Supplement your learning about the nervous system and pathology in the brain leading to dementia. Learn how opioid-induced memory loss can inform how
neurological disease, like Alzheimer’s disease, is studied and understood to improve finding biomarkers and new therapies.
Directions:
Listen to this podcast from our local NPR station KERA on June 25, 2021 titled “The Link Between Opioids and Alzheimer’s (Links to an external site.)”. Krys
Boyd interviews science journalist Lauren Aguirre about the amnesia that opioid addicts can develop and what that helps us understand neurological
diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.
Using the writing prompts provided below, write 1 paragraph per writing prompt to reach a length of at least 2 pages (not including your heading) and a max
of 3 pages. Your assignment needs to be written in Microsoft Word, double-spaced, 12-point font, and 1-inch margins (if these parameters are not met it will
automatically result in 0 points).
Upload your file (doc or docx) to Canvas. To do this, go to our course on Canvas, click on the Assignments link, then click on the View/Complete link under
Assignment 3. Enter your information, give your assignment a title, and upload your file.
You will receive a Similarity Report from Turnitin and you may make changes to your submission until the due date. No assignments will be accepted after
the due date.
Grading:
You will receive 25 points for correctly completing this assignment. To get full credit you must (1) meet the writing requirements listed above, (2) have proper
spelling and grammar, (3) and not plagiarize. Your Similarity Report should be under 20% (do not write the writing prompts in your work to avoid similarity).
Writing Prompts:
1. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50-100x more potent than the plant-derived opioid morphine. Some people who survive a fentanyl overdose
experience a loss of memory. Explain the type of amnesia they experience and discuss what happens to their brains that leads to this type of amnesia.
2. Explain how addiction is a disorder of learning and memory and how opioid-induced amnesia (fentanyl and synthetic heroin) informs scientists about the
mechanisms and progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
3. Alzheimer’s brains used to be studied as postmortem tissues, but in modern research PET scanning is used to visualize damage in the brain while the
person is still alive. What discoveries about the brains of Alzheimer’s patients have resulted from this imaging and discuss how this is informing new ways to
measure the progression of Alzheimer’s disease throughout life.
4. Animal models of Alzheimer’s disease, called “mouseheimers” have not yet effectively lead to new treatments in humans. Indicate why mice are chosen to
study Alzheimer’s and discuss what we have learned from these models thus far.
5. Based on amnesiac case studies (including opioid-induced amnesia) and research using PET imaging and animal models, we have not yet figured out a
way to reverse neurodegeneration. Based on the podcast and what you are learning in class, provide recommendations on what we can be doing throughout
life to reduce risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.