Biologicalš§ ā¢ Recreational Drugs Flashcards
Many drugs work by either ________ or ________ the effects of naurally occuring ________ in your brain
Many drugs work by either copying or blocking the effects of naurally occuring chemicals in your brain
Stimulant drugs ____________ the rate of neurotransmission
Stimulant drugs increase the rate of neurotransmission
Relaxant drugs ____________ the rate of neurotransmission
Relaxant drugs decrease the rate of neurotransmission
Name 1 stimulant drugs
- Cocane
Name 2 relaxant drugs
- Cannabis
- Alcohol
What is SSRI?
Selective
Serotonin
Re-uptake
Inhibitors
What is GABBA?
A neurotransmitter that inhibits other neurotransmitters/ nerve cellsā ability to receive impulses/ signals
What acetylcholine?
A neurotransmitter that plays a role in body functions such as muscle contractions to move your muscles e.g. movement
What is an agonist drug?
One that mimics anotherās funciton and therefore binds receptors, increasing rate of neurotransmission
What is an antagonist drug?
One that blocks receptors, cosequently decreasing the rate of neurotransmission
What is norepinephrine/ noradrenaline?
(Mean same thing)
A neurotransmitter that speeds up your heart rate
What are opiates?
A type of drug that activates an area of nerve cells in the brain and body called opioid receptors that block pain signals between the brain and the body e.g. = morphine
What will happen if you take cocane?
(Neurotransmision-wise)
- It will Increase domapine, norepinephrine & acetycholine
- Has most profound impact on Dopamine
- It prevents reuptake of dopamine by binding to dopamine transporter molecules on terminal buttons of presynaptic neuron
- This prevents recycling/ reuptake of dopamine, therefore the synapse is flooded with large quantities of dopamine, all aviainable for binding with postsynaptic receptors, inferring very high levels dopamine and therfore of pleasure e.g. -> Increase dopamine through the blocking reuptake therefore leavingmoreinsynapse
- It passes into your blood/ cerebrospinal fluid very quickly so effects are quick to occur
What are the positives to taking cocane?
- Dopamine released so body will feel pleasure
- Norepinephrine/adrenaline released so body will feel more energetic with increased heart rate
What are the negatives to taking cocane?
- Can develop addiciton/ a tolerance which can lead to unnatural biochemical imbalance in brain
What will happen if you take cannabis?
(Neurotransmision-wise)
- Will increase dopamine, acetycholine & GABA
- Will bind to CB1 & CB2 receptors
- Due to increase in GABBA other neurotransmitters will be inhibited e.g. those in hippocampus & limbic system
- It also inhibits the neurotransmitters that inhibit dopamine, leaving dopamine to increase freely
- Increase dopamine through the blocking reuptake therefore leavingmoreinsynapse
What are the positives to taking cannabis?
- Large ammount of dopamine release, therefore increased pleasure
What are the negatives to taking cannabis?
- GABA inhibits all other neurotransmitters, therefore:
- Hippocampusā neurotransmitters impacted = issues for memory, necessary transmission to solidify memory isnt occuring, hence people cant remember
- Acetycholine impacted = issues with muscle coordination and therefore mobility, inferring decreased control over movement/ mobility
- Alongside new memories failing to be stored,a person may not be able to access long term memory with hippocampus being altered
- Can develop addiction or a tolerance and therefore biochemical imbalance
What will happen if you drink alcohol?
(Neurotransmision-wise)
- Will increase dopmaine, serotionin and GABA
- Increase dopamine through the blocking reuptake therefore leaving more in the synapse
What are the positives to drinking alcohol?
Increased levels of enjoyment and pleasure due to increased levels of dopamine
What are the negatives to drinking alcohol?
- Due to GABA other neurotransmitters will be impacted and inhibted:
- Hippocampusā neurotransmitters = memory
- Acetycholine = coordination
- Both inhibited hence low memory transmision and low control over coordination and movement when under influence of alcohol
- Can explain why people dont remember events sometimes when they drink lots of alochol
- Can develop addiction or a tolerance and therefore biochemical imbalance
What is tolerance
Drug tolerance refers to the body getting used to a substance over time and depending on it for your body to function correctly, e.g. your body can no longer function without it
What is the actual neural impact to having an addiction/ tolerance to a drug?
- By taking a drug your dopamine levels increase
- By repeatedly taking said drug your dopamine levels break from their natural balance as your brain adapts to the influx of dopmaine and stops producing as much on its own and becomes reliant on said drug for normal levels
- Therefore when you dont take the drug your brain and body have adapted to requiring it so they crave it for the required dopamine as its adapted to the increased drug intake so is not producing regular ammounts
- BODY DOESNT PRODUCE ENOUGH DOPAMINE ON ITS OWN
- DOPAMINE RECEPTORS DEGRADE AND DONT WORK CORRECTLY THERFORE LOW DOPAMINE THEREFORE UNHAPPYNESS AND A BIOCHEMICAL IMBALANCE
What are 2 solutions to addiction/ a tolerance?
- Methadone
- Naloxine
Explain the effects of Methadone
- It is a replacement for heroin
- As body still craves heroin, Methadone mimics heroin to satisfy disrupted bodily regulation
- +VE = a standardised dosage, heroin off streets so can be very high or very low
- Methadone helps to reduce tolerance slowly so the brain starts to produce its own dopamine again to restore biochemical imbalace
Explain the effects of Naloxine
- It completly blocks uptake to prevent effects of drugs
- Therefore, when body has drug and no effects occur it thinks that therefore are no benefits e.g. dopamine increasing
- Therefore the body no longer craves it and thinks it no longer has the same positive impact
- Helps with addiction
- e.g. if a person were to take Naloxine and was addicted to alcohol = may taste sour/ different and therefore put people off to help with addiction as body doesnt want it anymore
