Exam 1 Flashcards
Homeostasis
Compensatory action to keep things in the body stable
Allostasis
Explain the parts of a neuron
What does a dendrite do?
Receive signals from next door neurons (radio antenna)
Explain the parts of a neuron
What does an axon do?
Transmits a signal over distance (telephone wire)
What does an axon terminal do?
transmits signals to other neuron dendrites or tissues (radio transmitter)
What does the myelin sheath do?
Speeds up signal transmission along the axon.
What are glial cells?
Secondary cells that support neurons.
How are neurons connected?
They never touch, but are connected through synapses.
What are neurotransmitters?
The body’s chemical messengers. Molecules used by the nervous system to transmit messages throughout the body.
What are the two types of neurotransmitters?
Excitatory and inhibitory
What is an agonist?
An agonist drug increases the uptake of neurotransmitters.
What is an antagonist?
An antagonist decreases the uptake of neurotransmitter molecules.
What are endocrine glands?
Glands that secrete hormones which carry messages to certain organs or tissues in the body.
Drug abuse
Use of a drug in a pattern and ways that are harmful to a person or others
Drug misuse
A better term for abuse. Using a legal or prescribed medication in a way that it’s not meant.
Addiction
When you have an irresistible urge to use a drug even though there are harmful consequences
Dependence
When the body adpats to a drug. You can be dependent on a drug, but not openly addicted to it.
Tolerance
When a person’s body or brain doesn’t repsond to a drug in the same way it once did. This means you need more of the drug to get the same effect.
Potency vs. Toxicity
Potency is the amount of a drug needed to cause an effect either desired or unintended.
Toxicity is the ability of a drug to do harm to the body.
Withdrawal
Negative physical effects from stopping drug use
Dose-response relationship
Correlation between the amount of a drug taken and its effects. Different individuals will have different levels of tolerance.
Additivity
A combo of two drugs is the sum of each
Antagonism
One drug reduces the effect of another
Potentiation
One drug causing another to have a greater effect than if taken by itself.
Synergism
One drug causing a dramatic increase in the effect of another
