Drug abuse is one of the environmental factors that contribute to schizophrenia. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Most drugs of abuse directly or indirectly target the brain’s reward system by flooding the circuit with dopamine.” Drugs such as cannabis and heroine can activate neurons because of their chemical structures resembling that of the natural neurotransmitter, dopamine, as was discussed earlier. These drugs can release two to ten times the amount of dopamine than that of the natural rewards of dopamine. The affects is euphoria of the reward center clearly being more potent and lasting longer. From this excess presence of dopamine, the brain adjusts by producing less of the neurotransmitter as well as the receptors
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Therefore in order to feel pleasure again, the drug user must take more drugs repeatedly in order to bring the dopamine function back up to normal. Due to the imbalance drugs can create on dopamine levels in the brain, along with other neurotransmitters, it is clear to see how drugs can influence the progression of schizophrenia in most cases. According to Atkinson, author of the article, “Cannabis use ‘trigger for schizophrenia’”, a study was performed in Germany where a group of 2,500 subjects, aged 14-24, who smoked cannabis were studied for four years. They found adolescents who smoked cannabis slightly increased the risk of developing signs of psychosis later on in life, increasing from 16-25%. They also discovered that those predisposed to psychosis, who showed signs of disturbed thought processes, increased their chance of developing psychosis by 50% …show more content…
The limbic system, which involves the frontal lobe, deals with memory and emotion. Parts of the limbic system include the amygdala and the cingulate. The amygdala contains key brain nuclei for processing fear and stimulating the appropriate response to fear. The cingulate allows people to shift between thoughts and express emotions. And another affected part of the brain is the basal ganglia. The basal ganglia is involved in motor control which can help explain why damage to this area may affect a catatonic schizophrenic when they become hypnotized in an action. One study done revealed if two areas of the brain, the prefrontal cortex and the basal ganglia, have a great disconnection, the higher level of psychosis will be seen (Yoon). While for the auditory and visual cortexes of the brain may affect the paranoid schizophrenic when they have
Therefore in order to feel pleasure again, the drug user must take more drugs repeatedly in order to bring the dopamine function back up to normal. Due to the imbalance drugs can create on dopamine levels in the brain, along with other neurotransmitters, it is clear to see how drugs can influence the progression of schizophrenia in most cases. According to Atkinson, author of the article, “Cannabis use ‘trigger for schizophrenia’”, a study was performed in Germany where a group of 2,500 subjects, aged 14-24, who smoked cannabis were studied for four years. They found adolescents who smoked cannabis slightly increased the risk of developing signs of psychosis later on in life, increasing from 16-25%. They also discovered that those predisposed to psychosis, who showed signs of disturbed thought processes, increased their chance of developing psychosis by 50% …show more content…
The limbic system, which involves the frontal lobe, deals with memory and emotion. Parts of the limbic system include the amygdala and the cingulate. The amygdala contains key brain nuclei for processing fear and stimulating the appropriate response to fear. The cingulate allows people to shift between thoughts and express emotions. And another affected part of the brain is the basal ganglia. The basal ganglia is involved in motor control which can help explain why damage to this area may affect a catatonic schizophrenic when they become hypnotized in an action. One study done revealed if two areas of the brain, the prefrontal cortex and the basal ganglia, have a great disconnection, the higher level of psychosis will be seen (Yoon). While for the auditory and visual cortexes of the brain may affect the paranoid schizophrenic when they have