Brain & Addiction

Teacher's Activity

In this activity, first present the students with a list to memorize (on whiteboard or flip chart). Tell the students they have just one minute to memorize the list. Then, after one minute, take the list away. Have the students write down as many as they can remember. Have them call them out and write them on the board. Ask them how many they got correct. Use this activity as a lead-in to the discussion questions below.

Discussion questions

1. What is learning? How do you learn? What do you think happens in your brain when you learn something? (Answers will vary; learning is saving information in your brain so you can retrieve it later. Learning is training your brain. Learning is building branches in your brain so neurons can communicate faster and better.)
   
   
2. Describe how you'd teach your brain something. Is there something you could do that would make you learn faster or better? (Use examples such as: Memorize the Declaration of Independence; memorize words to cool new song. Shoot a free throw in basketball. Play a song on the piano. Answers will vary, but mostly practice, either by doing something physically or mentally again and again. Repetition is key, as is reward or feedback. Learning is easier when you get rewarded for your efforts (such as being cheered when you shoot a free throw in a basketball game). To learn faster or better: do the thing for more time or for more repetitions. Give yourself a reward each time you do the thing successfully.)
   
   
3. How does drug use "teach" the brain? (Drug use floods the brain with neurotransmitters. Drug use creates unnatural feelings. Drug use interferes with normal brain functioning. Drug use causes the brain to change and remember intense feelings of pleasure. Drug use changes the amount of neurotransmitter or the way neurotransmitters are used in the brain without drugs. Drug use changes the physical structure of the brain.)
   
   
4. Why is drug addiction a brain disease? (By using drugs, the drug addict has taught their brain that drugs are responsible for pleasure. Because of down regulation, the drug addict changes their brain so that normal life cannot give the person pleasure.)
   
   
5. Is it harder for someone to get addicted to drugs or to recover from a drug addiction and stop using drugs? Why? (This is meant to be a thought-provoking question that gets kids to discuss why kids might start using drugs, how the decision to start using is a voluntary one but as someone keeps using it becomes an involuntary addiction and how hard it is to overcome this addiction. Hopefully, everyone will arrive at the conclusion that it is easier to never start. Answers will vary. Drugs produce intense feelings of pleasure. Drugs of abuse stimulate the part of our brain that is responsible for feelings of appetite and drive, so the addict creates in their brain a drive to use drugs. To get off drugs, the addict has to work against those strong feelings.)
   
   

Quiz for Students

Once your students have reviewed the information in Facts on Drugs: The Brain and Addiction you can use the quiz below to test their knowledge.

The quiz is available in Adobe PDF or Microsoft Word format. You must have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the PDF.

Brain & Addiction Quiz in PDF (14k)

Brain & Addiction Quiz in Word (44k)