Stillness in the Storm

An Agent for Consciousness Evolution

The Effects of Cocaine on the Brain

By Leave a Comment

Spread the love

(Exploring Your Mind) Cocaine is one of the most consumed and addictive drugs out there. Its effects in the brain are quite harmful, aside from the feeling of euphoria and well-being it initially produces. Continue reading to find out more about the effects of cocaine on the brain.

Related Five Traits of People Who Know How to Love Their Partner

Source – Exploring Your Mind

by Staff Writer, December 25th, 2019

The effects of cocaine on the brain are devastating. This is the second most widely used drug in the world and it’s been a health problem since the 80s. The substance, which derives from the coca leaf plant, leads to feelings of euphoria, energy, and mental alertness in those who use it. It also reduces their appetite and sleeping needs.

In addition to these short-term effects, the consumption of cocaine has long-term consequences, such as emotional and behavioral disturbances. Continue reading to discover the main effects of cocaine on the brain at anatomical, metabolic, and functional levels.

A seemingly upset person.

Anatomical and metabolic effects

This substance influences the noradrenergic and dopaminergic systems of the brain. Specifically, it promotes the release of norepinephrine, while inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine at synapses. Thus, in the space between the communication of two neurons, also called the synaptic cleft, the availability of these neurotransmitters is much greater.

Book Psychology (Comprehensive Book on Psychology and Science)

This effect leads to a series of long-term brain changes. In post-mortem examinations, scientists observed that the brains of cocaine users had a lower amount of dopamine in the striatum. Also, a lower density of monoamines and the expression of the RNA encoding the dopamine transporter. In addition, there’s an increase in microglia and macrophages. This means that cocaine use is related to a loss of dopaminergic terminals, as well as whole neurons.

This cellular damage creates reward pathways, of which the dopaminergic pathway is a part. It alters its functionality and produces compulsive consumption. Likewise, the diminishing presence of natural dopamine, a hypodopaminergic state, is the cause of withdrawal, depression, and craving symptoms.

Scientists also observed that the consumption of cocaine and other substances increases the presence of free radicals and oxidative stress. These cells, despite being necessary, are an integral part of aging and cell damage. In addition, they interfere with the function of the blood-brain barrier. This is essential for protecting the brain from harmful external agents and maintaining homeostasis.

Cocaine use is also directly related to effects on the cerebral vasculature, making the occurrence of a stroke more likely. Also, there’s an increase in the tumor necrosis factor.

A person bending over.

Functional effects of cocaine on the brain

The changes and damages mentioned above have a series of consequences on the neuropsychological functioning of consumers. In general, cocaine users perform badly in neuropsychological evaluations. These effects manifest in attention, memory, inhibition of response, and executive functions.

More specifically, cocaine affects the processes of selective and sustained attention, working memory, visual memory, and learning capacity. In fact, these effects are more evident during periods of withdrawal.

Regarding executive functions, cocaine users have more failures when it comes to inhibiting responses. They’re also more impulsive and less skilled at making decisions. This is also linked to less flexibility in the face of change and a lower ability to process mistakes and handle incidents.

In short, cocaine use, possibly the most addictive drug, affects consumers at many levels. In addition to the effects described here, there are many emotional, behavioral, and social consequences that affect a person’s quality of life.

Stillness in the Storm Editor: Why did we post this?

The news is important to all people because it is where we come to know new things about the world, which leads to the development of more life goals that lead to life wisdom. The news also serves as a social connection tool, as we tend to relate to those who know about and believe the things we do. With the power of an open truth-seeking mind in hand, the individual can grow wise and the collective can prosper. 

– Justin

Not sure how to make sense of this? Want to learn how to discern like a pro? Read this essential guide to discernment, analysis of claims, and understanding the truth in a world of deception: 4 Key Steps of Discernment – Advanced Truth-Seeking Tools.

Stillness in the Storm Editor’s note: Did you find a spelling error or grammatical mistake? Send an email to [email protected], with the error and suggested correction, along with the headline and url. Do you think this article needs an update? Or do you just have some feedback? Send us an email at [email protected]. Thank you for reading.

Source:

https://exploringyourmind.com/the-effects-of-cocaine-on-the-brain/

 

Notices and Disclaimers

We need $2000 per month to pay our costs. Help us one time or recurring. (DONATE HERE)

To sign up for RSS updates, paste this link (https://stillnessinthestorm.com/feed/) into the search field of your preferred RSS Reader or Service (such as Feedly or gReader).

Subscribe to Stillness in the Storm Newsletter

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” – Aristotle

This website is supported by readers like you.

If you find our work of value, consider making a donation. 

Stillness in the Storm DISCLAIMER: All articles, videos, statements, claims, views and opinions that appear anywhere on this site, whether stated as theories or absolute facts, are always presented by Stillness in the Storm as unverified—and should be personally fact checked and discerned by you, the reader. Any opinions or statements herein presented are not necessarily promoted, endorsed, or agreed to by Stillness, those who work with Stillness, or those who read Stillness. Any belief or conclusion gleaned from content on this site is solely the responsibility of you the reader to substantiate, fact check, and no harm comes to you or those around you. And any actions taken by those who read material on this site is solely the responsibility of the acting party. You are encouraged to think carefully and do your own research. Nothing on this site is meant to be believed without question or personal appraisal.

Content Disclaimer: All content on this site marked with “source – [enter website name and url]” is not owned by Stillness in the Storm. All content on this site that is not originally written, created, or posted as original, is owned by the original content creators, who retain exclusive jurisdiction of all intellectual property rights. Any copyrighted material on this site was shared in good faith, under fair use or creative commons. Any request to remove copyrighted material will be honored, provided proof of ownership is rendered. Send takedown requests to [email protected].

What is our mission? Why do we post what we do?

Our mission here is to curate (share) articles and information that we feel is important for the evolution of consciousness. Most of that information is written or produced by other people and organizations, which means it does not represent our views or opinions as managing staff of Stillness in the Storm. Some of the content is written by one of our writers and is clearly marked accordingly. Just because we share a CNN story that speaks badly about the President doesn’t mean we’re promoting anti-POTUS views. We’re reporting on the fact as it was reported, and that this event is important for us to know so we can better contend with the challenges of gaining freedom and prosperity. Similarly, just because we share a pro/anti-[insert issue or topic] content, such as a pro-second amendment piece or an anti-military video doesn’t mean we endorse what is said. Again, information is shared on this site for the purpose of evolving consciousness. In our opinion, consciousness evolves through the process of accumulating knowledge of the truth and contemplating that knowledge to distill wisdom and improve life by discovering and incorporating holistic values. Thus, sharing information from many different sources, with many different perspectives is the best way to maximize evolution. What’s more, the mastery of mind and discernment doesn’t occur in a vacuum, it is much like the immune system, it needs regular exposure to new things to stay healthy and strong. If you have any questions as to our mission or methods please reach out to us at [email protected].

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.