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Gene Therapy Vs Classical Conditioning

Decent Essays

Classical conditioning is when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus and acquires the capacity to elicit a similar response (King, 170). In theory classical conditioning is when two items are paired together. This was determined by Ivan Pavlov, who was a Russian physiologist. He is famous for accidental find out the connection between behavior and stimulus. Pavlov originally wanted to find out how the body digests food, instead he found out that dogs salivated to the sound of the bell, since they related it to obtaining food. Classical conditioning is about how behavior can be determined by stimulus. Gene therapy on the other hand is a medical procedure, that modifies the genes, by using stem cells. Gene therapy …show more content…

For example an alcoholic might have a gene that makes them more acceptable to alcohol. If that gene is turned off it will make it a lot easier for the addicted to quit. Another possibility is to mutant the gene. According to an article posted by technology review.com, researchers in Chile have successful mutant a gene in rats, to make their tolerance for alcohol low. This idea came from the fact, that some East Asians have a mutant gene that makes it so they have a low tolerance. When about 33% of East Asians drank they get red face, heart pounding, and nausea feeling. There are other ways that aren’t as extreme though, since they don’t involve an injection or a medical procedure. Classical conditioning can be used, to stop addictions. For example taste aversion learning is a way to get alcoholics to stop drinking. Taste aversion happens when an alcoholic is giving a drug that will make them nausea and throw up if they have any alcohol. This causes the person to pair nausea and vomiting to alcohol so they will stop drinking. This is a really common example of how classical conditioning can be used. This process can also be called Aversive …show more content…

Smoking is one of the most common addictions in the world, since the nicotine reaches the brain in about 10 seconds when smoking a cigarette. Was the nicotine reaches the brain, it causes dopamine to be released. There is research been done right now, to try and stop this behavior. A vaccine is being created to deliver a gene, that will stop the nicotine from reaching the brain. If the nicotine doesn’t reach the brain, a person won’t become addicted. Currently this research is being tested on mice. So far the vaccination seems to be working, since the mice know no longer show any physical signs of nicotine. Before the vaccination the mice would have a decrease in blood pressure and heart

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