Tobacco Effects On The Brain
This is What Will Happen to You if You Smoke
Smoking And The Brain
Your Brain is made up of billions of nerve cells and they communicate by releasing chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. Each of these neurotransmitters is sort of like a key that fits in to a receptor like a your key and your house lock for example. Then once the neurotransmitters find their own receptor it activates the receptor's nerve cell.
Nicotine molecules are shaped like neurotransmitters called Acetylcholine. Acetylcholine and its receptors are involved with many functions such as muscle movement, breathing, heart rate, learning and memory. These chemicals also cause the release of other neurotransmitters and hormones that can affect your mood, apatite, memory and more. When Nicotine enters the brain it tries to replace the neurotransmitters and the nicotine molecules connect to receptors making it mimic the actions of the acetylcholine. Nicotine also raises amounts of dopamine which produces feelings and is what causes us to get happy,excited, or even rewarded. Nicotine is most-likely to take the shape of a Dopamine neurotransmitter and connect to the Dopamine receptor and cause you to feel rewarded leading you to want more and thus, you become addicted.
Nicotine molecules are shaped like neurotransmitters called Acetylcholine. Acetylcholine and its receptors are involved with many functions such as muscle movement, breathing, heart rate, learning and memory. These chemicals also cause the release of other neurotransmitters and hormones that can affect your mood, apatite, memory and more. When Nicotine enters the brain it tries to replace the neurotransmitters and the nicotine molecules connect to receptors making it mimic the actions of the acetylcholine. Nicotine also raises amounts of dopamine which produces feelings and is what causes us to get happy,excited, or even rewarded. Nicotine is most-likely to take the shape of a Dopamine neurotransmitter and connect to the Dopamine receptor and cause you to feel rewarded leading you to want more and thus, you become addicted.
The Brain With And Without The Effects of Smoking
The Non-Smoker clearly has more usage of the brain because it has not been damaged by the nicotine molecule. However the smoker has much less brain usage because of the nicotine molecules.