
|
Dopamine
has many functions in the brain, including important roles in behavior and
cognition, motor activity, motivation and
reward, regulation of milk production, sleep, mood, attention, and learning.
The phasic responses of
dopamine
neurons are observed when an unexpected reward is presented. These responses
transfer to the onset of a conditioned stimulus after repeated pairings with
the reward. Further,
dopamine
neurons are depressed when the expected reward is omitted. Thus,
dopamine
neurons seem to encode the prediction error of rewarding outcomes. In nature,
we learn to repeat behaviors that lead to maximize rewards.
Dopamine
is therefore believed to provide a teaching signal to parts of the brain
responsible for acquiring new behavior.
In the central
nervous system, serotonin is believed to play
an important role as a
neurotransmitter,
in the regulation of anger, aggression, body temperature, mood, sleep,
vomiting, sexuality, and
appetite. As with all
neurotransmitters,
the effects of serotonin on
the human mood and state of mind, and its role in consciousness, are very
difficult to ascertain.
endogenous opioid peptidesThere are three well-characterized families of opioid peptides
produced by the body: enkephalins, endorphins and dynorphins.
An enkephalin is a
pentapeptide involved in regulating pain and nociception in the body. The
enkephalins are termed endogenous ligands, or specifically endorphins, as they
are internally derived and bind to the body's opioid receptors.
Endorphins resemble the opiates in their abilities to
produce analgesia and a sense of well-being.
Endorphins are "natural pain
killers." Other drugs may increase the effects of the endorphins. The term
"endorphin" implies a pharmacological activity as opposed to a specific
chemical formulation. It consists of two parts: endo- and -orphin; these are
short forms of the words endogenous and opium, intended to mean "a
morphine-like substance originating from within the body."
The term
endorphin rush has been adopted in popular speech to refer to feelings of
exhilaration brought on by pain,
danger, or other forms of
stress due to the influence of endorphins.
Dynorphin is a class of
peptides which has some opiate-like activity.
The dynorphins, which
include dynorphin A, dynorphin B, alpha- and beta-neoendorphin, and big
dynorphin, are all the products of a single gene, 'preprodynorphin'. Dynorphin
functions primarily as a kappa opioid receptor agonist, meaning that it acts
mainly at kappa opioid receptors. Other opioid peptides include beta-endorphin,
met-enkephalin, leu-enkephalin and endomorphins.
neuron synapsesOne of the most important features of neuron synapses is that they
are the site of action for the majority of psychoactive drugs. Neuron synapses
are affected by drugs such as curare, strychnine,
cocaine, opium, alcohol,
LSD, and countless
others. These drugs have different effects on synaptic function, and often are
restricted to neuron synapses that use a specific
neurotransmitters.
Curare is a poison which stops acetylcholine from depolarising the
post-synaptic membrane, causing paralysis. Strychnine blocks the inhibitory
effects of the
neurotransmitter
glycine, which causes the body to pick up and react to weaker and previously
ignored stimuli, resulting in uncontrollable muscle contractions.
Ethanol increases the inhibitory effects of the
neurotransmitter
GABA.
Morphine
hydrochloride acts on synapses that use endorphin
neurotransmitters.
Cocaine hydrochloride
blocks reuptake of
dopamine
and therefore increases its effects.
Lysergic acid diethylamide
interferes with synapses that use the
neurotransmitter
serotonin to cause
hallucination.
Entheogens modulate
the serotonin system in such a way to produce psychedelic alterations in
perception, emotional response, and thought process'.
These include
psilocin/psilocybin,
ibogaine,
mescaline,
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine,
lysergic acid
diethylamide,
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine
and 3,4-Methylenedioxy-N-ethylamphetamine .
