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Nfia's Guide to Drugs and the Brain
This site provides a list of links to information on different types of drugs. Content on the pages include information about the drug itself, effects the drug has on the brain, common street names for the drug, and legal status.
University of Utah
University of Utah: Drugs Alter the Brain's Reward Pathway
This site provides interesting data about how drugs alter the brain. Find facts, pictures, and animations to help portray the critical information about drugs of abuse. Also link to teacher resources and lesson plans.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Pbs: Do All Drugs Affect the Brain Similarly?
Discusses the mechanism by which drugs effect the brain. Contains links which discuss other aspects of drug addiction.
University of Washington
University of Washington: Alcohol and the Brain
Suitable for upper elementary and up, this is a thorough explanation of what alcohol does to the body and nervous system. Includes information about fetal alcohol syndrome and links to further information.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: How Do Drugs Affect the Brain?
Sara Garofalo explains how some drugs can alter the communication between cells in the brain.
Biotechnology Institute
Biotechnology Institute: Your World: Learning About Drugs and Alcohol Through Biotechnology [Pdf]
Find out what role genetics plays in why people become drug and alcohol abusers, and investigate how biotechnology can help shape the future of medications used for addicts.
BSCS Science Learning
Bscs: Drug Abuse and the Adolescent Brain
This module focuses on the science that explains the effects that drugs have on the brain and, by extension, a person's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Specifically, it focuses on the adolescent brain. Adolescents may be more...
Other
Drugs and the Brain: Lsd
This website includes a very brief overview of how LSD affects the brain and causes hallucinations. Also, there is a list of "common street names" and an explanation of LSD's "legal status" as a Schedule I drug.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Understanding the Opioid Epidemic: How Opioids Change the Brain: Lesson Plan
In this lesson module, to be used with the program Understanding the Opioid Epidemic, students will understand that addiction is medically classified as a disease. They will learn about brain structure and functioning and how they are...
Rutgers University
Rutgers University: Drugs, Brains and Behavior
This is a link to a book posted on the internet which discusses many different drugs and their effects on the brain. Also provides some discussion on the influences of different drugs and neurotransmitters in reference to different brain...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Reward Pathway in the Brain
An physiologically and chemically illustrated presentation of pleasurable stimuli and the reward pathways followed in the brain. Also explained are studies of addiction that seem to take over a rational mind.
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Nida for Teens: Mind Matters: The Body's Response to Marijuana
Facts about marijuana and its effects on the body, brain and life.
University of Utah
University of Utah: Learn Genetics: Mouse Party
Using an interactive demonstration, this educational site provides a glimpse into how illicit drugs disrupt the synapse through unique molecular mechanisms causing the drug user to feel 'high'.
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institute on Drug Abuse: Brain Power! The Nida Junior Scientist Program
This program uses scientific techniques to examine how drugs effect the brain. Its ultimate goal is to present learners with the negative effects of substance abuse and show the benefits of staying substance free. Each of the lessons...
Other
Partnership for a Drug Free America: Parents Guide to the Teen Brain
A complete guide to the development of the teenage brain. Find out about typical teenage behaviors, and the science behind their brain development that makes them act in certain ways.
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Nida: Research Report Series: Hallucinogens and Dissociative Drugs
An advanced level report which defines hallucinogens and dissociative and explains their effects.
BioEd Online
Bio Ed Online: Brain Chemistry Post Assessment
The human brain is complex. Messages within the brain and the rest of the nervous system are conducted by cells called neurons. Drugs and other substances can interfere with or modify the transmission of messages between neurons. In this...
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Nida: "Ecstasy" Damages the Brain
This article summarizes a medical study that examined ecstasy's effect on brain function. Learn how this designer drug causes both short term and long term damage in users' brains.
Rice University
Rice University: Web Adventures: Reconstructors: Nothing to Rave About
Online adventure game consisting of three consecutive episodes where you become a member of a team of scientists who investigate pain relieving drugs to see if they are safe. These virtual experiments cover concepts such as history of...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Nova: The Cannabis Question: Collection
The NOVA documentary, The Cannabis Question, explores the story of cannabis from the criminalization that has disproportionately harmed communities of color to the latest medical understanding of the plant. What risks does cannabis pose...
Scholastic
Scholastic: The Awesomely Evolved Human Brain
This lesson reinforces comprehension of key facts and concepts in the student article "The Awesomely Evolved Human Brain." Students will understand that the brain's reward system has evolved to help ensure the survival of the species....
BBC
Bbc: Gcse Bitesize: The Nervous System
An animal's response to a stimulus is coordinated by its central nervous system (CNS). Neurons carry electrical impulses, and are connected by synapses. Some drugs and toxins affect how impulses pass from one neuron to the next across a...
Other
University of Nebraska at Omaha: Brains Rule! Games: Ecstasy Invaders
Go on a mission inside a nerve cell to find out about how neurons produce and release neurotransmitters to communicate with other neurons. Learn what happens to these brain chemicals when the drug ecstasy interrupts the process.
Curated OER
Kids Health: How the Body Works
A colorful, interactive site for kids and teens. A holistic approach to learning about your body, including topics such as feelings, drugs, injuries, and other health issues. Available in Spanish.