the neuro-immune system and substance use

​Val's Take/Conjecture​

• The "Neuro-Immune System" is a relatively new concept and it has taken off in the last 5 to 10 years.
• It involves Glial Cells (including the Brain's Innate Immune Cells in Microglia) and various Molecular Pathways.
• Researchers are identifying the "Neuro-Immune System" as a critical player in many diseases and disorders, including:
  • Neuro-Developmental Disorders
  • Psychiatric Disorders, and
  • Substance Use Disorders

• Researchers are zeroing in on "Microglia" and its relationship to Substance Use Disorders.

• In Criminal Justice, there are a lot of People with Neuro-Developmental Disorders, Psychiatric Disorders, Substance Use Disorders and Brain Injury.
  • Further, many people are contending with more than one issue.

​

• "NEURO-INFLAMMATION" is a big common denominator.

​On the other hand, one of the reasons why the issues are so complex and expensive to treat is they are not identical and often require a fair amount of individualized medicine and treatment.

There's a reason why these disorders have tended to cluster in the Criminal Justice System --- these disorders do have the potential to become dangerous.

• There have been Criminal Justice Rehabilitation Efforts for hundreds of years --- going back to England even before the US was a country.
• But the way they conceptualized the "ROOT CAUSE" of the problem was often a MORAL FAILURE. [History of the Penitentiary]
• And that is still going on.  Some kind of  "Religious and/or Moral Education" probably can help manage excess ANXIETY, ANGER,  AGGRESSION, and EMOTIONAL DYSREGULATION.just as DIET and EXERCISE can help with managing some of that NEURO-INFLAMMATION.

There is evidence that Diet and Exercise can improve Cognitive Dysfunction and Neuro-Inflammation and the regulation of Microglia.​ 

• ​BUT in many cases these strategies can help but fall woefully short of solving the problem for some people.

​

• We've been PUSHED to understand the underlying BIOLOGY of Substance Use and other issues -- because what we we're doing wasn't sufficient.

The Neuroimmune System and the Cerebellum (2023)

​[provides a good overview of the Neuro-Immune System]

Microglia NLRP3 Inflammasome and Neuroimmune Signaling in Substance Use Disorders (2023)

"During the last decade, substance use disorders 
(SUDs) have been increasingly recognized as neuroinflammation-related brain diseases. ...Recently, inflammasome-mediated signaling has been identified as playing critical roles in the microglia activation …"

Transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of microglia in substance use disorders.  (2023)

​"Microglia are widely known for their role in immune surveillance and for their ability to refine neurocircuitry during development, but a growing body of evidence suggests that microglia may also play a complementary role to neurons in regulating the ​behavioral aspects of substance use disorders."

CONTINUED

​For me, a big issue from a "Moral Education" standpoint is that many people are coming with SIGNIFICANT NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL INFLAMMATION and AFTER-ACQUIRED INFLAMMATION (including TRAUMA but many other things as well) and significantly reduced abilities to manage STRESS.

•  and if we don't understand their personal individual biology and situation -- a big default is often a punitive response.
• That punitive response is meant to reassure the Community --- and it often does --- but it also sends a powerful message that we SACRIFICE people in our community.