Chapter 1 - Introduction Flashcards
Psychopharmacology
study of how drugs affect mood, perception, cognition, and behaviour
Psychoactive drugs
drugs that have effects on mood, perception, cognition, and behaviour by acting on the CNS
Why study psychopharmacology?
we are consumers; greater knowledge improves patient understanding; drugs can be used as research tools
What is a drug?
an administered substance that affects physiological functioning
What is not a drug?
substances made in the body but can still be given in a hospital (ex. norepinephrine to raise BP)
Instrumental drug use
used to accomplish a specific purpose
Psychotropic drugs
drugs used to treat a psychological disorder (ex. ativan for anxiety)
Recreational drug use
used to experience drug affects (smoking weed to get high)
Drug misuse
using a drug recreationally that was intended for instrumental use only; often leads to dependency
Trade name (naming drugs)
a trademarked name assigned by the company that created the drug ex. Valium (Hoffman-La Roche)
Generic name (naming drugs)
a nonproprietary name that classifies a drug in a given category and distinguishes it from other drugs in that category ex. Diazepam (a benzodiazepine)
Street name (naming drugs)
colloquial terms for a drug; used by individuals who use, sell, or make drugs for recreation (ex. dope, jellies, vallies)
Chemical name (naming drugs)
detail a drugs chemical structure per rules set forth by the Intl Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry ex. 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)
Dose
drug affect is determined by its dose; defined as the ratio of the amount of drug per body weight
Dose-response/dose-effect curves
depict magnitude of a drug effect over a range of doses
Effective dose
a dose that produces some percentage of a target response OR a dose at which a certain percentage of individuals display some target response (ex. ED50 is a dose that produces 50% of some response OR a dose that produces a target response in 50% of individuals)
Potency
Determined by the amount of drug required for some level of effect; the lower the dose required for some effect, the more potent
Toxic dose (TD)
dose that produces some toxic effect in a certain % of individuals (ex. TD50 is a dose that produces a toxic effect in 50% of individuals
Therapeutic Index
difference in toxic and therapeutic doses of a drug; dose used for some treatment
Certain Safety Index
divide TD1 by ED99, ideally don’t want the two dose responses to overlap; CSI >1
Addiditve drug effects
the magnitude of the combined effect is the sum of each drug’s effect
Synergistic drug effect
the combined effect is greater than the sum of each drug’s effect
Pharmacodynamics
refers to the physiological actions of the drugs (ex. effect of a drug on a particular receptor site in the brain)
Pharmacokinetics
refers to how drugs pass through and are eliminated from the body (ex. how readily does the drug pass into blood stream/brain, how is it metabolized, how long does it remain in the body)
Pharmacogenetics
refers to the study of how genetic differences influence both pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics
Correlational study
no alteration of study conditions; changes in study variables are observed and relationships are observed; cant state causal effect with certainty
Experimental study
researchers alter a study’s independent variable and observe changes in a dependent variable; experiments can identify causal relationships between an independent and a dependent variable
Placebo
a substance that is made to be identical in appearance to drug but is inert; controls for expectation effects
Active placebo
may have certain side effects to be more convincing
Single blind experiment
participants do not know which treatment they received
Double blind experiment
neither the participants nor the researcher know the treatment assignments
Open label experiments
does not involve blinded procedures because of ethical consequences or impracticality (ex. anti cancer drug would be unethical to withhold)
Objective effects
drug effects that can be directly observed by others (ex. sobriety test, BP, HR)
Subjective effects
drug effects that cannot be directly observed (ex. mood, perceptual effects)
Why are animals used for psychopharmacological research?
there are no viable alternatives; have a relatively high internal validity, construct validity, and predictive validity
Internal validity
the degree of confidence that the causal relationship being tested is trustworthy and not influenced by other factors or variables
Construct validity
how well a set of indicators represent or reflect a concept that is not directly measurable; the accumulation of evidence to support the interpretation of what a measure reflects
ex. animals model essential features of conditions in humans
Predictive validity
addresses how well a specific tool predicts future behavior
ex. animals can predict drugs that MAY also be effective in humans
What are the three Rs in the regulation of animal research?
replace, reduce, refine (use other models when possible, number of animals to a minimum, minimize harm/pain)
External validity
ability to generalize findings beyond the immediate testing conditions (ex. to other populations)
ex. drug may work in study population (mine, normal/healthy humans) but not in another population (humans/with a psychological or medical cond.)
Informed consent
free choice; cannot force anyone to participate
Low risk/benefit
benefits must outweigh the risks
How many phases are in a clinical trial?
4 phases
