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The Whale

Registered: 11/01/10
Posts: 2,384
Loc:
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Repeated Ethanol Exposure Enhances Synaptic Plasticity in Key Brain Area, Study Finds
#14278935 - 04/12/11 04:39 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110412101627.htm
ScienceDaily (Apr. 12, 2011) — Drinking alcohol primes certain areas of our brain to learn and remember better, says a new study from the Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research at The University of Texas at Austin.
The common view that drinking is bad for learning and memory isn't wrong, says neurobiologist Hitoshi Morikawa, but it highlights only one side of what ethanol consumption does to the brain.
"Usually, when we talk about learning and memory, we're talking about conscious memory," says Morikawa, whose results were published last month in The Journal of Neuroscience. "Alcohol diminishes our ability to hold on to pieces of information like your colleague's name, or the definition of a word, or where you parked your car this morning. But our subconscious is learning and remembering too, and alcohol may actually increase our capacity to learn, or 'conditionability,' at that level."
Morikawa's study, which found that repeated ethanol exposure enhances synaptic plasticity in a key area in the brain, is further evidence toward an emerging consensus in the neuroscience community that drug and alcohol addiction is fundamentally a learning and memory disorder.
When we drink alcohol (or shoot up heroin, or snort cocaine, or take methamphetamines), our subconscious is learning to consume more. But it doesn't stop there. We become more receptive to forming subsconscious memories and habits with respect to food, music, even people and social situations.
In an important sense, says Morikawa, alcoholics aren't addicted to the experience of pleasure or relief they get from drinking alcohol. They're addicted to the constellation of environmental, behavioral and physiological cues that are reinforced when alcohol triggers the release of dopamine in the brain.
"People commonly think of dopamine as a happy transmitter, or a pleasure transmitter, but more accurately it's a learning transmitter," says Morikawa. "It strengthens those synapses that are active when dopamine is released."
Alcohol, in this model, is the enabler. It hijacks the dopaminergic system, and it tells our brain that what we're doing at that moment is rewarding (and thus worth repeating).
Among the things we learn is that drinking alcohol is rewarding. We also learn that going to the bar, chatting with friends, eating certain foods and listening to certain kinds of music are rewarding. The more often we do these things while drinking, and the more dopamine that gets released, the more "potentiated" the various synapses become and the more we crave the set of experiences and associations that orbit around the alcohol use.
Morikawa's long-term hope is that by understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of addiction better, he can develop anti-addiction drugs that would weaken, rather than strengthen, the key synapses. And if he can do that, he would be able to erase the subconscious memory of addiction.
"We're talking about de-wiring things," says Morikawa. "It's kind of scary because it has the potential to be a mind controlling substance. Our goal, though, is to reverse the mind controlling aspects of addictive drugs."
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5-HT2A
Registered: 01/30/10 
Posts: 1,794
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Re: Repeated Ethanol Exposure Enhances Synaptic Plasticity in Key Brain Area, Study Finds [Re: The Whale]
#14279061 - 04/12/11 05:07 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Very interesting stuff.
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SHRAMANN
Entomologist


Registered: 03/09/10
Posts: 210
Loc: Texas
Last seen: 9 years, 4 months
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Re: Repeated Ethanol Exposure Enhances Synaptic Plasticity in Key Brain Area, Study Finds [Re: 5-HT2A]
#14280559 - 04/12/11 09:17 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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i needa start drinkin beer when i study!
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Le_Canard
The Duk Abides


Registered: 05/16/03
Posts: 94,392
Loc: Earthfarm 1
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Re: Repeated Ethanol Exposure Enhances Synaptic Plasticity in Key Brain Area, Study Finds [Re: The Whale]
#14280613 - 04/12/11 09:24 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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So basically, what they're saying here is that drinking facilitates learning to be an alcohol addict (I.E. lush)....
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Run
Questioning my existance



Registered: 10/22/09
Posts: 488
Last seen: 10 years, 3 months
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Re: Repeated Ethanol Exposure Enhances Synaptic Plasticity in Key Brain Area, Study Finds [Re: Le_Canard]
#14281257 - 04/12/11 10:57 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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I think thats what its saying toilet duck
-------------------- You, me, this point in existence is undeniably so unique, we take everything for granite ,life , comprehension, feelings, thought, so accustomed to understanding that we've lost the meaning of fully understanding who we are..... we are the extra terrestrial, we are the unknown, we are the mystical...
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akira_akuma
Φύσις κρύπτεσθαι ὕψιστος φιλεῖ


