Week 8 Lecture Flashcards

1
Q

What is psychopharmacology?

A

The study of drug induced changes in mood, thinking and behaviour

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2
Q

Where is the work pharmacology derived from?

A

the greek word Pharmakon, which means ‘drug’.

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3
Q

What is a drug?

A

exogenous (external) chemical not necessary for normal cellular functioning which alters the activity of certain cells of the body.

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4
Q

What are drugs that alter mood separated into?

A

stimulants, depressants, or hallucinogen

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5
Q

What are anxiolytics?

A

Drugs used to reduce anxious feelings

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6
Q

What are antidepressant drugs?

A

alleviate negative feelings typical of depressive symptoms

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7
Q

What are antipsychotic drugs?

A

Used to treat severe forms of psychotic behaviour, such as hallucinations and delusions

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8
Q

What do we define psychopharmacology as today?

A

the study of the effects of drugs on the nervous system and on behaviour

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9
Q

Where did psychopharmacology originate?

A

In the early 19th century with recreational and organis drugs as medicines

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10
Q

In the early 19th century, which drugs were freely accessible?

A

tea, opium, coffee, alcohol

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11
Q

In the later part of the 19th century, which drugs were synthesise to be used for mental health?

A

morphine and chloral hydrate

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12
Q

When was the first antipsychotic drugs developed and what was it?

A

chlorpromazine, and in the 1950’s.

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13
Q

What is pharmacokinetics?

A

The process by which drugs are absorbed, distributed in the body, metabolised and excreted.

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14
Q

What is drug effectiveness?

A

Relates to the ability of a drug to readily produce certain physiological and behavioural effects

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15
Q

What are the effects of repeated administration?

A

tolerance and sensitisation

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16
Q

Define placebo effects?

A

an inert substance is given to an organism in lieu of a physiologically active drug

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17
Q

What does drug absorption refer to?

A

the mechanisms by which drugs get into the blood stream and distributed throughout the body

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18
Q

In psychopharmacology, what are we particularly interested in?

A

how a drug gets into the brain, and how much (i.e how easily is passes from blood to neural tissues)

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19
Q

How does a drug typically get into the central nervous system?

A

typically, through the blood stream

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20
Q

What are some routes of administration?

A

-oral
-nasal
-inhalation
-rectal
etc

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21
Q

What is the blood brain barrier for?

A

only for water soluble molecules

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22
Q

Molecules that are soluble in lipids (fats) and not water have what effect on the blood brain barrier?

A

Pass through with ease.

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23
Q

What is one way that drugs can cross the blood brain barrier to do with the water soluble molecules?

A
  1. Passive movement of water soluble agents across the BBB is negligible because of the tight junctions between endothelial cells
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24
Q

What is one way that drugs can cross the blood brain barrier to do with the lipids?

A
  1. small, lipid soluble agents such as antidepressants cross the BBB via diffusion through endothelial cells
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25
Q

What is the best way to measure the effectiveness of a drug?

A

To plot a dose response curve

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26
Q

What does asymptote mean in relation to the drug response curve?

A

The greatest effect of the drug?

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27
Q

What happens to the effects of a drug if it is administered repeatedly?

A

Its effects will not remain constant

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28
Q

What is tolerance in regard to drug effects?

A

A decrease in the effectiveness of a drug that is administered repeatedly

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29
Q

What is sensitisation?

A

An increase in the effectiveness of a drug that is administered repeatedly.

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30
Q

What is contingent drug tolerance?

A

tolerance develops only to drug effects that are actually experienced contingent to a given behaviour.

31
Q

What is conditioned drug tolerance?

A

refers to where tolerance effects are maximally expressed only when a drug is administered in the same situation in which it has been administered.

32
Q

Because there are withdrawal effects frequently opposite to the initial effects of the drug, what does this suggest in regard to withdrawal effects?

A

They may be connected at a biological level with the changes that produce drug tolerance.

33
Q

What are long term effects of opioid withdrawls?

A

diarrhoea, dilated pupils, vomiting

34
Q

Where does the word placebo come from?

