Psych Drugs and The Amygdala

         As Gazzaniga and Mangun, (2009), state in their books, drugs take advantage of the way the brain communicates.  The brain’s communicators or neurons use different types of chemicals to communicate.  Sometimes in mental health issues such as depression or schizophrenia, the chemicals used to communicate get out of balance.  Drugs can be used to interfere with normal brain function to restore the correct balance of the chemicals.    

        

For example, depression drugs like SSRI’s or serotonin reuptake inhibitors, serotonin is prevented from being re-absorbed by the neurons.  This creates a surplus of serotonin; fooling the brain into thinking it is experiencing a greater sense of well-being.  So drugs hijack brain chemistry and alter the way the brains cells communicate. 

The medulla oblongata is an essential part of the brain and brain stem.  It is located at the base of the brain stem and all descending and ascending nerve fibers pass through the medulla.  Its location as the junction for all nerves to and from the brain make its job as the involuntary mover of the heart, lungs and digestive system easier (Zurawicki, L. 2010). 

            The major evolutionary significance of the parts of the cortex is that they all share a common evolutionary origin and most likely formed the basis for the primordial brain (Gazzaniga & Mangun 2009). 

References

Gazzaniga M. S., I. R. B., Mangun G. R. (2009). Cognitive neuroscience: the biology of the mind (Third Edition ed.). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.

Zurawicki, L. (2010). Neuromarketing: Exploring the Brain of the Consumer (1 ed.). Boston, MA, USA: Springer.