Dr. Greg Knopf, recognized by Portland Monthly magazine as a “Top Doc” in Family Medicine in 2013, discusses how the brain works with an interactive video. You can learn how depression affects the brain and how medication plays a role in helping it.
This is how the brain works. In the center part of the brain is where the cells that produce serotonin and norepinephrine modified the rest of the brain just like a dimmer switch can control how light or dark a whole room is just from one small area. Each cell has connections with half a million other cells and you only have twenty fifty thousand in your whole brain.
The signal comes down the nerve, it releases these chemicals which then go across the space called the synapse.
Once those chemicals fill up the receptors on the left side of the synapse the signal is sent that’s how the nerve on the right influences the nerve on the left.
Here’s a higher magnification of the same thing. The signal comes down the nerve it releases goes across reaches critical mass now sucks back up into the yellow vacuum system. Now the body will recycle some of it. But the rest of it is destroyed and thrown away. How much is destroyed and thrown away is dependent upon your family characteristics.
If you don’t have enough of the chemical to fill up those receptors then you will have the signs and symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Some people have problems with too much rather than too little. This what we think happens with people schizophrenia and this is the dopamine system. They’re being so over stimulated with dopamine they become very agitated. They hallucinate. They can’t sleep. They hear voices.
What we use these medications called atypical antipsychotics which are represented by these green balls which temporarily sit and block those receptors from being over stimulated helps to calm them down.The voices go away. They can sleep much better if they’ll take their medication.
This is what happens with depression. Chemicals released it did not reach critical mass so sucks back up into the yellow vacuum system and a double dose is now released. Now there’s enough to fill up those receptors and boom the signal is set and now suck back up into the vacuum system again waiting for the next signal.
Antidepressants are not addicting all they are are these white balls is simply plug up that vacuum system. So now the body can bring it back in and throw it away. So it helps your body can serve what you’ve already made. The concentration in that gap increases. It’s like having instant hot water. When you turn on the spigot, you have hot water immediately. You don’t have to wait for the cold water to be pushed out the hot water pipes before you get a cup of coffee or tea.
This is what’s addicting. This is in the pleasure center of the brain and these are the dopamine receptors. These purple balls represent methamphetamine and cocaine which now begin to hit and to smash and to destroy those receptors.
It’s like taking a hammer and smashing it through a board of wood so that people can no longer experience number of pleasure and joy in life unless you have more and more cocaine. So if you understand that you understand how the brain works.
Dr. Gregory Knopf, the founding physician of Gresham Troutdale Family Medical Center has been practicing medicine for over 30 years. He is a graduate and Clinical Associate Professor of Family Medicine at Oregon Health and Sciences University.
Dr. Knopf is passionate about caring for patients to help them optimize treatments for all types of mood and anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders as well as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. He often speaks to groups on the topic including MOPS, Focus on the Family and the American Association of Christian Counselors.
He has specialized training in several areas including manipulative orthopedics to treat various forms of back and neck pain. He performs office surgical procedures that include skin cancer removals, vasectomies and sigmoidoscopies. In 2013 Dr. Knopf was recognized by Portland Monthly magazine as a “Top Doc” in Family Medicine.