aftertheflood
Greenlighter
Hey everybody! I'm new to Bluelight and this is something I've been wondering about for a while. Something I read in a book not too long ago:
Most drug use begins when people are young - from twelve to eighteen years old. The median age of initial drug use is fourteen, and 90 percent of those who become addicted begin using before the age of eighteen. Joanna Jacobus, postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, explains one reason teenagers are so susceptible to using and abusing drugs, and why it's especially dangerous for them. The posterior subcortical region of the brain - where the go system resides, the "more primitive brain structures," Jacobus says - develops early. The prefrontal cortex - the site of the stop system, center of abstract thinking, decision-making, and judgement - takes longer to mature. "Because it's developing more slowly, [it] isn't ready to do its job inhibiting the reward system," Jacobus says. "There's a discrepancy between the development of adolescents' reward systems and impulse control systems, so the reward system is overactive." Joseph Frascella, the director of the Division of Clinical Neuroscience and Behavioral Research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), says, "Kids have a double whammy. The go system rages, the foot's on the gas pedal, and the stop system has a hard time keeping up."
It's actually a triple whammy when kids begin using drugs. Their brain chemistry makes them more susceptible to using, and drugs impede the maturation of the prefrontal cortex, further slowing the development of the brain's braking system. Teenagers are known for impulsivity and reckless behavior. It turns out that they're wired that way. Add drugs to the mix, and their impulsivity and recklessness remain unregulated for longer.
Pg. 12-13 of Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy by David Sheff
As is explained earlier in the book, dopamine is the "go system" the author refers to. He claims that dopamine agonists "impede the maturation of the prefrontal cortex" and cites the research of Joanna Jacobus (you can find it here http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=q5Gd8ekAAAAJ&hl=en). I read some of the studies, and while I can't understand them completely without a background in science/neuroscience, they raised some questions for me.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2827693/
In this study, it is shown that heavy drinking in adolescents leads to cognitive deficits. This has also been shown in adults, so no surprise there. What I'm wondering is if this study actually shows the neurotoxicity of alcohol or if there are other factors at play. For example, while on alcohol people generally don't tend to engage in intellectually stimulating activities, whereas someone who doesn't use alcohol might do something more useful with the extra time. Therefore, strengthening more useful neuropathways which may be lost if not exercised regularly.
I'm not incredibly interested in debating whether alcohol is neurotoxic, it probably is from what I've heard/read, but I'm interested in what ultimately causes neurotoxicity. In the study above, a correlation between adolescent alcohol abuse and cognitive deficits is shown, but to me that doesn't prove that alcohol is neurotoxic.
I used lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse) daily for about a year when I was 17-18, using dosages that ranged from 30-110 mg but usually around 70. Amphetamines are known to be neurotoxic. I received neuropsychological testing when I was 15 and again a few months ago (I am currently 20), and no decline in brain functioning was noticed. I tend to think this is because when on amphetamines, I was more likely to read than fuck all night, thereby strengthening pathways more conducive to intellectual growth.
This brings me to the question of whether dopamine agonists "impede the maturation of the prefrontal cortex". In the same study above, heavy drinkers that are adolescents were shown to have a smaller prefrontal cortex than controls. Is this because alcohol has a direct neurotoxic effect on the prefrontal cortex? Or because people generally don't use their prefrontal cortex while on alcohol, therefore not facilitating growth? Again, I'm not interested specifically in the neurotoxicity of alcohol. What I'm really wondering is what kind of study could show definitive neurotoxic effects of a drug that would take into account these other factors. Would using dopamine agonists in moderation have any effect on brain development? And would this be more or less safe at different stages of development? Is there any similar risk in using gaba or serotonin agonists that don't act on dopamine? I don't have much knowledge of neuroscience, but these seem like important questions to me, as I am 20 and my brain continues development until around 25 (although, I know that neuroplasticity is still possible).
Most drug use begins when people are young - from twelve to eighteen years old. The median age of initial drug use is fourteen, and 90 percent of those who become addicted begin using before the age of eighteen. Joanna Jacobus, postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, explains one reason teenagers are so susceptible to using and abusing drugs, and why it's especially dangerous for them. The posterior subcortical region of the brain - where the go system resides, the "more primitive brain structures," Jacobus says - develops early. The prefrontal cortex - the site of the stop system, center of abstract thinking, decision-making, and judgement - takes longer to mature. "Because it's developing more slowly, [it] isn't ready to do its job inhibiting the reward system," Jacobus says. "There's a discrepancy between the development of adolescents' reward systems and impulse control systems, so the reward system is overactive." Joseph Frascella, the director of the Division of Clinical Neuroscience and Behavioral Research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), says, "Kids have a double whammy. The go system rages, the foot's on the gas pedal, and the stop system has a hard time keeping up."
It's actually a triple whammy when kids begin using drugs. Their brain chemistry makes them more susceptible to using, and drugs impede the maturation of the prefrontal cortex, further slowing the development of the brain's braking system. Teenagers are known for impulsivity and reckless behavior. It turns out that they're wired that way. Add drugs to the mix, and their impulsivity and recklessness remain unregulated for longer.
Pg. 12-13 of Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy by David Sheff
As is explained earlier in the book, dopamine is the "go system" the author refers to. He claims that dopamine agonists "impede the maturation of the prefrontal cortex" and cites the research of Joanna Jacobus (you can find it here http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=q5Gd8ekAAAAJ&hl=en). I read some of the studies, and while I can't understand them completely without a background in science/neuroscience, they raised some questions for me.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2827693/
In this study, it is shown that heavy drinking in adolescents leads to cognitive deficits. This has also been shown in adults, so no surprise there. What I'm wondering is if this study actually shows the neurotoxicity of alcohol or if there are other factors at play. For example, while on alcohol people generally don't tend to engage in intellectually stimulating activities, whereas someone who doesn't use alcohol might do something more useful with the extra time. Therefore, strengthening more useful neuropathways which may be lost if not exercised regularly.
I'm not incredibly interested in debating whether alcohol is neurotoxic, it probably is from what I've heard/read, but I'm interested in what ultimately causes neurotoxicity. In the study above, a correlation between adolescent alcohol abuse and cognitive deficits is shown, but to me that doesn't prove that alcohol is neurotoxic.
I used lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse) daily for about a year when I was 17-18, using dosages that ranged from 30-110 mg but usually around 70. Amphetamines are known to be neurotoxic. I received neuropsychological testing when I was 15 and again a few months ago (I am currently 20), and no decline in brain functioning was noticed. I tend to think this is because when on amphetamines, I was more likely to read than fuck all night, thereby strengthening pathways more conducive to intellectual growth.
This brings me to the question of whether dopamine agonists "impede the maturation of the prefrontal cortex". In the same study above, heavy drinkers that are adolescents were shown to have a smaller prefrontal cortex than controls. Is this because alcohol has a direct neurotoxic effect on the prefrontal cortex? Or because people generally don't use their prefrontal cortex while on alcohol, therefore not facilitating growth? Again, I'm not interested specifically in the neurotoxicity of alcohol. What I'm really wondering is what kind of study could show definitive neurotoxic effects of a drug that would take into account these other factors. Would using dopamine agonists in moderation have any effect on brain development? And would this be more or less safe at different stages of development? Is there any similar risk in using gaba or serotonin agonists that don't act on dopamine? I don't have much knowledge of neuroscience, but these seem like important questions to me, as I am 20 and my brain continues development until around 25 (although, I know that neuroplasticity is still possible).
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