Registered: 08/28/09
Posts: 82,455
Loc: Onypeirophóros
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Re: Repeated Ethanol Exposure Enhances Synaptic Plasticity in Key Brain Area, Study Finds [Re: Le_Canard]
#14281741 - 04/13/11 12:51 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
ToiletDuk said: So basically, what they're saying here is that drinking facilitates learning to be an alcohol addict (I.E. lush).... 
sigh, it's so stupoid. they are saying what can be applied to sleepign as well... or nodding... on heroin..
WHOEVER these dumbasses are that keep making studies to help convince people that drinking like an idiot and being a stumbly, drolling tard is better for your brain... should stfu and eat shit and fucking die.
omg, alcohol turns people's conscious minds to the lowest level you can have before sleeping, and it's better for you then say... pot... which is all just circumstancial BS too, BUT AT LEAST it doesn't make raging shitheads and front-on collisions.
fucking fuck fuck fuck morons.
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Heffy
BrauMeister



Registered: 08/30/04
Posts: 3,262
Loc: International Traveller
Last seen: 5 years, 8 months
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Re: Repeated Ethanol Exposure Enhances Synaptic Plasticity in Key Brain Area, Study Finds [Re: akira_akuma]
#14283306 - 04/13/11 11:13 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
akira_akuma said: WHOEVER these dumbasses are that keep making studies to help convince people that drinking like an idiot and being a stumbly, drolling tard is better for your brain... should stfu and eat shit and fucking die.
What's your problem? Alcohol if used in moderation definitely has notable health benefits. When a research team proves that alcohol has a positive effect on the human cardiovascular system they should eat shit and die? Why? Because you think not drinking alcohol makes you better than people who do?
Also this article isn't claiming that alcohol has newly discovered health benefits, I gather from your post that you didn't actually read the article?
Classic case of "all drugs are bad except the ones I like to do" logic.
-------------------- I am the king of Rome, and above grammar! - Emperor Sigismund
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TexaSkunk
Low Life



Registered: 04/21/10
Posts: 11
Last seen: 12 years, 9 months
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Re: Repeated Ethanol Exposure Enhances Synaptic Plasticity in Key Brain Area, Study Finds [Re: The Whale]
#14283413 - 04/13/11 11:33 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
The Whale said: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110412101627.htm
Morikawa's long-term hope is that by understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of addiction better, he can develop anti-addiction drugs that would weaken, rather than strengthen, the key synapses. And if he can do that, he would be able to erase the subconscious memory of addiction.
"We're talking about de-wiring things," says Morikawa. "It's kind of scary because it has the potential to be a mind controlling substance. Our goal, though, is to reverse the mind controlling aspects of addictive drugs."
If dopamine just helps us learn what a good time is, wouldnt weakening those dopamine synapses make us pleasureless zombies?
Alcohol, cocain, acid and opium; amongst other drugs, can be thought of as poisons which can be deadly and Intoxicate the human..Human's just happen to enjoy these stress relieving effects.
I think of Marijuana as a poison and people believe the marijuana plant developed it's oily THC to ward off herbivores. Survival of the fittest, u know. little did marijane know that these monkeys love getting intoxicated. still, it succeeded because we breed it like crazy. that's besides the point, i'm baked.
Still, there's a chance these intoxicating agents do "prime" synapses.. I believe they prime synapses by destroyin cells in them and in turn, those cells are constantly being replaced.
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Purple_spore
Compulsively Skeptical OG



Registered: 09/11/05
Posts: 795
Loc: nor cal
Last seen: 12 years, 6 months
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Re: Repeated Ethanol Exposure Enhances Synaptic Plasticity in Key Brain Area, Study Finds [Re: Heffy]
#14283484 - 04/13/11 11:49 AM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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I think some of you are misinterpreting the article. I believe this study is one of the few with a unbiased perspective. And with that being said, I agree with this theory. It also works the other way around and these "memorizations" can also be a cause to some of the negative claims biased people run with.
A rough example, and again not every person is the same and brains all behave different, you smoke pot at a young age, learn that it causes you to feel less bored, and later in your life you get addicted to the feeling of not being bored through marijuana. But in reality you could learn to feel the same reward by accomplishing things, OR learn to function wile on marijuana.
It's hard to recognize at a young age, or a ignorant mind, when you're learning bad habits attributed to drugs, instead of just the negative physical effects of said drugs.
Somewhat abstract to think about...
I use myself as an example: I NEED coffee in the morning to wake up. I've learned a pleasurable response from that first sip of coffee in the morning, followed by that first puff of a smoke. Am I addicted to the substances? I think not, I'm addicted to the feeling I get when I ingest them, because I've learned to over the years. Do I go into withdraws and have a shitty day if I don't get them, NO. I just don't get the pleasurable response first thing in the morning.
anyways...
-------------------- Safety first children
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kdynski
Stranger

