Drug Behavior and Blood Brain Barrier Permeability Essay

Drug Behavior and Blood Brain Barrier Permeability - Essay Example Adolescent's innovation and curiosity can be transformed in dependence and addiction. Substance abuse is a maladaptive pattern leading to clinically significant impairment or distress. Several illicit substances produce dependence, defined as substance abuse that leads to loss of control, monopolization of time by substance use, and adverse medical, social, or emotional consequences that include tolerance and withdrawal (Gonzalez-Mayo, et al., 2005). There is a continued use in spite of knowing the problems that it causes. The mesolimbic dopamine system, particularly the nucleus accumbens, is a critical reinforcing site for drug addiction; this same pathway is believed to control drug craving and seeking behavior. It was recently proposed that addiction is a disease of learning and memory; classical conditioning describes learning in which a natural response is elicited by a conditioned, or learned, stimulus that previously was presented in conjunction with an unconditioned stimulus. Some evidence suggests that the mechanisms involved in the acute stimulant effects of cocaine and other illicit psychostimulants may be similar to the underlying features that explain chronic effects and addiction. The studies conducted in mice have allowed researchers to disclose important data regarding addiction pathways and neurotransmitter input. In humans, cocaine acute intoxication ca... On the other hand, ethanol intoxication causes disinhibition, emotional lability, slurred speech, ataxia, coma, and blackouts. Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances, and causes restlessness, insomnia, anxiety, and arrhythmias. Boudreau & Wolf (2005) define sensitization as "the augmentation of behavioral responses to drugs of abuse that occurs during their repeated administration and persists long after drug exposure is discontinued". The study conducted by Bainton, et al. is based on behavioral sensitization and the similarities between the addiction pathways of mammals and flies. By analyzing genetic features of Drosophila, the authors show that the behavioral defects observed in the mutant strains are not caused by accessibility changes of the administered drugs, but from alterations in the blood brain barrier, by means of changes in nervous system function. The Experimental Fly Since 1900, Drosophila flies have been used for genetic experiments. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is highly accessible to genetic analyses, and has been introduced as a novel model organism to help interpret the complex foundation of drug-induced behaviors (Heberlein, 2008). In this study, flies were maintained on special agars and mutants where screened for drug sensitivity. First, researchers evaluated several fly strains that carried a mutation named EP1529, and found an increased sensitivity to both cocaine and nicotine exposures; excision of the mutation restored drug sensitivity in these flies. Additionally, the altered gene was identified as moody, which encode for a G protein-coupled receptor. In both larvae and adult flies,

Sociology and culture of Chicago Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sociology and culture of Chicago - Essay Example That's why Chicago has the biggest population and median home values throughout the state. In 2000 there were 2,896,016 people living in Chicago. The U.S Census Bureau provides us with the data that says that 42.0% of Chicago dwellers are white, 36.8 % percent of them are Black or African American, the percentage of American Indian and Alaska Native persons is only 0.4%, while there are 4.3% of Asian persons living in Chicago. 26% of Chicago dwellers are persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, and the percentage of the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders is 0.1%. 2.9% of people reported two or more races, and 13.6% of the citizens reported some other race. The research conducted by the U.S Census Bureau displayed that the population of Chicago has grown by about 4%, but the Local Information Data Server Website reports that in recent years Chicago's population has been declining at an annual rate of less than one percent. The quantity of children under five years old was about 7.5% in Chicago in 2000, while the quantity of young people under eighteen, equaled 26.2%. 10.3% of the Chicago dwellers were sixty five years old and over at the time when the research was conducted. There were 51.5% of females dwelling in Chicago in 2000, and 48.5% percent of male dwellers. 21.7% of those, who lived in Chicago in 2000 we... In 1999 Median household income equaled $38,625, and the per capita money income was $20,175. 19.6% of Chicago dwellers lived below the poverty threshold in 1999. Like most big cities, Chicago has to deal with the problem of poverty within it. Of course, there are some people in the city that can't or don't want to work, but most of Chicago dwellers work hard to earn their living. The thing is that working very hard is often not enough to ensure the proper level of life for yourself or your family. Like all of the American huge cities, Chicago has to face the problem of the working poor. A new class of poor people appeared in the USA, those who can not provide themselves with the things needed for the decent living in spite of the amount of time and effort they spend. Those are home health care aides, call-center operators, child care workers, security guards, receptionists, food processors, gardeners, data-entry clerks, waiters and cleaners. If all of those low-waged workers stopped working at once, the countries social, economical and industrial life would be paralyzed. Low wages aren't the only problem of the working poor. Most of them are not socially secure. Of course this state of things influences their physical and psychological condition badly. The poor often cannot afford to buy a proper food and clothing for themselves and their children, or they have to choose between having a supper and paying the water and electricity bills. Most of them don't have any medical insurance, and those who have it wish they didn't, because it takes the considerable share of their earnings. Low-wage workers often experience problems finding the accommodation and paying for it, as the rent is too high for them. They are often