Cool or Not?

            While it is seen as common knowledge that smoking conventional cigarettes is bad for one’s health, it is not so easy to quit. Many people still struggle with nicotine addition but the emergent “vape culture” seems like a deterrent to the public health campaigns against tobacco. The article from the Huffington post, “Vape Culture Attracts Teens, Poses Harmful Risks” reveals why vaping may have become popular among teenagers. E-cigarettes and vaporizers are easy to obtain and easy to conceal and they facilitate an air of 'cool'. 

But Dr. Emery also claims that the act of vaping can be a sort of gateway and lead to the use of combustible cigarettes when they feel they need a higher level of nicotine.  The main addictive ingredient in tobacco, nicotine, is also found in vaporizers, something that young people deem to be fun and exciting, possibly without fully realizing the consequences it could lead to. But, while we know that nicotine has a long lasting effect on the brain, the study “Nicotine Potentiation of Excitatory Inputs to Ventral Tegmental Area Dopamine Neurons” explains that nicotine induces synaptic plasticity in VTA dopaminergic neurons. It is so hard to quit from a nicotine addition because these neurons facilitate a pathway that encourages neuronal excitability from the ventral tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens. Dependence and desire for a certain amount of nicotine stems from the fact that long-term potentiation is induced in VTA dopamine neurons once nicotine activates nicotinic receptors (nAChRs). The subunit α7 on the receptors does a lot of the presynaptic enhancement by increasing glutamate release which then activates the dopaminergic neurons which release dopamine, the molecule that creates that good feeling people get. An interesting thing to note, is that Dr. McGhee and his team also found that the mechanisms involved in synaptic plasticity by nicotine were very similar to those of cocaine.

            Some people may see vaping or using some sort of nicotine product as just a cool thing to do for fun, but examining the intricate physical effect on the brain makes me see things in a different perspective. It seems to sort of be hijacking neuronal systems. It makes the act of smoking or vaping with nicotine seem a lot less cooler than it would on Snapchat. But drug abuse and dependence does exist and it is not always the user that is to blame. Even if these people wish to quit, it is a very difficult thing to do because of the effects these substances have on our minds at a cellular level. The fact remains that nicotine is a very dangerous substance and should be controlled, but research in the neural effects and understanding of their chemical pathways with respect to brain structure and receptor systems can really help those who are fighting this battle against addictive drugs.  

References:

Vape Culture Attracts Teens, Poses Harmful Risks.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-mash/vape-culture-attracts-tee_b_8215340.html

Mao, D., Gallagher, K., and McGehee, D.S. (2011). Nicotine Potentiation of Excitatory Inputs to Ventral Tegmental Area Dopamine Neurons. The Journal of Neuroscience, 31(18):6710-6720. https://luc.app.box.com/neuroscienceseminar/1/5783518889/48986345449/1