can drugs effect cognitive performance?

1. APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
(UWAP3050)
Thursday, November 21, 2013
POOJA JASSANI
001AP711

2. INTRODUCTION
Lots of people are tempted by the excitement or escape that drugs seem
to offer.
Many teens use drugs because they're depressed or think drugs will help
them escape their problems.
Drugs don't solve problems — they simply hide feelings and problems.
When a drug wears off, the feelings and problems remain, or become
worse.
Drugs can ruin every aspect of a
person's life.

3. DEFINITION
Drugs
Of
A drug is any substance, solid, liquid or gas, that brings
about physical and/or psychological changes. The drugs
of most concern in the community are those that affect
the central nervous system. They act on the brain and
can change the way a person thinks, feels or behaves.

4. WHY
To fit in
To escape or relax
To relief boredom
To seem grown up
To rebel
To experiment
Drugs

5. TYPES
Drugs
Of
Laws and regulations decide if some drug is:
Legal drugs
Beneficial Drugs – Drugs thats is approved by “WHO” for medical usage
Tobbaco
Alcohol
Caffeine
Illegal drugs
Heroine
Ecstacy
Speed
LSD
Magic Mushrooms
Cannabis
Cocaine

6. CATEGORIES Drugs
Of
Stimulants
Depressants
Hallucinogens

7. y #1 :
Categor
Stimulants
STIMULANTS rugs
D
Stimulants speeds up or stimulates the central
nervous system and can make the users feel more
awake, alert or confident. Stimulants increase heart
rate, body temperature and blood pressure. Other
physical effects include reduced appetite, dilated
pupils, talkativeness, agitation and sleep disturbance.

8. y #2 :
Categor
DEPRESSANTS rugs
D
Depressants
Depressants slows down, or depresses, the functions of
the central nervous system . In moderate doses,
depressants can make you feel relaxed. In larger doses,
depressants can cause unconsciousness by reducing
breathing and heart rate. A person's speech may become
slurred and their movements sluggish and uncoordinated.

9. y #3 :
Categor
Hallucinogens
HALLUCINOGEN rugs
D
Hallucinogenic drugs distort the user's perceptions of reality.
The main physical effects are dilation of pupils, loss of appetite,
increased activity, talking or laughing, jaw clenching, sweating
and sometimes stomach cramps or nausea. Drug effects can
include a sense of emotional and psychological euphoria and
well-being. Visual, auditory and tactile hallucinations may
occur, causing users to see or hear things that do not actually
exist.

10. METHODS
SWALLOW
INHALE
Drugs
Of
INJECT

11. TERMS
Drugs
Of
1
Tolerance
Body becomes
accustomed to
drug and causes Psychological Dependence
the user to
A condition that
experience a need occurs overtime
Physiological Dependence
for more and more and causes user to
drug to achieve the believe that drug is A user develops a
desired effect or
needed in order to chemical need for a
Addiction
drug. Symptoms of
high.
feel good or
A physiological or
function normally. withdrawal
occurred when the
psychological
effects of the drug
dependence on a drug.
wear off.
2
3
4

12. EFFECTS
Drugs
Of
• Stimulants
– Caffeine
• Causes blood sugar, or blood glucose, to be released from
storage through the effects of the adrenal hormones.
Requires your pancreas to over-work.
• Dehydration
• Increased heart rate
• Insomia
• Peptic ulcer irritant
• Headache
• Increase on speed depending on skillset

13. EFFECTS
•
Drugs
Of
Depressants
– Cannabis
• Lowers motivation and lose interest in things
• Co-ordination and reactions slow down
• Effects asthma
• Can increase the heart rate and cause someone to have high
blood pressure
• Fear
• Panic
• Paranoia Disorientation
• Memory loss
• Confusion
• Acute psychotic reactions
• Toxic psychoses
• Long term anxiety
• Schizophrenia,
• Depression

14. EFFECTS
Drugs
Of
• Hallucinogen
– LSD
• Delusions
• Visual hallucinations
• An artificial sense of euphoria or certainty
• Distortion of one’s sense of time and identity
• Impaired depth perception
• Impaired time perception, distorted perception of the size
and shape of object, movements, color, sounds, touch and
the user’s own body image
• Severe, terrifying thoughts and feelings
• Fear of losing control
• Panic attacks
• Flashbacks, or a recurrence of the LSD trip, often without
warning long after taking LSD
• Severe depression or psychosis

15. EFFECTS
Drugs
Are On
en You
Wh
VIDEO

16. COGNITIVE FACTORS
•
MEMORY
– Bad
•
Alcoholism can lead to brain cell death, short-term memory 'blackouts' and something called 'Korsakoff's
Syndrome' which is a form of severe amnesia. Smoking(nicotine) is a cause of stroke which can cause shortterm memory loss and can trigger dementia.
– Good :
•
•
Mild stimulants can help us concentrate which in turn might also improve our learning abilities.
ATTENTION
– Bad:
•
•
Steering an automobile is adversely affected by alcohol, as alcohol affects eye-to-hand reaction times, which
are superimposed upon the visual effects. Significant impairment and deterioration of steering ability begin at
approximately .03 to .04% Blood Alcohol Concentrations and continue to deteriorate as Blood Alcohol
Concentration rises. Almost every aspect of the brain’s information-processing ability is impaired by alcohol.
Alcohol-impaired drivers require more time to read street signs or respond to traffic signals than unimpaired
drivers. Research on the effects of alcohol on the performance of automobile and aircraft operators shows a
narrowing of the attention field beginning at .04% blood alcohol concentration.
Narrows the visual field, reduces resistance to glare, interferes with the ability to differentiate intensities of
light, and lessens sensitivity to colors.

17. COGNITIVE FACTORS
•
LANGUAGE
– For instance, the drug deprenyl inhibits manoamine oxidase (MAO). This increases the
stores of dopamine and slows the progression of Parkinson's disease. In higher doses,
deprenyl enhances the effects of dopamine on behavior.
•
DECISSION MAKING
– Understanding more about the orbitofrontal cortex also is important for understanding
disorders such as addiction that seem to involve maladaptive decision-making and
learning. Cocaine in particular seems to have long-lasting effects on the orbitofrontal
cortex.

18. CONCLUSION
•
Addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes
compulsive drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences to the
individual who is addicted and to those around them. Drug addiction is a
brain disease because the abuse of drugs leads to changes in the
structure and function of the brain. No single factor can predict whether
or not a person will become addicted to drugs. Risk for addiction is
influenced by a person’s biology, social environment, and age or stage of
development. The more risk factors an individual has, the greater the
chance that taking drugs can lead to addiction. I agree that drugs do
effect the daily cognitive performance as every consumption or intake
can lead you to a higher addiction stage.
All I have to say :
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink
THINK FOR YOURSELF