1. UW Bio 100 Unit I: Intro to Neurobiology Lecture 1 Introduction

2. Introduction Each state in the US is spending a very large amount of taxpayer money to deal with the social, legal, and medical impacts of drug abuse. A survey of expenditure in Washington State found that about $32 billion dollars went into issues related to drug use.

3. Introduction Compared to this, very little money is spent on treatment (B), or better yet, prevention (A). (C) in the graph shows the costs relating to formulating and enforcing drug policy. Image statistics come from: http://www.dshs.wa.gov/pdf/HRSA/DASA/2009%20Trends%20Report.pdf Most of that money was spent on the impact to communities after people used drugs medical & psychological impacts to users social issues to those affected by the users refer to D in the graph below

4. A word from Doc Linda In this class, you will have the opportunity to deeply investigate a number of mood altering drugs, from nicotine to LSD. For each drug, you’ll become well acquainted in the biological reasons these drugs influence mood, from the level of molecules to the understanding of brain anatomy and function. Throughout, you’ll focus on the reasons why some of these mood altering drugs are addictive. Addiction is a serious mental and medical condition that befalls many people who have no intention of leading a life consumed by drugs.

5. A word from Doc Linda cont. To introduce our topic to you, we’ll touch on a few different biological principles. To fully understand any mood altering drug, it will help to have a basic understanding of molecules in general ◦ specifically the molecules that influence how brain cells function. It will also help to understand how drugs are processed by the body. And because you will learn why some people are more (or less) prone to addiction in general and to be impacted by a specific drug, coverage of how these individual differences are determined and transmitted will be important.

6. A word from Doc Linda cont. So for this class, you will be asked to understand: ◦ Neurobiology (Unit 1), ◦ Pharmacology (Unit 2), ◦ and Genetics (Unit 3) before launching into the analysis of each drug.

7. Mood Altering Drugs & Adolescents Video Guiding Questions In your journal: ◦ What are the qualifications of the person who is answering these teens’ questions? ◦ What experiences do these teens describe that indicate drug use affects them? ◦ What does this video suggest about ways scientists can measure how a drug impacts the brain? ◦ Why do some drugs make us feel pleasure and why do we have a pleasure center in the brain in the first place? ◦ Be able to name four psychoactive drugs discussed by this video.

8. Activity 1:Mood Altering Drugs and Adolescents Dr. Nora Volkow’s visit to Harlem’s School of Math, Science and Engineering at City College. As you watch the video, you will learn a little bit about how to use this course and your instructors to find answers to your questions about drug use. http://youtu.be/HdVwedcCYxU

9. Altering Drugs and Adolescents Then view this video, "Facts About Drug Addiction" about what addiction is: http://video.about.com/drugs/Drug- Addiction.htm http://video.about.com/drugs/Drug- Addiction.htm Guiding Questions (in journal) ◦ How does one neuron communicate to another? ◦ What is the definition of a "drug"? ◦ Explain why some drugs are addictive. Consider the pleasure the drug gives, and the terms dependence and withdrawal.

10. Unit I Activity 2 Addiction Popularized Consider any drug users you may know (this includes alcoholics). Where did it begin for them? Why do you think that they continue to use? Do you think they are uninformed or unaware? Now think of a song that depicts an addict or addiction…

11. Why Do Drugs Affect Our Mind? We experiment with all sorts of things that influence how we feel. Historically, humans have found substances to consume that influence our minds & bodies. Early peoples experimented with newly discovered plants and thereby found them to be either nutritious or medicinal. Some were found to alter perspective and mood. ◦ Why? ◦ What substances?

12. Why Do Drugs Affect Our Mind? Nicotine Let’s take nicotine as an example: Why does nicotine effect how we feel? ◦ Nicotine (and other mood-altering drugs) has the ability to influence the chemistry of our brains.  The molecules within the plant can bind to molecules in our brains  This results in altered brain function at a cellular level

13. Why Do Drugs Affect Our Mind? Basic Chemistry Review: What are molecules composed of? Atoms of one or more element How are the components held together within a molecule? Covalent (shared) bonds or Ionic (transferred) bonds How do molecules vary in size from water to polymeric molecules, such as DNA? ◦ http://scaleofuniverse.com/ http://scaleofuniverse.com/

14. Why Do Drugs Affect Our Mind?: Olestra When molecules enter our body, those that are large (like proteins or fats) need to be broken down or metabolized to be used. Read the Olestra article http://discovermagazine.com/2001/mar/featchemistry http://discovermagazine.com/2001/mar/featchemistry Guiding Questions (in journal) ◦ How do triglycerides compare to Olestra in structure? ◦ How do triglycerides compare to Olestra in terms of digestibility? Why?

