Synaptic Effects of Most Major Drugs!

Flash Media presentation primarily depicts how drugs interact with dopamine neurotransmitters to demonstrate the brain's reward pathway. University of Utah performs a valuable public service by making this kind of well explained science available, and understandable.

Learn.Genetics
Genetic Science Learning Center
at the University of Utah

Mouse Party

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The simplified mechanisms of drug action presented here are just a small part of the story. When drugs enter the body they elicit very complex effects in many different regions of the brain. Often they interact with many different types of neurotransmitters and may bind with a variety of receptor types in a variety of different locations. For example, THC in marijuana can bind with cannabinoid receptors located on the presynaptic and/or postsynaptic cell in a synapse.

Where applicable, this presentation primarily depicts how drugs interact with dopamine neurotransmitters because this website focuses on the brain's reward pathway. Mouse Party is designed to provide a small glimpse into the chemical interactions at the synaptic level that cause the drug user to feel 'high'.

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Hey, KanMan, thanks for the link.
We have seen the mouse party a lot here, and if it's OK, I'm going to slide this thread into our Medical area, where I think it belongs best. The whole U of Utah addiction site and not just the mouse party are very well done and important for people to read and understand, I think. The background and the information about neurological pathways is particularly helpful to understanding what they're really describing in the descriptions of the effects of each major substance on our brains in the mouse party.
The New Science of Addiction: Genetics and the Brain

Awesome site. I love how they showed all the mouses zoned out, and the marijuana mouse is just chillen with a spliff :rastasmoke: It did a great job of explaining the different effects of drugs, wish they were longer.

cute flash : ]

That was SO cool.