more oxytocin than men do, which not only makes it easier for women to relax, but it interacts with estrogen to allow females to relax quicker under stressful situations. Men however produce more testosterone than females do, which when it interacts with oxytocin, will make men more aggressive and less able to calm down under stressful situations.

    The neurochemical release of these neurotransmitters can be affected by drugs. For a drug to get to the brain it must be able to pass the blood-brain barrier. The brain’s psychoactive drugs can alter moods and behaviors by activating neurotransmitters in the brain to stimulate chemical processes that produce these emotions. Such examples are drugs that activate dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that leads to the reward center of the brain and produces a pleasurable feeling. High levels of dopamine can make one feel that life is great and they are great, this is awesome for people that suffer from depression or negative body image as it can help them learn to feel happy again. However, too much dopamine can lead to irregular heartbeats, schizophrenia, anxiety, headaches, and nausea. Like all chemicals in the body, too much or too little can lead to issues, which is why there must be a balance of the drugs used.

 

    There are lots of ways to trigger dopamine release in the brain. There are natural activities such as exercise, yoga, coitus, delicious foods, and enjoyable hobbies. Some drugs have been known to release dopamine, from nicotine, heroin, and cocaine. While these drugs might be very good at triggering dopamine, they can lead to addiction due to the overabundance of dopamine that is triggered in the brain from these drugs. This leads to a person never being able to feel the euphoric feeling from the abundance of dopamine that is released, this can impair the users’ ability to function properly without the use of the drug, which can lead to violence and outbursts in order to get the drug that allows these feelings to occur. Interestingly there was a case that tried to quantify the amount of dopamine that gets released in different situations. They found that eating chocolate increased dopamine by 50%, coitus caused a 100% spike, but the amphetamines drugs (meth being the most powerful) cause a 1000% increase spike. Based on these numbers alone it is logical to see how when a person gets addicted to a substance that no other activities can compare to the feelings they received from the drug.

 

    There are also drugs that are considered natural supplements that when used can have weird side effects on the brain. One such drug is melatonin. This is a supplement most people take to help relax in the evening from a stressful day and get to sleep faster. The average person uses melatonin at night as a safe sleeping aid, and while the recommended dose is safe, it can produce weird effects on the body. One strange side effect to experience is hallucinations. This happens when there is an overdose of melatonin and can lead to strange dreams. This was also most commonly seen in women, especially those over 60+ years old who take the drug regularly. Most that use this drug have trouble sleeping or have a thrown-off circadian rhythm. We see the use of this drug most often in married women who have trouble sleeping due to the snoring of their husbands. There is also a correlation between these women having weird dreams that seemed like reality to them. Additionally, melatonin overdose can also cause an increase in anxiety in the body through the disruption of hormones, depression can also be caused as a side effect. In addition to psychological effects, melatonin can also affect the body by causing nausea and abnormal cramping as melatonin affects the stomach which can lead to one feeling sick and experiencing cramps, diarrhea, and other stomach issues.

 

    Pharmacokinetics is the study of a drug in the body, how the drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted are key factors of the study when it comes to drug design. Most drugs are consumed orally and are primarily absorbed by the organs of the digestive system such as the stomach and small intestines. However adverse drug events are seen more often in women than in men. For a long time, drug use in women was not well studied because women have hormone cycles that throw off data on how the drug was used. They found that women and men were the exact same only on day 5 of a woman’s cycle. So often female mice were excluded from the studies to get a better look at the drug in male mice without the side effects of hormone cycles. This has caused a large problem in the industry as these drugs are tested on male mice and are being prescribed to female humans without the study of how the hormones in their bodies affect the drug. Men and women are very different and thus the drug dosages and the drugs prescribed should be different. There are many such examples of the pharmacokinetic drug effects between females and males.

 

    An example of a pharmacokinetic drug absorption difference between females and males is that the gastric emptying of solids is significantly slower in women compared to men. In order for a drug to be absorbed it must travel through the gastrointestinal tract and be absorbed through the small intestines. But because women's rates are slower, drug absorption is also slowed. This means that it will take longer for the absorption of a drug to occur in women compared to men.

     

    An example of a pharmacokinetic drug distribution difference in females and males is the regional blood flow differences. Some drugs are distributed in the muscle through injection. Men's and women's muscles do not differ in the location however they can differ in size and in regional blood flow. When exercising women typically have higher heart rates compared to men. This is mainly because women have smaller hearts, and therefore lower stroke volumes and lower blood volume compared to men. So typically, it takes a little longer for distribution to occur in women than in men. Additional factors that affect distribution are body weight, muscle mass, and body fat; all of which differ dramatically between men and women. 

    An example of a pharmacokinetic drug metabolism difference in females and males is the drug antipyrine. It was found that this drug had a shorter half-life in women compared to men. This can be an issue because the drug will circulate longer in females than males, leading to more interactions in the body and can result in overmedication adverse effects in women.

    There are not a lot of examples of a pharmacokinetic drug excretion difference in females and males as drugs are predominantly excreted via the kidneys. One of the only ideas I could find is that a pregnant mother might have a hard time excreting a drug that crosses the placenta barrier into the baby, as the developing baby would process the drug differently and the excretion might be different. Overall, there are a lot of differences in how drugs are used in the body between males and females and there should be better studies dedicated to seeing these differences so they can be applied in the medical world. 

    

    In conclusion, there are many differences between the structure of the brain and brain functions between women and men. By studying these differences in structure, it can better be understood how different behaviors, thinking, and psychological differences came to be. It can also impact our understanding of how the brain works. By observing differences in pharmacokinetics, we can also see how women and men process drugs differently and how pharmacology should be taking into account gender differences in drug design. The structure and function differences of the brain between women and men help us understand the function of the brain, and our ability to design drugs that impact the brain.