Finally got a brainy explanation for the harm drugs do as in my university campus, students have grave fantasies about some positive effects of drugs.
There are circuits of nerve cells in the brains of humans and other animals that act as a reward system. They create pleasurable feelings when we engage in adaptive behaviors, making us want to repeat the task. Unfortunately, by inappropriately activating these neural circuits, drugs can hijack them. Activation of the reward system has a very powerful impact on behavior. For example, if a rat receives stimulation to the reward center in its brain when it presses a lever, it will continue to press the lever, actually ignoring food and eventually starving to death.
Neuroscientists who have identified the affect of drugs on brain’s reward system can collaborate with neurologists and psychiatrists to demystify addicts of their false ideas about taking drugs.
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