Your Brain on
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
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| What Happens to Your Brain on Methamphetamines? |
Ice Methamphetamine
| Powder Methamphetamine in Foil |
Desoxyn Gradumet
Speed, meth, chalk, crystal, ice, glass. These are all names for the drug
methamphetamine. Methamphetamine comes in many different forms
is snorted, swallowed, injected or smoked. The smokable form is
known as “ice’ or “crystal,” due to its appearance.
Methamphetamine is a powerful drug. It acts by changing how the brain
works. It also speeds up many functions in the body.
Methamphetamine has a chemical structure that is similar to another
drug called amphetamine that is also on this website.
Methamphetamine can cause lots of harm including inability to sleep,
paranoia, aggressiveness, and hallucinations.
How Does Methamphetamine Cause Its Effects?
No matter how methamphetamine is used, it eventually ends up in the
blood stream where it is circulated throughout the brain.
Methamphetamine can affect lots of brain structures, but the ones it
affects the most are the ones that contain the chemical dopamine. The
reason for this is that the shape, size and chemical structure of
methamphetamine and dopamine are similar. Before I go on to explain
more about these drugs, let me explain how the nerve cells work.
Your brain is made up of billions of nerve cells (or neurons). Neurons
come in all shapes and sizes, but most have three important parts: a
cell body that contains the nucleus and directs the activities of the
neuron; dendrites, short fibers that receive messages from other
neurons and relay them to the cell body; and an axon, a long single fiber
that carries messages from the cell body to dendrites of other neurons.
There are many different neurotransmitters, but the one that is most
affected by methamphetamine is dopamine. Dopamine is sometimes
called the pleasure neurotransmitter because it helps you feel good
from things like playing soccer, eating a big piece of chocolate cake, or
riding a roller coaster. When something pleasurable happens, certain
axons release lots of dopamine. The dopamine attaches to receptors on
dendrites of neighboring neurons and passes on the pleasure
message. This process is stopped when dopamine is released from
the receptors and pumped back into the neuron that released it where it
is stored for later use.
Methamphetamine Changes the Brain
Usually neurons recycle dopamine. But methamphetamine is able to
fool neurons into taking it up just like they would dopamine. Once inside
a neuron, methamphetamine causes that neuron to release lots of
dopamine. All this dopamine causes the person to feel an extra sense
of pleasure that can last all day.
But eventually these pleasurable effects stop. They are followed by
unpleasant feelings called a “crash” that often lead a person to use
more of the drug. If a person continues to use methamphetamine, they
will have a difficult time feeling pleasure from anything. Imagine no
longer enjoying your favorite food or an afternoon with your friends.
Methamphetamine can cause a person to be more awake and active,
lose their appetite, and become irritable and aggressive. It also causes
a person’s blood pressure to increase and their heart to beat faster.
What happens if a person uses Methamphetamine for a long time?
Scientists have discovered that even three years after long-time
methamphetamine users had quit using the drug, their dopamine
neurons were still damaged. Scientists don’t know yet whether this
damage is permanent, but this research shows that changes in the
brain from methamphetamine use can last a long time. Long-term
users may become paranoid, see things that are not there
(hallucinations), permanent damage to blood vessels in the brain and
the leading cause of strokes is caused by bleeding in the brain.
methamphetamine. Methamphetamine comes in many different forms
is snorted, swallowed, injected or smoked. The smokable form is
known as “ice’ or “crystal,” due to its appearance.
Methamphetamine is a powerful drug. It acts by changing how the brain
works. It also speeds up many functions in the body.
Methamphetamine has a chemical structure that is similar to another
drug called amphetamine that is also on this website.
Methamphetamine can cause lots of harm including inability to sleep,
paranoia, aggressiveness, and hallucinations.
How Does Methamphetamine Cause Its Effects?
No matter how methamphetamine is used, it eventually ends up in the
blood stream where it is circulated throughout the brain.
Methamphetamine can affect lots of brain structures, but the ones it
affects the most are the ones that contain the chemical dopamine. The
reason for this is that the shape, size and chemical structure of
methamphetamine and dopamine are similar. Before I go on to explain
more about these drugs, let me explain how the nerve cells work.
Your brain is made up of billions of nerve cells (or neurons). Neurons
come in all shapes and sizes, but most have three important parts: a
cell body that contains the nucleus and directs the activities of the
neuron; dendrites, short fibers that receive messages from other
neurons and relay them to the cell body; and an axon, a long single fiber
that carries messages from the cell body to dendrites of other neurons.
There are many different neurotransmitters, but the one that is most
affected by methamphetamine is dopamine. Dopamine is sometimes
called the pleasure neurotransmitter because it helps you feel good
from things like playing soccer, eating a big piece of chocolate cake, or
riding a roller coaster. When something pleasurable happens, certain
axons release lots of dopamine. The dopamine attaches to receptors on
dendrites of neighboring neurons and passes on the pleasure
message. This process is stopped when dopamine is released from
the receptors and pumped back into the neuron that released it where it
is stored for later use.
Methamphetamine Changes the Brain
Usually neurons recycle dopamine. But methamphetamine is able to
fool neurons into taking it up just like they would dopamine. Once inside
a neuron, methamphetamine causes that neuron to release lots of
dopamine. All this dopamine causes the person to feel an extra sense
of pleasure that can last all day.
But eventually these pleasurable effects stop. They are followed by
unpleasant feelings called a “crash” that often lead a person to use
more of the drug. If a person continues to use methamphetamine, they
will have a difficult time feeling pleasure from anything. Imagine no
longer enjoying your favorite food or an afternoon with your friends.
Methamphetamine can cause a person to be more awake and active,
lose their appetite, and become irritable and aggressive. It also causes
a person’s blood pressure to increase and their heart to beat faster.
What happens if a person uses Methamphetamine for a long time?
Scientists have discovered that even three years after long-time
methamphetamine users had quit using the drug, their dopamine
neurons were still damaged. Scientists don’t know yet whether this
damage is permanent, but this research shows that changes in the
brain from methamphetamine use can last a long time. Long-term
users may become paranoid, see things that are not there
(hallucinations), permanent damage to blood vessels in the brain and
the leading cause of strokes is caused by bleeding in the brain.
