Neuronal Re-sensitization - Temporarily Numb
Exactly how and why the brain diminishes the number of active a4b2-type acetylcholine receptors (down-regulation) after nicotine use ends is still poorly understood. What we do know is that once nicotine use ends we temporarily have far too many active receptors. There are so many unfed receptors that normal species survival activities (eating, drinking water, accomplishment, nurturing, peer acceptance and sex) are temporarily unable to provide adequate brain dopamine pathway stimulation.
Early recovery puts us face-to-face with hard physiological evidence of nicotine’s influence and standing among the brain’s pre-programmed priorities. Again, in terms of healing, the emptiness and emotional collision we may temporarily sense is good not bad. Our brain is working its “butt off” to diminish the number of active receptors and restore sensitivities.
Almost as quickly as we notice our sense of smell and taste being enhanced, our brain is working to restore natural sensitivities by down-regulating receptor counts. SPECT stands for Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography. It is a scan during which a radioactive substance is put into the bloodstream and can be followed as it works its way through the body and into the brain. A camera capable of detecting gamma radiation is then rotated around the body or head taking pictures from many angles. A computer is then used to put the images together to create a picture of activity within a specific slice of the body or brain.
A 2007 study used SPECT scans to follow dynamic changes in acetylcholine receptor down-regulation binding during smoking cessation. It compared those finding to receptor activity inside the brains of non-smokers.277 It found that within four hours of ending nicotine use that acetylcholine receptor binding potential had already declined by 33.5%.
The good news is that binding potential rebounded by 25.7% within ten days of ending nicotine use and then “decreased to the level of non-smokers by around 21 days of smoking cessation.” We don’t need to put radiation into our bloodstream or do a SPECT scan of our brain to know that the de-sensitized period experienced during recovery is temporary, normal and expected. It’s enough to know that we are sensing and feeling what is happening inside our brain as it adjusts to functioning without nicotine. Don’t fear it, savor it.
Early recovery puts us face-to-face with hard physiological evidence of nicotine’s influence and standing among the brain’s pre-programmed priorities. Again, in terms of healing, the emptiness and emotional collision we may temporarily sense is good not bad. Our brain is working its “butt off” to diminish the number of active receptors and restore sensitivities.
Almost as quickly as we notice our sense of smell and taste being enhanced, our brain is working to restore natural sensitivities by down-regulating receptor counts. SPECT stands for Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography. It is a scan during which a radioactive substance is put into the bloodstream and can be followed as it works its way through the body and into the brain. A camera capable of detecting gamma radiation is then rotated around the body or head taking pictures from many angles. A computer is then used to put the images together to create a picture of activity within a specific slice of the body or brain.
A 2007 study used SPECT scans to follow dynamic changes in acetylcholine receptor down-regulation binding during smoking cessation. It compared those finding to receptor activity inside the brains of non-smokers.277 It found that within four hours of ending nicotine use that acetylcholine receptor binding potential had already declined by 33.5%.
The good news is that binding potential rebounded by 25.7% within ten days of ending nicotine use and then “decreased to the level of non-smokers by around 21 days of smoking cessation.” We don’t need to put radiation into our bloodstream or do a SPECT scan of our brain to know that the de-sensitized period experienced during recovery is temporary, normal and expected. It’s enough to know that we are sensing and feeling what is happening inside our brain as it adjusts to functioning without nicotine. Don’t fear it, savor it.
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13:43:33
