Response to Psychoactive Drug Use in Animals- Insights and Implications for Human Behavior

Response to Psychoactive Drug Use in Animals- Insights and Implications for Human Behavior

Responding to Student 1

Hello,

This is a great post. Probing into the intrinsic inclinations of the animals about psychoactive drugs is a possible key to unraveling the depths of addiction. Due to the multifaceted interaction of innate desires, affective needs, and social contexts, one can see how an individual becomes addicted on several levels at the same time (Smith, 2021). This knowledge highlights the vitality of constructing comprehensive treatment arrangements that include social and environmental influences rather than being limited to the brain underpinnings of addictive behaviors. Individuals with addiction have other requirements, and with the involvement of interdisciplinary models, we can accurately make the treatments more specific, thus increasing the positive effect as well as promoting long-term recovery outcomes.

References

Smith, M. A. (2021). Social learning and addiction. Behavioural Brain Research, 398(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112954

Responding to Student 2

Hello,

Great work with your post. Indeed, besides human beings, other animal species also use psychoactive substances. Notably, cats show profound reactions to catnip, dolphins go for behaviors that can fetch them neurotoxins, and puffer fish and deer eat psychedelic mushrooms—these are just a few examples that bring the phenomenon of performing similar behavior across wildlife. The animals’ intake of mind-altering substances for nutritional, protective, and therapeutic purposes is beneficial to the general understanding of the evolutionary and ecological meaning of that kind of behavior (Wilson et al., 2020). Through these parallels, we can further our comprehension of the complex partnership between animals and their environment and understand the things that cause such incredible experiences in nature.

References

Wilson, M. W., Ridlon, A. D., Gaynor, K. M., Gaines, S. D., Stier, A. C., & Halpern, B. S. (2020). Ecological impacts of human‐induced animal behavior change. Ecology Letters, 23(10), 1522–1536. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13571

Responding to Student 3

Hello,

Thank you for sharing your post. Ball et al. (2022) argue that elephants’ consumption of fruits with intoxicants and the aggressive behavior that follows prove the common existence of this conduct in societies other than humans. Through the comparison, the big picture of the consequences of drug abuse on human beings would become clear. It focuses on the common susceptibility to addiction faced when interacting with certain substances, stressing the necessity of taking into account the bigger picture of the ecology and evolution of substance abuse. Awareness of this common ground enlightens the significance of a more complicated picture of the relationship between genes, environment, and behavior, which in turn assists in developing effective approaches for substance abuse prevention and treatment.

References

Ball, R., Jacobson, S. L., Rudolph, M. S., Trapani, M., & Plotnik, J. M. (2022). Acknowledging the relevance of elephant sensory perception to human-elephant conflict mitigation. Animals, 12(8), 1018. https://doi.org/10.3390/

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The authors of your text state that “humans do not live by logic alone; we are social animals who like to impress each other, and we are pleasure-seeking animals. These factors help explain why people do some of the things they shouldn’t do, including using drugs.”

Is there any evidence that other species use psychoactive drugs? Provide supporting examples and evidence.

If there is any evidence that other species use psychoactive drugs, what are the implications of this for human drug use? If there is no evidence, what are the implications of this for human drug use?

Response to Psychoactive Drug Use in Animals- Insights and Implications for Human Behavior

Student 1 response: The evidence suggests that various animal species might engage in the use of psychoactive substances, such as consuming fermented fruits or mushrooms, leading to intoxication. However, these accounts are often considered anecdotal and focus more on the substances themselves rather than the animals’ intentions or behaviors. Nonetheless, this lack of concrete evidence doesn’t necessarily mean such behaviors are non-existent but highlights the challenges in interpreting animal actions within the human concept of ‘drug use.’ Researchers like Dr. Lee Hogarth and colleagues explore the implications of this for human drug use, linking it to the desire for altered states of consciousness and pleasure-seeking. Through an affective neuroscience perspective, researchers aim to understand how social and environmental factors influence addiction, including the interplay between social instincts, pleasure, and the SEEKING system. Recognizing the need for improved treatment methods, it’s important to acknowledge the limitations of current multidisciplinary models. By considering the social dimension of the human brain, we can identify various traumatic early life experiences in drug users and develop strategies to address them within a potential neuropsychoanalytic treatment approach for addiction (Hogarth et al., 2006).

Examining animals’ natural tendencies to seek consciousness-altering substances can provide insights into the intricate dynamics between instinctual drives, emotional needs, and social contexts that influence addiction. This approach acknowledges addiction as a multifaceted issue, not solely a brain disease, but also deeply connected to an individual’s emotional life and social environment.

Resources

Hogarth, L., Dickinson, A., Hutton, S. B., Elbers, N., & Duka, T. (2006). Drug expectancy is necessary for stimulus control of human attention, instrumental drug-seeking behavior, and subjective pleasure. Psychopharmacology, 185(4), 495–504. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-005-0287-x

Student 2 response: Our ancestors have long cherished and even revered a variety of mind-altering substances. Numerous indigenous cultures and ancient civilizations have rituals, visionary art, and cultural artifacts that attest to this. Although the consumption of consciousness-expanding substances by Homo sapiens is well documented in anthropology and history, there is ample evidence to suggest that other animals also look for mind-altering plants and substances in their environment. These drugs may initially appeal to people for reasons other than getting high, such as nutritional or protective benefits. For instance, certain species may be attracted to ferment fruits because the process indicates the fruit has reached its peak caloric value and is about to rot. In other instances, intoxicants that occur naturally may have therapeutic benefits or contain nutrients that are otherwise rare in the environment.

There are many animals that use psychoactive drugs just like we do as humans. When you give a cat catnip you see changes in their behavior. Cats will begin to show signs of intoxication, including rolling, licking, rubbing themselves, stretching, and sleepiness. The chemical that causes these reactions is called nepetalactone. Dolphins will squeeze pufferfish to try and get a small release of neurotoxin that puts them in a “trance”. They were also seen passing it around to others. Deer will eat psychedelic mushrooms. People have seen the deer having drunken behavior, head twitching, aimlessly running around, and making noises.

Resources

Hart, C. L. (2021). Drugs, Society, and Human Behavior (18th ed.). McGraw-Hill Higher Education (US). https://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781264170296

Pachniewska, A. (2016, October 29). The animals that love doing drugs. Animal Cognition. https://www.animalcognition.org/2015/05/16/animal-drug-use/

Student 3 response:
1. Is there any evidence that other species use psychoactive drugs? Provide supporting examples and evidence.
Answer: Yes, there are other species that use (Psychoactive Drugs), for instance, Elephants in South Africa eat fruits that contain intoxicants that are causing them to behave in an aggressive manner. Elephants usually do not have these types of characteristics unless they are consuming something that is causing them to act this way. Researchers have studied that elephants have an attraction towards a Marula Tree, but they seem to experience an unusual behavior out of the norm. Not only the Marula Tree, to be more specific the tree bark is an interesting factor that I never noticed. I’m sure at one point we all noticed elephants playing in the trees or most of the time having a tree bark in their mouths while wandering in nature, but without knowing the reason. Also, the tree bark contains poison from beetle pupae that were used in African history for arrow tips. I’ve come to realize that not only humans are after something that changes their mood that makes them feel good or an addictive substance that changes their emotions as well.