Chapter One - Basic Pharmacology Flashcards
Define:
Psychopharamacology
The study of how drugs affect mood, perception, thinking, or behaviour.
Define:
Psychoactive Drugs
These are drugs that affect mood, perception, thinking, or behaviour by acting on the nervous system.
ie. Cocaine, caffeine, alcohol.
Define:
Instrumental Drug Use
Use of a drug to address a specific purpose [medical].
Define:
Recreational Drug Use
Using a drug entirely to experience the effects [partying].
Define:
Behavioral Pharmacology
The study of how drugs affect behavior.
Sometimes behavioral pharmacologists emphasize principles used in the field of behavior analysis.
Define:
Neuropsychopharmacology
The study of how drugs affect the nervous system and how these nervous sytem changes alter behaviour.
What is a drug?
Traditional Defintion:
- any substance that alters the physiology of the body.
Contemporary Defintion:
- any substance that alters the physiology of the body but is NOT food.
Different Drug Names?
- Generic Name: A non-proprietary name is a simple name for a drug that shows its classification and sets it apart from others in the same group.
- Trade Name: a trademarked name a company provides for a drug.
- Chemical Name: details a drug’s chemical structure.
- Street Name: given by those who use, sell, or illegally make recreational drugs
How are drug doses reported?
Drugs tend to be reported in ml per kg.
A standardized reporting enables comparisons across species.
What is a dose response curve [DRC] used to establish?
Used to establish a picture of the physiological and behavioral effects of a drug.
What are 2 important landmarks for dosing?
- ED50, median effective dose.
- LD50, median lethal dose.
Define:
Potency
The amount of a drug used to produce a certain magnitude of effect.
Can be seen through the differences in ED50, the lower this is the higher the potency level.
When examining graphs, the farther the curve is to the left = more potent.
Define:
Effectiveness
Refers to a drugs ability to elicit a response, regardless of the dosage.
Two types of psychoactive drug effects?
- Objective.
- Subjective.
Objective Effects?
Pharmacological effects that can be directly observed by other people.
Subjective Effects?
Pharmacological effects that cannot be directly observed by other people.
Define:
Therapeutic Index
This conveys the distance between therapeutic versus toxic dosages of drugs.
It is the lethal dose divided by therapeutic dose.
Higher on the therapeutic side = the safer the drug is.
Define:
Pharmacodynamics
The psychological actions of drugs.
Define:
Pharmacokinetics
How drugs move and pass through the body.
Four steps [fifth is debated but not included].
- Absorption.
- Distribution.
- Biotransformation.
- Elimination.
Ingestion/administration is debated as the first step, but not added.
Define:
Pharmacogenetics
This is how genetic differences influence a drugs pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects/properties.
Pharmacokinetics:
Absorption
Refers to the passage of the drug from the site of administration to the bloodstream.
Absorption:
Intravenous
Administered into a vein.
Fastest route, as it goes directly into the bloodstream [no membranes/barriers to pass through].
Absorption:
Intramuscular
Injected into a muscle.
Define:
Subcutaneous
Administered under the skin.