Psychoactive drugs: Stimulants | Processing the Environment | MCAT | Khan Academy
khanacademymedicine・2 minutes read
Stimulants like caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, amphetamines, and methamphetamines intensify neural activity and bodily functions, but can be addictive and lead to withdrawal symptoms, crashes, emotional disturbances, and severe health consequences. Nicotine and caffeine act similarly by increasing heart rate, alertness, and suppressing appetite, while cocaine, amphetamines, and methamphetamines deplete neurotransmitters, resulting in intense crashes and physical effects like cardiac arrest.
Insights
- Stimulants like caffeine and nicotine can lead to physiological addiction, causing withdrawal symptoms when not consumed, while drugs like cocaine and methamphetamines deplete neurotransmitters in the brain, resulting in severe crashes, emotional disturbances, and physical effects like cardiac arrest.
- Methamphetamines, despite inducing euphoria, can lead to irritability, insomnia, and depression post-high, ultimately causing addiction and severe health issues.
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Recent questions
What are some examples of stimulants?
Caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, amphetamines, methamphetamines, ecstasy.
How do caffeine and nicotine affect the body?
Increase heart rate, alertness, suppress appetite, addictive.
What are the withdrawal symptoms of caffeine and nicotine?
Headaches, irritability, difficulty concentrating.
What are the potential health consequences of methamphetamines?
Euphoria, irritability, insomnia, depression, addiction, severe health effects.
How do stimulants like cocaine affect neurotransmitters in the brain?
Deplete neurotransmitters, leading to crashes, emotional disturbances, physical effects.
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Summary
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Stimulants: Effects, Addiction, and Health Risks
- Stimulants intensify neural activity and bodily functions, ranging from everyday substances like caffeine to more potent drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines, methamphetamines, and ecstasy. Nicotine, found in cigarettes, acts similarly to caffeine by increasing heart rate, blood pressure, alertness, and suppressing appetite, leading to weight gain upon quitting smoking due to increased appetite.
- Caffeine and nicotine are physiologically addictive, causing withdrawal symptoms like headaches, irritability, and difficulty concentrating when not consumed. Cocaine, amphetamines, and methamphetamines deplete the brain's neurotransmitters, leading to intense crashes, emotional disturbances, and severe physical effects like cardiac arrest. Methamphetamines can induce euphoria but result in irritability, insomnia, and depression after the high wears off, leading to addiction and severe health consequences.
