Animals can also become "addicts"! How do drugs make the brain addicted?

Maybe you have seen the dog in the picture below, and it has even become an emoticon in your phone.

In fact, the dream dance may be related to drug addiction.

We all know that substance abuse is devastating to individuals, individuals and society, and is an act that is strongly prohibited and condemned by today's society.

Drugs can cause adaptive changes in the human body. Although taking drugs can excite nerves and give people a strong sense of euphoria in the short term, it is only overdrawing one's body functions and even life.

Long-term drug abuse will cause mental depression, physical weakness, loss of work ability, and immune deficiency. Excessive drug abuse will also cause respiratory depression and death in a short period of time. Even if the drug is stopped, it will cause serious withdrawal reactions.

The harm caused by drugs is enormous. Not only do they cause irreversible damage to humans, but even animals in nature cannot escape their clutches!

The raw materials of drugs come from nature, and our animal friends who also rely on nature for survival may also be tempted by the raw materials of drugs and become "drug addicts."

Poppy eating parrot

In the legal opium poppy-growing areas of Madhya Pradesh, India, there is a group of amazing parrots who show a deep dependence and fascination with the local opium poppy fields.

A video broadcast by a local TV station showed a parrot perching on a poppy and using its sharp beak to pry open the poppy shell. The scene was shocking.

In addition, some clever parrots will use their natural green feathers as cover in order to take a sip of the juice containing biological anesthetic alkaloids in poppy pods.

They often hide quietly in the grass in the woods, and when the farmers peel the poppy fruits, they will immediately rush to the happy juice they long for as quickly as possible, and sometimes even take the poppy fruits away directly.

Poppy is the raw material for poisons such as opium, morphine and cocaine. The anesthetic and sedative components in its seeds have a similar effect on parrots as humans. Once a parrot eats a poppy fruit, it will be deeply addicted to the pleasure and unable to extricate itself.

The vast expanse of poppies is the "happy home" of wallabies

Parrots aren't the only ones taking drugs.

In Australia, wallabies are also at the forefront of drug use, even chewing poppies to pass the time.

Australia supplies 50% of the world's legal poppies, so the vast poppy fields have become the "happy home" for wallabies.

Wallabies are small in size and can often sneak into poppy fields unnoticed. After taking a poppy, they get so high that they do some crazy and outrageous things.

Local residents have become accustomed to seeing all kinds of strange "crop circles"-like paintings formed by trampling poppy fields. These are not the masterpieces of aliens, and such paintings cannot bring aesthetic enjoyment to poppy farmers, but will only make them angry and annoyed for several days.

"Dog Licking"

In addition to crazy wallabies, Australia also has real "suckers".

In the 1930s, Australian authorities introduced more than 100 cane toads from overseas in order to eliminate sugarcane beetles.

The back of this toad can secrete a milky white natural venom called "bufotoxin", which contains adrenaline, dopamine and bufotenin, which has a hallucinogenic effect.

With the skills learned from "Breaking Bad," the cane toad has conquered its way across the Australian continent, killing all of its natural enemies and leaping to the top of the local food chain.

However, a century later, local dog owners are now faced with a thorny problem - the venom secreted from the toad's back is like a drug delivered to the mouths of dogs who use their tongues to understand the world.

Many residents found that the originally well-behaved and cute dog actually started searching and poking around as soon as it arrived at the park. Suddenly, it hugged a toad and licked it madly, then narrowed its eyes, felt ecstatic, and began a psychedelic experience.

Like humans, dogs know that this venom is harmful to their lives, but they still have no resistance to it. Because dogs collectively suck clams, a "clam addiction treatment center" for dogs has been established in the local area.

Because toad toxin acts on the central nervous system, experienced "lickers" often suffer from memory loss and even forget their masters. Dogs that ingest excessive toad toxins may experience severe vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, arrhythmia, cardiac arrest and other hazards. Therefore, it can be said that "licking until there is nothing left"!

How drugs addict the brain

Drug abuse causes addiction because it changes the structure of the brain, which in turn causes behavioral and cognitive changes, leading to a series of behaviors such as craving and seeking drugs.

With the cooperation and development of disciplines such as neurobiology, pharmacology and anatomy, current research has found that the opioid peptide, dopamine (DA) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) systems in the human brain mainly regulate the neural mechanisms of drug addiction and adjust the generation of reward effects after drug abuse.

When the reward mechanism is activated, the body will secrete a large amount of dopamine, which enters the nucleus accumbens and other brain areas, making us feel euphoric. At the same time, neurons will release gamma-aminobutyric acid to inhibit excessive stimulation of nerve receptors.

Long-term use of drugs will disrupt the brain's normal cognition and memory balance, causing the body to become dependent on drugs, and thus falling into an abyss from which there is no return.

Whether it is humans or animals, drugs are eroding our brains and destroying our will. In addition to destroying themselves, drug addicts are also devastating to their families and society. Cherish life and stay away from drugs!

END

Review expert: Wu Lei, national practicing veterinarian, master student of clinical veterinary medicine at Sichuan Agricultural University.

Tadpole Musical Notation original article, please indicate the source when reprinting

Editor/Xiao Xitushuo