Our body has special cells called neurons that carry messages back and forth between the brain and other parts of the body. The neurons send messages to each other by releasing chemical substances into the gaps between cells. These Chemicals are called neurotransmitters and the gaps are called synapses.
The neurotransmitter crosses the synapse and attaches to another neuron, like a key fits into a lock. This is how neurons talk to each other to make your brain and body do things. For example, when you want to walk up a flight of stairs, your brain sends a message to your feet to move.
How do drugs work in the brain?
There are three main parts of the brain that are affected by drug use:
1.) The Basal Ganglia is the part of the brain that motivates us to do healthy activities, like eating or hanging out with friends. Drugs flow into this area of the brain and cause people to feel really happy. BUT if you use a drug a lot, the basal ganglia can get used to having the drug around, and make it hard to feel pleasure from anything but the drug.
2.) The Extended Amygdala is what makes you feel stressed out or cranky. When people use drugs, this part of the brain gets very sensitive. When your body is used to the drugs and you stop, the extended amygdala makes you feel really sick, so people will use drugs again just to get rid of the feeling.
3.) The Prefrontal Cortex helps you think, make decisions, and control your actions. So when someone uses drugs, they have a hard time making good decisions and controlling their actions.
Why do people keep taking drugs when they know they're bad for you?
Drugs change the brain in ways that make quitting hard, even when you want to. This is because when you take some drugs, the neurotransmitter, dopamine, is released in the brain's basal ganglia in large amounts. These large amounts can change the way your brain works, and can lead you to take the drug again and again. It teaches your brain to like the drug and to look for it over and over.
When people can't stop using drugs even though they want to, and drug use is causing serious consequences, it is called addiction, their brain has learned to crave the drug all the time.
What are the long-term effects of drug use? Drugs use can lead to serious changes in the brain that affect how a person think and acts. It can also cause other medical problems, even death. Drugs can cause heart disease, cancer, lung problems, and mental health conditions, like depression. Some drugs can even kill cells in your brain and body and make it hard to walk and talk.
Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse; National Institutes of Health; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.