A

the Latin word placere, meaning “pleasure” or “to please”.

35
Q

Are there neurological effects of a placebo?

A

yes

36
Q

What is an antagonist drug?

A

a drug that opposes or inhibits the effects of a particular neurotransmitter on the post synaptic cell

37
Q

What is an agonist drug?

A

a drug that facilitates the effects of a particular neurotransmitter on the postsynaptic cell.

38
Q

Who discovered the first neurotransmitter and when?

A

Otto Loewi in the 1920’s

39
Q

About how many substances have been identified as neurotransmitters?

A

About 50

40
Q

What are neuromodulators?

A

Modulate the effects of neurotransmitter but they themselves are not neurotransmitter

41
Q

What are the key properties which qualify something to be a neurotransmitter? (4)

A
  1. stored in the neuron
  2. released into the synapse
  3. causes an effect
  4. degradation and reuptake
42
Q

What was the first neurotransmitter ever discovered?

A

acetlycholine

43
Q

What is acetylcholine primarily involved in?

A

motor movement

44
Q

Spiders use toxins to intefer with acetylcholine to do what?

A

produce paralysis

45
Q

What is acetylcholine’s role in memory?

A

alzheimer’s disease involves a degradation in acetylcholine neurons

46
Q

What are the 2 receptors that acetlycholine interacts with?

A

nicotine

muscarine

47
Q

What are biogenic amines?

A

important neurotransmitter in the brain

48
Q

What are the 5 established biogenic amine neurotransmitters?

A
  1. norepinephrine
  2. epinephrine
  3. dopamine
  4. histamine
  5. serotonin

they are all catecholamines

49
Q

What is norepinephrine?

A

distributed throughout central and peripheral nervous systems

50
Q

What is norepinephrine primarily responsible for?

A

maintaining cortical arousal

regulating organs

51
Q

What is norepinephrine involved in controlling? (3)

A

attention
emotion
eating

52
Q

adrenaline and noradrenaline interact with:

A

both alpha and beta

53
Q

What are norepinephrine activity linked to?

A

depression

attention deficit disorders

54
Q

Where is dopamine located?

A

forebrain pathways which originate in the brain stem

55
Q

Deficiencies in dopamine in the nigrostriatal pathway results in what?

A

Parkinson’s disease

56
Q

Dopamine is heavily involved in what pathway?

A

the reward pathway

57
Q

What are the 2 different family of dopamine?

A

D1 like receptor family

D2 like receptor family

58
Q

What is serotonin distributed throuout?

A

brain and spinal chord

59
Q

What is serotonin involved in the control of? (4)

A

sleep/wake cycle
mood
impulsive behaviour
appetite

60
Q

What disorders have serotonin been involved in? (5)

A
sleep disorders
aggression
obesity 
anorexia
depression
61
Q

Serotonin drugs are important for the treatment in what?

A

depression

62
Q

What are 4 forms of serotonin drugs to block reuptake and help depression?

A

prozac
zoloft
luvox
paxil

63
Q

What are amino acid transmitters?

A

provides most of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission in the nervous system.

64
Q

What are 2 main amino acid transmitters?

A

glutamate (excitatory)

GABA (inhibitory)

65
Q

What are the 2 main categories of glutamate receptors?

A

ionotropic

metabotropic

66
Q

What is the elevated plus maze?

A

a rodent model of anxiety

67
Q

dopamine release is observed where?

A

in the nucleus accumbens

68
Q

What has an indirect, modulatory effect on the brain, potentiating the actions of GABA?

A

ethanol (alcohol)

69
Q

Nicotine activates what? (2)

A
  1. nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the VTA region, increasing dopamine cell firing
  2. opioid peptide release
70
Q

What do cannabinoids reinforce the effects of?

A

tetrahydrocannabinol

71
Q

the acute reinforcing effects of THC involve the activation of what?

A

dopamine system

72
Q

MDMA (ecstasy) enhances what?

A

empathy and close relations

73
Q

What properties does MDMA have?

A

stimulant and hallucinogenic properties