Registered: 03/07/11
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Re: Repeated Ethanol Exposure Enhances Synaptic Plasticity in Key Brain Area, Study Finds [Re: The Whale]
#14283527 - 04/13/11 12:01 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Actually, I believe that the point behind this article is not so much a proposition to use this mechanism of conditioned behavior as a learning tool but rather to define the pathways within the nervous system that are utilized in an attempt to find an acceptable blocker. The exciting part of this proposal would be then to find the reciprocal of this action to positively reinforce the act of learning in the same manner. This, I feel, would stem some of the over-diagnosed and over-prescribed percent of the population under the umbrella of ADD and or learning disabled. I believe in many these cases people are not lacking focus but are instead under-motivated. Of course, this is not to say they lack the desire to achieve moreover, a reduction in the appropriate reward response making learning an ill-favored pursuit within the conscious mind. If we were able to make the learning experience analogous to a pleasurable stimuli (e.g. a party, concert, etc...) that not only would there undoubtedly be a gigantic market, it would obviously provide relief for patients who remain unaffected under current methods of treatment.
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Purple_spore
Compulsively Skeptical OG



Registered: 09/11/05
Posts: 795
Loc: nor cal
Last seen: 12 years, 6 months
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Re: Repeated Ethanol Exposure Enhances Synaptic Plasticity in Key Brain Area, Study Finds [Re: kdynski]
#14284207 - 04/13/11 02:08 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
kdynski said: Actually, I believe that the point behind this article is not so much a proposition to use this mechanism of conditioned behavior as a learning tool but rather to define the pathways within the nervous system that are utilized in an attempt to find an acceptable blocker. The exciting part of this proposal would be then to find the reciprocal of this action to positively reinforce the act of learning in the same manner. This, I feel, would stem some of the over-diagnosed and over-prescribed percent of the population under the umbrella of ADD and or learning disabled. I believe in many these cases people are not lacking focus but are instead under-motivated. Of course, this is not to say they lack the desire to achieve moreover, a reduction in the appropriate reward response making learning an ill-favored pursuit within the conscious mind. If we were able to make the learning experience analogous to a pleasurable stimuli (e.g. a party, concert, etc...) that not only would there undoubtedly be a gigantic market, it would obviously provide relief for patients who remain unaffected under current methods of treatment.
Right on.
I just think even though we know the cause is attributed to the chemicals in the synapsis learning to produce a pleasurable response, I think the natural way of altering your brains chemistry through behaviour modification, rather then chemical, is a better way to treat the disorders. Hence me focusing on the actual behaviour in my statements. But there's obviously way more profit in chemical alteration, hence the numerous studies, not to mention millions of children and adults on antidepressants and amphetamines.
-------------------- Safety first children
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akira_akuma
Φύσις κρύπτεσθαι ὕψιστος φιλεῖ


Registered: 08/28/09
Posts: 82,455
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Re: Repeated Ethanol Exposure Enhances Synaptic Plasticity in Key Brain Area, Study Finds [Re: Heffy]
#14285672 - 04/13/11 06:29 PM (12 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Heffy said:
Quote:
akira_akuma said: WHOEVER these dumbasses are that keep making studies to help convince people that drinking like an idiot and being a stumbly, drolling tard is better for your brain... should stfu and eat shit and fucking die.
What's your problem? Alcohol if used in moderation definitely has notable health benefits. When a research team proves that alcohol has a positive effect on the human cardiovascular system they should eat shit and die? Why? Because you think not drinking alcohol makes you better than people who do?
Also this article isn't claiming that alcohol has newly discovered health benefits, I gather from your post that you didn't actually read the article?
Classic case of "all drugs are bad except the ones I like to do" logic.
classic case of "buy the bullshit feed and keep off grass".
i am already well aware of how dopamine effects your actions and memory... so does, GABA... which is a counter-part of the experience you get off drinking Alcohol. as in, when you drink alcohol you lower the GABA response... thusly, causing you to blank out certain parts of your synaptic response in your entire body and brain, but furthermore makes a excitory response causing this supposed "LEARNING THING" an equal part menace; because the usual dehydration and nerve-signal degradation, your already fuckin' stupid and plastic enough reward and memory signaling gets to providing your ass with free radicals and potentially aerating and damaging your brain.
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