Neurogenesis is the process by which neurons are created. It was long thought that neurogenesis only happened during pre-natal development and that the nervous system was a fixed system. Now, scientists have discovered the neuroplasticity of the brain. It is generally accepted in the scientific community now that hippocampal neurogenesis does occur. One other interesting finding they have found is that anti-depressants can help increase neurogenesis. What this discovery means is that they now think that there is a link between a malfunctioning hippcampus and depression. The hippocampus region of the brain is necessary for the formation of new explicit long-term memories. It helps organize memories from different areas of the brain (vision, smell, hearing, touch, taste, emotion). The hippocampus binds them all together. Damage to the hippocampus and the rhinal cortex (surrounding tissue of the hippocampus) causes an inability to form new explicit declarative memories. While the hippocampus is not where long-term memories are stored, it is essential to the creation of them. Explicit memory is considered a conscious retrieval of information from long-term memory. There are two types of these memories: semantic memories and episodic memories. Semantic memories are comprised of general knowledge about the world (including facts, rules, concepts in the world). Episodic memories are autobiographical memories of specific events experienced by a person.
There are two theories of hippocampal functioning. One is the cognitive map theory which proposes that the hippocampus constructs maps of the external world based on the relationships between external landmarks and objects. The other theory is the Configural Association Theory. This theory says that the hippocampus organizes and retains the behavioral significance of combinations of stimuli and the context that they are presented in, but no the individual stimuli themselves.
So what does this have to do with drug addiction? Neurogenesis and the neuroplasticity of the brain is important in giving some hope to people who have subjected themselves to long-term drug abuse. More and more researchers are discovering that the brain can recover after years of drug abuse and alcoholism and neurogenesis is just one more example of how the brain can recover and repair itself.
Labels: Antidepressants and Drug Treatment, Drug Dependency, Psychopharmacology and Addiction Treatment
posted by National Therapeutic Services at
9:46 AM
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