Major Drug Targets in the Brain

Question 0

Reticular Activating System ( RAS)
function? 2!
Inhibited by GABA: ?

Answer 0

A) incoming sensory stimulation alert, general brain arousal.
B) drugs that enhance GABA activity (barbiturates) reduce arousal.

Question 1

Medulla:
Function?
Drug action?overdose of depressants?

Answer 1

A) ANS maintenance

B) death by action at the respiratory center located here.

Question 2

Raphe System
Function?
Cells release what NT here?
Role in what?

Answer 2

A) sleep induction
B) release serotonin - serotonin blockers can impair sleep
C) role in mood regulation; some antidepressants ( eg. fluoxetine or prozac) increase serotonin availability.

Question 3

Locus Coeruleus 
function? 
release NT? 
overactivity here can produce? Two drugs!
Inhibited via??

Answer 3

A) regulates alertness and vigilance
B) releases norepinephrine
C) contributes to fear and panic; cocaine and amphetamine stimulate NE synapses
D) GABA inhibits, GABA enhancers like benzodiazepines reduce anxiety.

Question 4

Cerebellum
function?
3!

Answer 4

A) fine motor control
B) eye movements (tracking)
C) certain types of learning ( involving coordination and balance)
ethanol affects fine motor !

Question 5

Basal Ganglia 
Function? 
Striatum is made up of? A+B
Nigrostriatal pathway? 
Drug affects??

Answer 5

1. controls voluntary movement ( Somatic nervous system)
2. Caudate nucleus and putamen regions
3. The striatum is the termination point of the NP which releases dopamine..
4. Drugs that block dopamine receptors can cause motor disorders similar to those seen in Parkinson’s disease…

Question 6

Periaqueductal Gray (PAG)
function?
What stimulates PAG? (drug)
Punishment system?

Answer 6

1. inhibition of pain signals from the periphery to the brain.
2. opiates
3. electrical stimulation here is aversive to animals

Question 7

Limbic System
function
Drugs?
What receptors are here which facilitate GABA neurotransmission?
Critical structures? 2! and their functions

Answer 7

1. emotion and motivation
2. psychoactive drugs
3. benzodiazepine receptors
4. a) amygdala - defence and aggression
   b) hippocampus - spatial memory and learned place preferences.

Question 8

Cortex??
function
major NTs

Answer 8

1. integration of sensory information(posterior area) , commanding voluntary motor actions(central area) , thought and cognition (rostral areas:front)
2. a) glutamate
   b) GABA

Question 9

Agonistic?

Answer 9

make transmission easier

Question 10

Antagonistic?

Answer 10

makes transmission harder!