"In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately
pleasure-dome decree Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Down to a
sunless sea ... I would build that dome in air, That sunny dome,
those caves of ice! And all who heard should see them there, And all
should cry, Beware! Beware! His flashing eyes, his floating hair! Weave
a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread, For he
on honey-dew hath fed, And drunk the milk of Paradise." - Samuel Taylor
Coleridge

"While
I was sitting at
tea, I felt a strange
sensation, totally unlike anything I had ever felt before; a gradual
creeping thrill, which in a few minutes occupied every part of my body,
lulling to sleep the
before-mentioned racking pain, producing a pleasing glow from head to foot,
and inducing a sensation of dreamy exhilaration similar in nature but not in
degree to the drowsiness caused by wine, though not inclining me to sleep; in
fact far from it, that I longed to engage in some active exercise; to sing,
dance, or leap...so vividly did I feel my vitality - for in this state of
delicious exhilaration even mere excitement seemed absolute elysium - that I
could not resist the tendency to break out in the strangest vagaries, until my
companions thought me deranged ... before my entranced sight magnificent halls
stretched out in endless succession with galley above gallery, while the roof
was blazing with gems, like stars whose rays alone illumined the whole
building, which was tinged with strange, gigantic figures, like the wild
possessors of lost globe...I will not attempt farther to describe the
magnificent vision which a little pill of 'brown gum' had conjured up from the
realm of ideal being. No words that I can command would do justice to its
Titanian splendour and immensity..." - William Blair
Insanity is properly defined as repeating the same
actions over and over and expecting a
different outcome than those already experienced. |
|
back to stacks
contents  |
This web site is not a commercial web site and
is presented for educational purposes only.

This website defines a
new perspective with which to engage reality to which its author adheres. The
author feels that the falsification of reality outside personal experience has
created a populace unable to discern propaganda from reality and that this has
been done purposefully by an international corporate cartel through their
agents who wish to foist a corrupt version of reality on the human race.
Religious intolerance occurs when any group refuses to tolerate religious
practices, religious beliefs or persons due to their religious ideology. This
web site marks the founding of a system of philosophy named The Truth of the
Way of Life - a rational gnostic mystery religion based on reason which
requires no leap of faith, accepts no tithes, has no supreme leader, no church
buildings and in which each and every individual is encouraged to develop a
personal relation with the Creator and Sustainer through the pursuit of the
knowledge of reality in the hope of curing the spiritual corruption that has
enveloped the human spirit. The tenets of The Truth of the Way of Life are
spelled out in detail on this web site by the author. Violent acts against
individuals due to their religious beliefs in America is considered a "hate
crime."
This web site in no way condones violence. To the contrary the
intent here is to reduce the violence that is already occurring due to the
international corporate cartels desire to control the human race. The
international corporate cartel already controls the world economic system,
corporate media worldwide, the global industrial military entertainment complex
and is responsible for the collapse of morals, the elevation of self-centered
behavior and the destruction of global ecosystems. Civilization is based on
cooperation. Cooperation does not occur at the point of a gun.
American
social mores and values have declined precipitously over the last century as
the corrupt international cartel has garnered more and more power. This power
rests in the ability to deceive the populace in general through corporate media
by pressing emotional buttons which have been preprogrammed into the population
through prior corporate media psychological operations. The results have been
the destruction of the family and the destruction of social structures that do
not adhere to the corrupt international elites vision of a perfect world.
Through distraction and coercion the direction of thought of the bulk of the
population has been directed toward solutions proposed by the corrupt
international elite that further consolidates their power and which further
their purposes.
All views and opinions presented on this web site are
the views and opinions of individual human men and women that, through their
writings, showed the capacity for intelligent, reasonable, rational, insightful
and unpopular thought. All factual information presented on this web site is
believed to be true and accurate and is presented as originally presented in
print media which may or may not have originally presented the facts
truthfully. Opinion and thoughts have been adapted, edited, corrected,
redacted, combined, added to, re-edited and re-corrected as nearly all opinion
and thought has been throughout time but has been done so in the spirit of the
original writer with the intent of making his or her thoughts and opinions
clearer and relevant to the reader in the present time.
Fair Use Notice
This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has
not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making
such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of criminal
justice, human rights, political, economic, democratic,
scientific, and social
justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such
copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In
accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for
research and educational
purposes. For more information see: www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If
you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own
that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
|
Copyright
© Lawrence Turner All Rights Reserved |