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Posted January 2nd, 2009 by admin

Drugs, Detectives and DNA

Author: Patricia Ligon
Level: High School
Content Area: Chemistry, Biotechnology, Forensics

P04: Unit 4: The Brain

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Unit 4: The Brain

Unit 1: Biology of Neurons and the Nervous System using the NIH module: "The Brain: Understanding Neurobiology through the Study of Addiction." Lesson Plans, Student Notes and Labs

Lesson Plan 1

  1. The Brain: How does it function? Worksheets on brain structure and function.
  2. Student notes on the structure and function of different regions of the brain.
  3. View CD from NIH on PET (positron emission tomography) Imaging the Brain.
  4. Worksheet on Phineas Gage.

Lesson Plan 2

  1. Student Notes on Structure and Function of Neurons and Neuron Transmission.
  2. View CD from NIH.
  3. Worksheets on Nerve cell structure and function.

Lesson Plan 3

  1. Drugs change the way neurons communicate.
  2. View CD from NIH.
  3. Worksheets on the effect of drugs on Nerve cell function.

Lesson Plan 4

  1. Drug Abuse and Addiction.
  2. View CD from NIH.
  3. Worksheets on Rat experiments with Cocaine.
  4. Card Activity to simulate addiction

Lesson Plan 5

  1. If Drug Addiction is a Disease, how do we deal with it?"
  2. View CD from NIH.
  3. Case studies on persons with addiction.

Lesson Plan 6

  1. Test with student generated questions based on the material covered in this unit.
  2. Alternatively, a power point on selected topic based on previous material.

Resources and References:

Material for this unit available from: http://science.education.nih.gov/customers.nsf/highschool.htm

  1. "The Brain: Understanding Neurobiology through the Study of Addiction" 2000, Videodiscovery, Inc. 1700 Westlake Avenue, North, Suite 600, Seattle, Washington 98109, NIH Publication No. 00-4871, ISBN 1-929614-05-5 http://science.education.nih.gov/customers.nsf/highschool.htm (nice CD and user friendly worksheets and lessons).
  2. http://www.unc.edu/destiny/NIH.htm Other NIH modules available at this site.
Activities: 

Unit 4 "The Brain: Understanding Neurobiology through the Study of Addiction"
(an NIH module, with worksheets and a CD available at http://science.education.nih.gov/customers.nsf/highschool.htm

Supplemental Information: 

Unit 4: The Brain Notes

I. The Brain

A. General Regions: Different areas regulate different functions

  1. Cerebrum:
  2. Cerebellum: repetitive movements, balance and posture
  3. Brain Stem: heart rate, breathing, eating and sleeping (basic functions)
  4. Midbrain: limbic system with the amygdala and hippocampus, important for memory functions, emotions and motivations, feelings of pleasure related to survival e.g. Sex and eating
  5. Diencephalon: thalamus (sensory perception and regulation of movement) and hypothalamus (regulation of the pituitary gland
  6. Spinal Cord
B. Cerebral Cortex:
  1. Temporal Lobe: memory, emotion, hearing and language.
  2. Frontal lobe: decision-making, problem solving and planning
  3. Parietal lobe: processing and receiving sensory information
  4. Occipital lobe: vision

C. Limbic system:

  1. Special region at the top of the brainstem in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) along with the nerve cells in the nucleus accumbens are known as the reward system.
  2. Drugs of Abuse act in this same region.

D. Imaging:

  1. PET (positron emission tomography) Imaging the Brain.
  2. How drugs effect the brain

II. Structure and Function of Neurons and Neuron Transmission

A. Neuron structure: axon, synapse and dendrites

B. Neuron function: transmit signals via electrical and chemical activity (action potential)

C. Neurotransmitters:

  1. examples: Gaba, _______,_________,____________
  2. reside in vesicles at the presynaptic terminal
  3. removed by _________ or ____________
  4. fit like a key in a lock
  5. can be excitatory or inhibitory

III. Drugs change the way Neurons function

A. Examples: nicotine, alcohol, cocaine, marijuana ________

B. Affect the reward area

C. Affect the presynaptic postsynaptic are or the uptake pumps etc.

D. Drugs of abuse do not block enzymatic destruction of neurotransmitters

E. Antidepressants can block enzymatic destruction of neurotransmitters

F. The dose is the poison, threshold can change

IV. Addiction and Drug Abuse

A. Define Addiction

B. Define Drug Abuse

C. Genetic predisposition

V. If Drug Addiction is a Disease, how do we deal with it?"

A. recurring chronic disease

B. Treatments

C. Relapse

This unit is based on NIH module: "The Brain: Understanding Neurobiology through the Study of Addiction". http://science.education.nih.gov/customers.nsf/highschool.htm Lesson Plans, Student Notes and Labs Unit 4

Supplemental Files: 
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Lab 1: Molecular Geometry with Models
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Lab 3: Paper chromatography Lab
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Lab 4: Thin Layer Chromatography Lab
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Lab 5: Conductivity Lab
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