Wednesday, 22 May 2013
Links on Pleasure and Drugs
This week, as I have before in this blog, I am posting a set of new links to other web sites that discuss a subject covered in The Brain from Top to Bottom. For each link, I also provide a brief description of the relevant article or other content on the site in question.
The subject this week is the sub-topic “Pleasure and Drugs” under the topic “Pleasure and Pain”, and the sites in question all provide insights into the way that various drugs affect our brains. As you see, the first two sites deal with alcohol. It is worth remembering that however legal alcohol may be, it too is a psychoactive substance—in other words, a drug.
Molecular Level
Intoxicating Studies: The Effects of Alcohol on Social Behavior
Psychologists examine how alcohol affects our behaviour when we philosophize, flirt, post graffiti, etc.
In addition to its effects on the brain’s neurons, alcohol also apparently affects the brain’s immune cells, through their TLR4 receptors.
Chocolate cravings and the menstrual cycle
Like a number of other aspects of their lives, the strong craving that some women experience for chocolate may be influenced by their hormonal cycle.
People consume “psychostimulant” drinks and other forms of “speed”, such as the nicotine in tobacco, to improve their concentration, among other reasons. But as with any other drug, this “cognitive improvement” comes at the cost of inevitable side effects.
Pregnant mice who were given modest doses of caffeine gave birth to offspring that, as adults, exhibited increased locomotor activity.
Psychological Level
A French-language general portal to content about drug consumption, drug dependency, risk factors, and protection factors.
Undoing cocaine’s consequences
A rich, stimulating environment has a beneficial effect on people with substance dependencies, even when these dependencies are well established.
Pleasure and Pain | Comments Closed
