Neurotransmitters Transmission

After viewing the video on Neurotransmitters, in explaining how neurotransmitter transmission occurs, I would first tell my client that our brain has what’s called a reward system. When we use drugs, eat, gamble, shop, etc. the chemicals in our brain gives us a reward system that makes us feel good. Through our nerve cells in our brain, messages are delivered through what’s called neurotransmitters. Our nerve cells, also known as neurons are not connected and the messages must be sent from one neuron to another through what is called a synapse. Molecules (carrying messages), leave the Pre-synapsis neuron, through the terminal bouton and travel through the synapse to receptacles in the post-synapsis neuron. This is how communication takes place. …show more content…
When a person uses heroin, the chemicals enter the brain very fast, and they bind to receptors on cells. Some of these bind to cells that involve our feelings, such as pleasure and pain. Some people feel a “rush” when they use substances. The brain chemicals are affected by drugs because the chemicals in the drugs are very much like the chemicals in our brain. These drugs are basically imposters and the neurons recognize them. The neurotransmitters are the “feel goods” in our brains. For example: Dopamine is found in the limbic system, this is considered the pleasure center in our brain. GABA is associated with our sleep and reducing anxiety. Benzodiazepines have a similar chemical makeup. Endorphins and Enkephalins are our brains natural opiates. So, when your brain stops producing these natural chemicals and rely on the ones we put into our bodies, we cross the line into addiction. Using drugs repeatedly can cause a pattern to be imprinted or hardwired in our brain. This is dependence, physically and psychologically. We become addicted to the feelings that our brain produces. And when the effect of the drug wears off, then there is regret, depression, and the feelings are worse than