Understanding Addiction

N E U R O N S

The human brain
Neurons
Neurotransmission
Dopamine
Other neurotransmitters
Drug interference

Contents
Understanding Addiction, beginning

Cells are the basic unit of all living things. Nearly all cells include three parts:

An outer wall, called membrane
A nucleus that contains essential chemicals
A body of clear fluid called the cytoplasm

The nervous system includes vast circuits of delicate cells that are elaborately interconnected. Those cells are called neurons. Each neuron may have thousands of branches that connect it to other neurons. The branches are called dendrites and axons.Dendrites carry messages toward the cell body; axons carry messages away from the cell body to another neuron.

Through the activity of neurons the body responds and adjusts to changes in the environment.

For more information, call or write to:

Addiction Science Research and Education Center
College of Pharmacy
The University of Texas
Austin, TX 78712
(512) 475-9568

*Copyright-protected. These sections cannot be printed or down-loaded without permission of the Director: erickson.carl@mail.utexas.edu.