Exam 1 - Ch.1 Introduction

Question 1

What are drugs classified by?

Answer 1

• origin/source
• action
• therapeutic use
• site of drug action
• chemical structure
• mechanism of action
• street name

Question 2

Pharmacology

Answer 2

scientific study of drugs concerned with all info about the effects of drugs on living systems

Question 3

Psychopharmacology

Answer 3

effects of drugs on behavior

Question 4

Neuropharmacology

Answer 4

drug-induced changes in the functioning of cells in the nervous system

Question 5

What 3 things affect the drug experience?

Answer 5

• pharmacological factors: chemical properties, drug dosage, route of administration
• characteristics of the drug user
• setting in which a drug is used

Question 6

Pharmacokinetics

Answer 6

how the body absorbs, distributes, metabolizes and excretes drugs

Question 7

Pharmacodynamics

Answer 7

biochemical and physiological effects of drugs and their mechanisms of action (what they do)

Question 8

What are the routes of drug administration? What are the pros and cons of each?

Answer 8

• oral - self administered/easy, but it is broken down a lot before reaching target site
• intravenous - fastest, more likely to reach target site, but there’s not much time for intervention
• intramuscular - slow and even distribution, but can cause irritation at injection site
• subcutaneous - slow and prolonged, but absorption is variable depending on blood flow
• inhalation - rapid onset, but can cause irritation of nasal passages
• topical - easy to administer, but may be absorbed into general circulation
• transdermal - controlled and prolonged absorption, but can cause local irritation
• epidural - rapid effect on CNS by passing BBB, but is irreversible an requires a professional

Question 9

What is bioavailability?

Answer 9

portion of original drug dose that reaches the site of action

Question 10

What factors affect drug absorption?

Answer 10

• ability to pass through membranes (lipid solubility)
• form of drug administration
• conditions at site of absorption

Question 11

What factors affect drug distribution?

Answer 11

• blood flow: increased blood flow receive drug shortly after absorption
• diffusibility: a more diffusible substance is more easily into
• solubility: ease with which a compound can be dissolved

Question 12

What is the difference between typical capillaries and brain capillaries?

Answer 12

• typical capillaries have fenestrations that allow for a high volume of liquids and large molecules (pinocytosis) to pass through
• brain capillaries have tight junctions that block passage, and require energy to be passed, protecting the brain. Surrounded by astrocytes, which form the BBB

Question 13

What are the two laws that elimination of drugs follows?

Answer 13

1 - zero order kinetics: rate of metabolization is independent of the concentration of the drug in the system (EX: alcohol)
2 - first-order kinetics: rate of metabolization is dependent on the concentration of the drug in the system

Question 14

Half life

Answer 14

time that must pass for the amount of drug in the body to be cut in half (half of the drug has been metabolized)

Question 15

Receptors

Answer 15

protein structures serving as substrates for NTs and drugs

Question 16

Agonist

Answer 16

drugs that bind to the receptor and mimic the effect of a NT (morphine)

Question 17

Antagonist

Answer 17

drugs that bind to the receptor and block and produce no cellular effect, but prevent agonist from binding to the site

Question 18

What is the difference between a competitive antagonist and a non-competitive antagonist?

Answer 18

noncompetitive antagonists do not bind directly to the receptor site, they bind elsewhere and distort the shape of it

Question 19

What is the dose-response curve?

Answer 19

describes the amount of biological or behavioral effect (response) for a given drug concentration (dose)

Question 20

What are the two doses that can be read from a dose response curve?

Answer 20

• effective dose: dose at which a given percentage of individuals show a given effect of a drug
• lethal dose: dose of a drug at which death occurs

Question 21

What are ED50 and LD50?

Answer 21

• the dose at which 50% of your subjects reach the desired result
• the dose at which 50% of your subjects die

Question 22

Drug tolerance

Answer 22

repeated administration of a given dose of a drug often results in reduced response to the drug

Question 23

Dispositional tolerance

Answer 23

an increase in the rate of metabolizing a drug as a result of chronic use

Question 24

Pharmacodynamic tolerance

Answer 24

decreased behavioral effects of a drug
- acute - tolerance occurs quickly
- protracted - tolerance takes place after multiple uses

Question 25

Behavioral tolerance

Answer 25

tolerance occurs in the same environment in which the drug was administered, but is not apparent or is reduced in a new environment

Question 26

Cross tolerance

Answer 26

tolerance to drugs in the same family

Question 27

State-dependent learning

Answer 27

information learned under the influence of a drug is best recalled when the individual is in that drug-induced state (also applies to psychological state)