Drug Effects 

The main differences between drug abuse and addiction are the level of use and the resulting change in the brain. That said, there is much overlap between the two.

Drug abuse and addiction

- Medicine used in the treatment of a disease 
- Examples include psychoactive drugs which alter functions of the brain and affect conscious experiences

Drug 

- Drugs
- Drug effects
- Injury or psychiatric illness
- Drug abuse and addiction

Grinnell College

The brain is an electrochemical system that runs on neurochemistry (neurotransmitters). The brain can be altered using neuropharmacology (drugs). 

Neurotransmitter and Neuropharmacology

Breedlove, S. & Watson, N. (2017). Behavioral neuroscience, eighth edition. Oxford University Press.

Behavioral Neuroscience 8th Edition

Synaptic transmission is the process by which a neuron communicates with an adjacent one. It begins when an action potential reaches the axon terminal, causing neurotransmitters to be released into the synaptic cleft. These chemicals then travel across the synapse and bind to receptors on the next neuron's dendrites. If this signal is potent enough, it will trigger a new action potential, thus propagating the nerve impulse.

Learn Before

Related

Learn After