Learn about the Brain Allie just got her first project in biology: write a review of a major organ or system of the human body. She wrote hers on the brain and got some help from Mike in making the class presentation. After she presents, she is going to leave the presentation here for you to see. In the meantime, feel free to look at her draft copy of the paper she gave her teacher.

Many prescription medications alter the way the brain operates. Some can block pain messages to the brain. Others are able to speed up or slow down brain activity. Affecting the way the brain operates can alter the translations of the messages it receives and change the message it sends back to the body. As a result, some of these medications bring relief to people who are feeling intense pain. Others have a calming effect or increase alertness.

It should be obvious that any medications that cause changes in how the brain operates are very serious, and can be very dangerous because they change the way important systems of your body operate. Without supervision by a doctor or other health care professional, prescription medications can increase or decrease your breathing rate, heart rate and blood pressure. This can lead to seizures, coma or even death. They can also cause you to lose control of your actions which can cause behavior that is embarrassing — or more importantly — dangerous to you or others.

Taking prescription medications to get "high" is abuse. Without the expertise of a health care professional, medications that change the way the brain operates can have an unexpected, serious and dangerous effects. That's painfully obvious.

But you can use your brain to avoid all that possible trouble, and that should be painfully obvious, too.  

"Allie wanted some help on this presentation for her biology class. She did a really good job, but I took it to the next level by throwing in some animation and sound. That's why you'll need the Flash plug-in to see it, once she gets it back. If you don't have the plug-in, you can get it from this link:  Macromedia Flash Player 6 "And don't let Allie let you think she pulled this off by herself!  I deserve part of that grade!"