L5 - Drugs and Medication

Question 1

What do inhibitory/excitatory potentials do?

Answer 1

• Change voltage of membrane
• Leads to threshold potential
• Leads to depolarisation
• Causes Action Potential
• Travels down to the cleft through axon where neurotransmitters are stimulated

Question 2

How do the potentials effect the action potential?

Answer 2

Excitatory = more likely to fire
Inhibitory = less likely to fire
Summation = fluctuation of IN/EX so you must add up to see total

Question 3

What are the key Neurotransmitters?

Answer 3

• Glutamate: EX, sensory input & motor output, through spine and brain
• GABA: IN, stops overexcitation
• Dopamine: Modulatory, pleasure, all over brain
• Serotonin: Modulatory, general well being, communicator
• Nor/Adrenaline: Communication, flight/fight

Question 4

Where is dopamine found (Important)

Answer 4

Frontal cortex, but present elsewhere

Question 5

Describe how neurotransmitters are made and what they do to receptors

Answer 5

• Synthesised as genes code for proteins
• Put in vesicle
• Action potential causes cascade reaction, triggering vesicle to release NT
• NT binds to receptor (specific)
• Receptor changes shape, causing cascade reaction
• Opening of ion gates causes charged particles to move out, changes electric potential, triggering another AP

Question 6

How to stop NTs after they bind to receptors

Answer 6

• Reuptake pump pumps NT out of cleft

Question 7

How do drugs affect this process? Give examples?

Answer 7

• Mimic NT
• Block Receptor

SSRIs affect reuptake, NT spend longer in receptor

Question 8

What is an agonist/antagonist

Answer 8

Agonist = enhances neurotransmission
Antagonist = reduces neurotransmission

NOTHING TO DO WITH IF THE NT IS EX?IN

Question 9

What do Antidepressants do?

Answer 9

• Block reputake of serotonin

Question 10

What does Alcohol do?

Answer 10

GABA agonist

Question 11

What does Nicotine do?

Answer 11

Activates acetylcholine, activates sympathetic nervous system

Question 12

What does cocaine do?

Answer 12

Blocks reuptake of dopamine, serotonin, noradrenaline

Question 13

What do Amphetamines do?

Answer 13

Blocks reuptake of dopamine, serotonin, noradrenaline

Question 14

What are the long term effects of taking drugs

Answer 14

• Get used to them as NT will compensate for previous set. If too much given, less will go out this set, making it long lasting

Question 15

How does Context affect addiction?

Answer 15

• Context revisited causes cravings as systems change
• Emotion causes memory to be intensified

Question 16

Explain levels of explanation with drug addiction. Psychological vs medical

Answer 16

• Stimulus-response (associative learning) plays a role in addiction
• Dopamine plays a key theory in associative learning
• Psychological processes of addiction have neurochemical basis