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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
Prenatal Nicotine Exposure As A Teratogen In Neurological Pathways, Monica Grover
Prenatal Nicotine Exposure As A Teratogen In Neurological Pathways, Monica Grover
Auctus: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most heritable and commonly diagnosed childhood psychiatric disorder with 4% of all children being diagnosed with this disorder. Prenatal smoking has been found to be a risk factor for ADHD, a disorder that has been believed to be linked to the fluctuation of dopamine levels. Prenatal nicotine exposure in the second trimester influences dopaminergic neurological pathways by altering dopamine release levels. The altered dopamine levels make the fetus brain more sensitive to the nicotine, causing the nicotine exposure to be more dangerous in causing ADHD symptoms. Prenatal nicotine exposure alters the neurological pathway of the …
Understanding Nicotine Addition: Dependency As A Result Of Maladaptive Brain Structure, Nate Thomas
Understanding Nicotine Addition: Dependency As A Result Of Maladaptive Brain Structure, Nate Thomas
Auctus: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship
Nicotine addiction is the most prevalent, destructive dependency found in our culture. Despite its well-documented damaging health risks, nicotine use is still widely accepted and could be conceptualized as a social epidemic. Much of this acceptance may stem from nicotine’s lack of debilitating cognitive effects, as compared to those of other abused drugs. However, what may reign dominantly over nicotine’s legality is simple cultural precedent: tobacco has never been illegal and holds a place in human history. Therefore, attempting to alter this would prove highly unpopular and unsuccessful. This macroscopic irrationality, a blind favor for cultural precedents, parallels the irrational …