15. EW 9/11 How does the structure of Olestra compare with triglycerides? Would you expect a drug like cocaine to be more similar to Olestra or a triglyceride in terms of how your body might process it?

16. Why Do Drugs Affect Our Mind?: Olestra The story of drug molecules is the opposite of the Olestra story. ◦ Rather than find a molecule our body cannot use, with most drugs, our bodies do recognize them and do respond to these molecules.

17. Why Do Drugs Affect Our Mind?: Role of Ligands Drugs are recognized by the body depending on how closely they resemble the normal ligand. ◦ A ligand is a molecule that binds to another; frequently, a ligand binds to a receptor. If a drug very closely resembles the ligand  the binding will result in an impact that is close to that of the ligand. If the drug can bind, but is very different in how it binds  the result will not precisely match the result of the normal ligand-receptor binding.

18. Why Do Drugs Affect Our Mind? Ligands cont. Back to our ancestors… ◦ Imagine that the drug molecules they might have taken into their bodies for the first time. ◦ The three shapes below represent molecules that have some of the chemical properties necessary for them to be able to bind to the receptor (shown in blue).

19. Why Do Drugs Affect Our Mind? Ligands cont. ◦ When nothing is bound to the receptor (very left), the receptor remains "inert". ◦ Another brain molecule may bind to this receptor as part of the course of normal activity and the binding between this ligand and receptor usually results in some change to the cell. But each drug molecule will effect the receptor differently.

20. Why Do Drugs Affect Our Mind? Ligands cont. “Normal" ligand (dark red)  a brain molecule we make ourselves that binds to the receptor in order to accomplish some outcome. ◦ When "normal ligand" binds to receptor, the receptor responds by changing its shape. ◦ This shape change results in changes to the cell  red dots can now enter cell.

21. Why Do Drugs Affect Our Mind? Ligands cont. Some drug molecules resemble the "normal" ligand very closely  very close in shape and chemistry to the ligand. The effect this type of drug (orange shape in center) has on the receptor is virtually identical to the effect the ligand has. ◦ This type of drug is termed an agonist for this receptor.

22. Why Do Drugs Affect Our Mind? Ligands cont. The drug molecule represented by the yellow shape can bind to the receptor, but when it binds, there is no effect on the receptor. The effect on the body is that the receptor site is bound, and no longer available for the ligand to bind. This type of molecule opposes the effect of the "normal ligand". It is an antagonist for this receptor.

23. Why Do Drugs Affect Our Mind? Ligands cont. It is possible for a drug to act as a partial agonist. In this case, some, but not all of the effects a "normal ligand" has on the receptor are seen.

24. Neurons & Neurotransmitters http://app.discoveryeducation.com/core: player/view/assetGuid/59B26684 http://app.discoveryeducation.com/core: player/view/assetGuid/59B26684

25. Test of Content Cocaine binds to and blocks dopamine recycling receptors. Dopamine is a brain chemical that stimulates neurons. When cocaine is bound, dopamine can no longer be recycled into a neuron. ◦ What type of binding does cocaine show? LSD binds to serotonin receptors and when it does, some of the changes that occur when serotonin binds are seen, others are not. Serotonin is a brain chemical much like dopamine. ◦ What type of binding does LSD show?

26. Essential Readings: Required Text Liska, Ken. Drugs and the Human Body: With Implications for Society, 8th edition. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2008. The Magic Bullets - Chapter 1 ◦ Introduction ◦ What is a Drug ◦ Drug Dependence ◦ Chemotherapy ◦ Receptor-Site Theory Internet NIDA InfoFacts: Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/understand.html http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/understand.html How Stuff Works: Atoms and Molecules http://www.howstuffworks.com/atom-info1.htm http://www.howstuffworks.com/atom-info1.htm Wikipedia: Agonist-Antagonist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agonist-Antagonist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agonist-Antagonist

27. Supplemental Reading Text Liska, Drugs and the Human Body Where Drugs Come From ◦ Introduction ◦ Drugs from Plants ◦ Examples of Plant-Source Drugs in Use Today ◦ Plant Sources of Illicit Drugs ◦ The Future of Drug Discovery Internet MayoClinic.com: Drug Addiction http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=DS00183 http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=DS00183 How Stuff Works: How Addiction Works http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/drugs-alcohol/addiction.htm http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/drugs-alcohol/addiction.htm ◦ Introduction to How Addiction Works ◦ Addiction as a “Brain Disease” ◦ Addiction Symptoms NIDA: Drug Abuse and Addiction: One of America's Most Challenging Public Health Problems http://archives.drugabuse.gov/about/welcome/aboutdrugabuse/ http://archives.drugabuse.gov/about/welcome/aboutdrugabuse/ ◦ Magnitude ◦ Faces of addiction ◦ Trends in drug abuse ◦ Addiction is a chronic disease