Shadowing Practice: Your Brain on Drugs: Marijuana - Learn English Speaking with Video

For centuries, humans have been using substances to alter their state of mind.

From caffeine, cigarettes and alcohol to more extreme drugs.

But as the most commonly used illicit drug in North America, Where does marijuana fit in and how exactly does it affect your brain?

First, we need to understand how the brain functions.

Neurons are the cells that process information in the brain.

By releasing chemicals called neurotransmitters from the axon of one neuron to the dendrite of another they change the electrical charge of the receiving neuron consequently exciting or inhibiting it.

If excited, the signal is passed on.

Though it sounds simple these signals work together and the effect is quickly compouned into complex configurations within milliseconds flashing over the entire brain.

This is what happens every single time you think, breathe or move.

So what is going on inside your brain when you’re smoking marijuana?

Well unlike alcohol, which contains molecules nothing like those in our body, cannabis contains molecules that resemble those produced in our very own brains: cannabonoids.

Although naturally these cannabonoids circulate at much lower quantities compared to the large influx imposed by smoking, specifically the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol or THC resembles a natural transmitter called “anandamide”.

These cannabonoids are specialized neurotransmitters released by neurons having just fired.

Neurons temporarily become unresponsive after firing to prevent them from overracting or being too dominant.

This allows your brain to function in a calm and controlled manner.

But cannabonoids interrupt this approach in some parts of the brain.

Instead, they remove the refractory period of neurons that are already active and can cause your thoughts, imagination, and perception to utterly magnify itself.

This means, once you begin your train of thought it becomes the most significant and profound thing ever.

You can’t see the big picture or even recall your last epiphany because you’re caught up in the momentum of a particular idea and your neurons keep firing until a new idea takes hold and you go off on a new tangent.

These cannabonoids also affect the levels of dopamine and norepinephrine in your brain often leading to a sense of euphoria, relaxation, pain modulation and general enhancement of an experience, though sometimes causing anxiety.

Furthermore, there are cannabonoid receptors in areas controlling short-term memory, learning, coordination, movement control and higher cognitive functions.

Got a burning question you want answered?

Ask them in the comments or on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe for more weekly science videos.

📺 Zelfde Kanaal

Woord	Uitspraak	Betekenis
neuron zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈn(j)ʊɹɑn/	neuron, zenuwcel
neurotransmitter zelfstandig naamwoord		neurotransmitter
molecule zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈmɑ.lɪ.kjul/	molecuul
resemble werkwoord	/ɹɪˈzɛmbəl/	gelijken op, lijken op
dendrite zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈdɛndɹaɪt/	dendriet
dopamine zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈdoʊ.pəˌmin/	dopamine
epiphany zelfstandig naamwoord	/ɪˈpɪfəni/	epifanie, ingeving
euphoria zelfstandig naamwoord	/juˈfo.ɹi.ə/	euforie
excite werkwoord	/ɪkˈsaɪt/	prikkelen, opwinden
illicit bijvoeglijk naamwoord	/ɪˈlɪsɪt/	onwettig
inhibit werkwoord	/ɪnˈhɪbɪt/	remmen
magnify werkwoord	/ˈmæɡnɪfaɪ/	vergroten
millisecond zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈmɪlɪˌsɛkənd/	milliseconde
refractory bijvoeglijk naamwoord	/ɹɪˈfɹæk.tə.ɹi/	weerbarstig, halsstarrig
tangent zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈtæn.d͡ʒənt/	raaklijn

Shadowing Practice: Your Brain on Drugs: Marijuana - Learn English Speaking with Video

How Is Your Phone Changing You?

The Truth About Nuclear Energy

Is Binge Watching Bad For You?

What If The World Went Vegetarian?

The Best Way To Stop Overeating

How To Improve Your Memory RIGHT NOW!

Why You're Always Tired (and how to fix it)

The Periodic Table Song (2018 Update!) | SCIENCE SONGS

Does Being Cold Make You Sick?

It's way different than you think

Your Life Now Vs. In The Past

5 Crazy Ways Social Media Is Changing Your Brain Right Now

Your Brain On MDMA

How Much Sleep Do You Actually Need?

How porn completely changes your brain

How To Fall Asleep In 2 Minutes

The illusion that broken the internet

What Does Your PEE Say About You?

How to trick your brain to fall asleep instantly

Your Brain on Magic Mushrooms

Why do people smoke?

How Stress Changes Your Brain

What science can’t answer, according to physicist Jim Al-Khalili | Big Think

The Neuroscience of Creativity

Anna Lembke on Pleasure, Pain, and Recovery in a Dopamine-Driven World

What Is a Brain Aneurysm?

Why does every mammal get 1 billion heartbeats in their life?

Steven Pinker: Linguistics as a Window to Understanding the Brain | Big Think

How Depression Affects The Brain - Yale Medicine Explains

We're Not Ready for Biocomputing

Woordenschat en spreektips bij deze les

Belangrijke woorden in deze video

Uitspraak om op te letten

Zo oefen je met deze video

Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?