Intoxicating Minds
How Drugs Work
Seiten
2005
Columbia University Press (Verlag)
978-0-231-12017-3 (ISBN)
Columbia University Press (Verlag)
978-0-231-12017-3 (ISBN)
Looking at each class of drugs, this book describes the historical evolution of their use, explaining how they work within the brain's neurophysiology, and outlining the basic pharmacology of those substances. It also explains how we process memory, the nature of thought disorders, and therapies for treating depression and schizophrenia.
Why do smokers claim that the first cigarette of the day is the best? What is the biological basis behind some heavy drinkers' belief that the "hair-of-the-dog" method alleviates the effects of a hangover? Why does marijuana seem to affect ones problem-solving capacity? Intoxicating Minds is, in the author's words, "a grand excavation of drug myth." Neither extolling nor condemning drug use, it is a story of scientific and artistic achievement, war and greed, empires and religions, and lessons for the future. Ciaran Regan looks at each class of drugs, describing the historical evolution of their use, explaining how they work within the brain's neurophysiology, and outlining the basic pharmacology of those substances. From a consideration of the effect of stimulants, such as caffeine and nicotine, and the reasons and consequences of their sudden popularity in the seventeenth century, the book moves to a discussion of more modern stimulants, such as cocaine and ecstasy. In addition, Regan explains how we process memory, the nature of thought disorders, and therapies for treating depression and schizophrenia.
Regan then considers psychedelic drugs and their perceived mystical properties and traces the history of placebos to ancient civilizations. Finally, Intoxicating Minds considers the physical consequences of our co-evolution with drugs-how they have altered our very being-and offers a glimpse of the brave new world of drug therapies.
Why do smokers claim that the first cigarette of the day is the best? What is the biological basis behind some heavy drinkers' belief that the "hair-of-the-dog" method alleviates the effects of a hangover? Why does marijuana seem to affect ones problem-solving capacity? Intoxicating Minds is, in the author's words, "a grand excavation of drug myth." Neither extolling nor condemning drug use, it is a story of scientific and artistic achievement, war and greed, empires and religions, and lessons for the future. Ciaran Regan looks at each class of drugs, describing the historical evolution of their use, explaining how they work within the brain's neurophysiology, and outlining the basic pharmacology of those substances. From a consideration of the effect of stimulants, such as caffeine and nicotine, and the reasons and consequences of their sudden popularity in the seventeenth century, the book moves to a discussion of more modern stimulants, such as cocaine and ecstasy. In addition, Regan explains how we process memory, the nature of thought disorders, and therapies for treating depression and schizophrenia.
Regan then considers psychedelic drugs and their perceived mystical properties and traces the history of placebos to ancient civilizations. Finally, Intoxicating Minds considers the physical consequences of our co-evolution with drugs-how they have altered our very being-and offers a glimpse of the brave new world of drug therapies.
Ciaran Regan is professor of neuropharmacology at University College in Dublin, Ireland. A fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, he received the Conway Medal of the Royal Academy of Medicine (Ireland) and the Royal Irish Academy Medal for achievement in pharmacology and toxicology.
Preface and Acknowledgments 1. Mists of the Mind 2. Matters of Doctrine 3. Making the Mind 4. Neuronal Discourse 5. Nostri Plena Laboris 6. An Abyss Yawns 7. Making Memories 8. The Lost Truth and Its Restitution 9. Funhouse Mirrors 10. The Pharmacology of the Infinite 11. Drug Driven Further Readings Index
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 14.9.2005 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | Maps of the Mind |
| Zusatzinfo | 6 line art, 5 tables |
| Verlagsort | New York |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Themenwelt | Medizin / Pharmazie ► Medizinische Fachgebiete ► Pharmakologie / Pharmakotherapie |
| ISBN-10 | 0-231-12017-6 / 0231120176 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-231-12017-3 / 9780231120173 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
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