Long-term brain changes
As people meditate, they “train” certain neural networks. As these networks are activated, they will strengthen. Networks that are activated less, will weaken (“Use it, or lose it.”). There are tons of fMRI studies confirming long-term brain changes in people who start to meditate. This is somewhat analogous to training a specific movement. If practiced enough times and with enough force, it will induce musculoskeletal adaptation.
In the same way that anabolic steroids will alter muscle biochemistry for many years to come, similar things hold true for antidepressants and other psychotropic molecules leading to long-term brain changes.
As people start to take a psychotropic molecule, brain chemistry changes. However, as with meditation, the brain structurally adapts depending on how it is used. Therefore, regardless of long-term safety, every neuropharmaceutical will not just change brain function acutely (i.e., while the molecule is in the system) but will also have long-term effects on brain structure – something that is rarely discussed.
Therefore, as the brain, and the neurons that comprise it, begin to adapt and rewire, personality changes, as my personality is nothing other than my typical pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting, which depends in part on brain wiring and neurotransmitters, both of which are altered by neuropharmaceuticals.
These changes may persist for a long time to come, and potentially forever – often without the person being aware. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, before people start experimenting blindly, they should be aware that the brain, and personality, may never quite go back to where exactly it was before.
On neuropharmaceutical drugs, certain brain networks and pathways are more active and as these pathways are used more often there is a progressive strengthening of the synapses involved, also known as long-term potentiation (LTP).
However, not just whole brain networks, but also individual neurons undergo long-term changes. These include changes in transcription factors and gene methylation, and consequently gene expression patterns. Unfortunately, this is quite an under-researched field.
In sum, depending on the molecule, dosage, duration, and age (more powerful if a brain is not fully developed), some of the changes will persist for months, years, and potentially forever.
The above is only a fraction of the article. This article is currently undergoing final revisions and is expected to be published within the next few weeks to months. To receive a notification upon its release, sign up for my newsletter.
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