Lecture 39: Principles of Psychopharmacology Flashcards
What are the psychiatric drugs?
- Antipsychotic
- Antidepressant
- Mood stabilizer
- Benzodiazepines
- Anti-Dementia
What is psychopharamacology?
Study of drug-induced changes in BEHAVIOR and mood/sensation
What do all psychiatric medication share in properties?
Lipophilic
Can cross the blood brain barrier
Most were discovered b serenditpidty and their MOA is largely unknown!!
What is the monoamine hypothesis?
Theory that depression is a result of DEPLETION of monoamines, specifically serotonin, NE and dopamin
Where do serotonergic neurons originate from?
Raphe nuclei in midbrain
What are the psychiatric conditions related to serotonin?
Eating Disorders
OCD
Anxiety
Mood
Where do noradrenergic neurons originate from?
Locus coeruleus
What is NE’s primary function?
Alertness (which you would need when running away from a tiger)
NOT attention
Attention carried out by dopamine
What are psychiatric conditions related to NE?
Pain disorders
ADHD
Anxiety disorders
Mood disorders
Where do dopaminergic neurons origninate from?
- Ventral tegmental area
- midbrain and cortical projection
- Substantia nigra
- Tuberoinfundibulum
What is dopamine’s primary function?
ATTENTION
Reward
What are psychiatric conditions related to dopamine?
Schizophrenia
ADHD
Mood disorders
Addictions
What behaviors does glutamate mediate?
- Seizures
- Psychosis
- learning and memory
- mood
- can cause cell death
What drugs block NMDA receptors?
- Ketamine
- Phencyclidine (PCP)
- mimic schizophrenic symptoms
What psychiatric conditions are related to glutamate?
- Schizophrenia
- Alzheimer’s Disease
- Mood disorders
What are examples of drugs that bind GABA chloride channels?
- Benzos
- Barbiturates (anticonvulsants)
Which makes sense because seizures are due to the excitatory/inhibitory balance being out of whack
What does GABA mediate?
Anxiety, memory, sleep and consciousness, seizures, muscle tone, pain
What psychiatric conditions are related?
Anxiety disorders
Insomnia
Alcohol withdrawal
Pain disorders
What is the significance of histamine?
Biogenic amine involved in appetite, weight and sleep
H1 receptors are altered by certain psychiatric medications and modulate hypothalamic neurons
What is the mechanism that all ANTIPSYCHOTICS share? Significance?
Antagonist of the D2 receptor
Antipsychotic = LESS dopamine
Led to dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia (leading and most prominent)
What agents can increase dopamine and lead to psychosis?
- cocaine
2. amphetamines
What causes the negative symptoms of schizophrenia? What are negative symptoms?
Overabundance of dopamine Mesocortical pathway
Negative symptoms = social isolation, poor hygiene
What is the mesocortical pathway?
The pathway that connects the ventral tegmentum to the cerebral cortex, particularly the frontal lobe
What causes the positive symptoms of schizophrenia? What are the symptoms?
Overabundance of dopamine in the mesolimbic pathway
Positive symptoms
1. Delusions
2. Perceptual disturbances
What is the mesolimbic pathway?
The pathway that connects the ventral tegmentum to the nucleus accumbens, amygdala and hippocampus
What happens if you block dopamine transmission in nigrostriatum?
Dystonia
Movement disorders
Parkinson like disorders
Akathisia (syndrome characterized by unpleasant sensations of inner restlessness)
Tardrive dyskinesia (slow repetitive disorders)
Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (muscle rigidity, fever, delirium)