Mouse Party: Psychoactive Drugs

Created by Dr. Martin Shapiro with information from Learning Genetics at the Univesity of Utah

What You Will Be Doing

• Recreational psychoactive drugs refer to legal and illegal drugs taken without medical supervision and taken for several types of subjective experiences. There are four categories of recreational drugs: 

  • Analgesics: These drugs reduce pain but can also give feelings of euphoria. Examples of analgesics are Opioids like heroin, Oxycodone, and Fentanyl. 

  • Depressants: These drugs slow activity in the brain. Examples of depressants are alcohol, benzodiazepines, and barbiturates.

  • Stimulants: These drugs increase activity in the brain. Examples of stimulants are cocaine and amphetamine.

  • Hallucinogens: These drugs produce hallucinations and ego dissolution. Examples of hallucinogens are LSD, psilocybin, and ketamine. 

  • Some recreational drugs fit into more than one group, such as marijuana, ecstasy, and nicotine. 

• Recreational drugs have these effects because of how they affect neurotransmitter activity at the synapse between two neurons. The University of Utah created an excellent educational website that provides information about genetics, the nervous system, and recreational drugs. At this site, they have an activity called Mouse Party that has an interactive feature where you can learn how different drugs affect the nervous system. 

How to Do It

1. Watch the how-to video to learn about what you will be doing in the activity. 

2. Download the Mouse Party worksheet. 

3. Go to the Mouse Party website at the link:  Mouse Party Link

4. Pick each animated mouse, place it in the detector, and use what you learn to fill out the worksheet. 

5. Use the chart from the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs from the United Kingdom to fill out the last column in the worksheet.