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How Chemistry Is Used In Psychology Essay

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How Chemistry is used in Psychology After highschool I hope to launch the next journey of my life into the field of Psychology. Psychology is the study of the brain and human behavior. Since Psychology studies the human brain, it also involves the study of the different chemicals that affect the brain. The different chemicals released in our brain can affect human behavior, actions, and thought processes. There are over One-Hundred chemicals in the brain. Some major chemicals that affect us daily are dopamine and serotonin. Dopamine is also known as the pleasure and reward neurotransmitter. Dopamine is what makes eating, playing sports and doing things that bring happiness feel good. Consequently, because they feel good, the more likely we are to repeat these habits to be “rewarded” with the same feeling. Everything that makes you feel good is down to this key neurotransmitter and the effect it has on the brain, making dopamine (out of all the other neurotransmitters) most associated with the feeling of pleasure. Dopamine deficiency results in Parkinson's Disease, and …show more content…

Ninety-five percent of the body’s serotonin can actually be found in the gut, but five percent lies within the brain. Serotonin has a very big effect on a person’s mood, their overall state of mind, their self esteem and their personal views on the world around them. The link between serotonin and how you feel is down to the large variety of serotonin receptors throughout the brain. Different amounts of serotonin receptor types and the range of effects they have, is a big part of the reason this single neurotransmitter can have such large behavioural effects on us emotionally. Serotonin can affect the levels of various other neurotransmitters to be increased or decreased throughout the different regions of our brains. A lack of serotonin in the brain is linked to depression. Drugs, such Ecstasy and LSD stimulates different serotonin receptors, leading to altered or extreme

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This includes the neurotransmitters for dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. These are all very closely related to mood regulation. The use of cause and effect in this article gives readers a better understanding of some of the reasoning that goes behind certain

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Because of the substantial amount of evidence, the dopamine hypothesis is the best explanation for schizophrenia. Studies have shown that while not all dopamine genes show signals, the DRD2 genes have a significant number of signals (Edwards, A. C., Bacanu, S., Bigdeli, T. B., Moscati, A., & Kendler, K. S. 2016). The DRD2 genes also have low levels of methylation which are trait biomarkers in schizophrenia patients (Yoshino, Y et al. 2016). Patients with schizophrenia who also have depressive symptoms have problems with their dopamine genes and there is also a connection between the reward system to the depressive symptoms (Peitl, V., Štefanović, M., & Karlović, D. 2017; Walter, H., Kammerer, H., Frasch, K., Spitzer, M., & Abler, B. 2009). In addition to these pieces of evidence, elevated dopamine levels are associated with the striatum which would prove that in patients with schizophrenia dopamine is a main cause biologically (Kegeles, L. S. et al. 2010).

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To further exemplify this, “The human body manufactures serotonin, which many researchers believe plays a role in mood balance” (Campbell 1). Antigone takes full accountability for her actions and this is true because of the brain chemicals pushing her to. Additionally, “Serotonin has been labelled the confidence neurochemical. Higher serotonin activity is related to greater feelings of confidence, which in turn gives you the drive to do the things that build self-esteem” (Bishop 11). Serotonin affects the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.

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1. Explain the role of neurotransmitters in formation of drug addiction. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a huge role in how drug addiction forms. Dopamine is responsible for categorizing in the brain what is pleasure and what is pain. When pain occurs dopamine levels drop and this is what signifies to the brain that you are in pain.

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While serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is supposed to properly control intestinal activity, low serotonin levels are the reasons for sleep disorders, anorexia (eating disorder when people become seriously concerned and obsessed about their weight. The people with this disorder tend to eat very little or no

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When someone uses a drug, it causes the user to feel strong feelings of euphoria. Since the user is feeling such overwhelming amounts of euphoria, the user will continue to abuse the drug in order to have those feelings again. This leads to drug addiction in the user, as they will continuously use the drug in order to replicate the pleasure that they felt. In the text, it states, “[...] the brain adjusts to the overwhelming surges in dopamine (and other neurotransmitters) by producing less dopamine or by reducing the number of receptors that can receive signals. As a result, dopamine’s impact on the reward circuit of the brain

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Parkinson’s has a whole lot to do with dopamine. When there is no dopamine, there is almost nothing. there are some motor reflexes, which explains why all the patients in the movie were able to catch a ball, but not able to seat themselves or eat their own meals. As parkinson’s disease progresses, the amount of dopamine produced in the body decreases, leaving the body unable to move at will and in a catastrophic state. It’s logical to assume that what was also related to the problem in the movie was the very problem of Parkinson’s...lack of

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Serotonin is found in the prefrontal cortex which is the area of our brain that affects cognition, mood, and perception. It

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One aspect of the body that this model examines is the balance or imbalance of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin. It is supposed that if imbalances in these chemicals cause illnesses such as depression, then correcting the levels of neurotransmitters should relieve the symptoms of depression. The principal type of medical treatment used by proponents of the biological method is drug therapy. Medications such as Prozac and serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are used to remedy the imbalances in mood and conduct by targeting mechanisms in neurochemical abnormalities. One drawback to drug therapy is that it may not be efficient in the long term as some drugs have negative side effects once stopped.

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The idea that neural activity and lack of serotonin production can be a propel for depression,

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Corruption in the Catholic Church was a serious issue by the late Middle Ages; “It had been in disarray since the Avignon papacy and the Great Schism of the fourteenth century (Matthews, Platt, Noble, Experience Humanities, pg. 366).” At this time, the Church was focused on Italian politics and committed to worldly interests. The Church was also losing power to secular rulers who strived to bring their subjects back under state control (Matthews, Platt, Noble, Experience Humanities, pg. 367). As no unified kingdom was developing in Germany, the Church had great power there. German princes were struggling to release themselves from the control of Charles V and Church reform was not a priority.

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Biological Explanations of Depression The biological explanations of depression refers to two factors one being neurotransmitter dysfunction and the other being inherited genes. The biological approach towards the neurotransmitter would explain how depression is associated with low levels of serotonin within the brain which would affect the functioning of the brain. This is associated with maladaptive behavior e.g. anger, mood disorder and anxiety. In terms of inherited genes the biological approach

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The two most common forms are antidepressants and mood stabilizers. Antidepressants stimulate the chemicals such as serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, that affect emotions. Too little of the naturally produced serotonin will usually cause someone to become depressed. Lithium, a mood stabilizer, treats the mood swings that are associated with bipolar disorder. Antipsychotics reduce the chances of delusions and hallucinations, also referred to as psychosis.

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For example, depression has been linked to imbalances in certain neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and norepinephrine. Understanding the biological underpinnings of

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According to my Psychopharmacology instructor, in the human brain, there is a chemical called dopamine and serotonin binding to neurotransmitter which determines our happiness, gratitude, and motivation. In order words, negative thought can be changed to positive thinking based on the amount this chemical produces. These substances enforce us to take action towards achieving our goal. She went further to explain that depression and unhealthy behavior are linked to an absence of serotonin. To bolster my point, change process has a huge connection with the biological

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