Drugs and Consciousness  Psychoactive Drugs: chemicals that alters one’s perceptions and mood

Drugs and Consciousness  Continued use of psychoactive drugs can lead to tolerance  Diminishing effect with regular use of the same drug requiring the user to take larger and larger doses before discontinuing the use of an addictive drug

Drugs and Consciousness  Side effects of tolerance  Lead to withdrawal  Discomfort and distress that follow discontinuing the use of an addictive drug  Withdrawal can cause physical pain

Drugs and Consciousness  Physical dependence  Psychological dependence

Drugs and Consciousness  Misconceptions about addictions  Addictive drugs quickly corrupt  Addictions can’t be overcome voluntarily; therapy is a must  We can extend the concept of addiction to cover not just drug dependencies but a whole spectrum of repetitive pleasure seeking behavior

Drugs and Consciousness  Three types of psychoactive drugs  Depressants  Stimulants  Hallucinogens

Drugs and Consciousness  Depressants: drugs that reduce neural activity and slow body functions

Drugs and Consciousness  Alcohol  Lowers inhibitions and judgment  A person’s various attributes become stronger  Helpful person= more helpful  Aggressive person= more aggressive  Etc.

Drugs and Consciousness  Dosage:  Lower doses relax the drinker by slowing the sympathetic nervous system  Larger doses can become problematic  Denton and Krebs Bar Study

Drugs and Consciousness  Side effects of alcohol:  Effects memory  Disrupts the processing of recent experiences into long-term memories  Studies also show problems transferring memories from intoxicated mind to the sober mind

Drugs and Consciousness  Suppresses REM sleep

Drugs and Consciousness  Reduces self awareness  Focus on immediate situation without looking at the future  50% of rapists acknowledge drinking prior to committing the crime

Drugs and Consciousness  Effects of alcohol also depends on expectations  Cultural expectations play a large role

Drugs and Consciousness  Barbiturates  Tranquillizers that mimic alcohol  Can be used to induce sleep or lower anxiety

Drugs and Consciousness  Opiates  Morphine and Heroin  Depress neural functions and communications  Long term withdrawal symptoms with both

Drugs and Consciousness  Stimulants  Caffeine (most used drug), nicotine, amphetamines, and cocaine are all examples  Speed up body functions  Used to stay awake, lose weight, boost mood  Can be addictive  Can lead to “crash”

Drugs and Consciousness  Cocaine  3% of the population have admitted to using cocaine  Rush depletes serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine which leads to the “crash”  Studies show cocaine leaves the neural reward switch in the on position

Drugs and Consciousness  Hallucinogens  Distort perception and evoke images  LSD  Created in 1943 by Albert Hoffmann  “…perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors”

Drugs and Consciousness  Phases of hallucination  Geometrical shapes meaningful images dreamlike scenes

Drugs and Consciousness  Marijuana  Leaves and flowers of the hemp plant (cultivated for 5,000 years for its fiber)  THC is the active ingredient  delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol

Drugs and Consciousness  Smoking marijuana gets THC to brain in 7 seconds  Time varies for other methods  Effects of marijuana  Relaxes and produces euphoric high in subject taking marijuana  Mild hallucinations occur  Amplified sensitivity to color, sound, tastes, and smells

Drugs and Consciousness  Side effects of marijuana  Impairs motor coordination, perceptual skills, reaction time  Disrupts memory formation and recall abilities

Drugs and Consciousness  Depresses sex hormones in males and lowers sperm levels  More lung damage than cigarette smoking  Study followed 654 junior high students into their 20’s  Found heavy users developed more health problems and family problems than their counterparts  Example of a longitudinal study

 Longitudinal study  Scientific study that follows a group of people throughout a period of time  Typically used to study developmental trends  Cross-sectional study  Scientific study in which data are collected from groups of participants of different ages and compared so that conclusions can be drawn about differences due to age