Module Eight: Behavioural Pharmacology, Psychopharmacology & Neuropharmacology

Question 1

What is behavioural pharmacology?

Answer 1

Assesses the effects of unknown drugs on behaviours with known neural substrates and psychopharmacological properties
Primarily for novel drug development
Determine potential therapeutic effects of novel drugs

Question 2

What is psychopharmacology?

Answer 2

Uses drugs with known properties to determine the neural substrates of behaviour and understand the mechanisms for CNS disturbances

Question 3

What is neuropharmacology?

Answer 3

Attempts to understand the molecular basis of the neural actions of the drugs

Question 4

Why have animal models in psychiatric illness?

Answer 4

Objective: to determine possible neural causes of illness; to screen for new drugs that may improve the pharmacotherapy of the illness; to increase our understanding of the neural substrates of behaviour

Question 5

What are the three types of validity in Animal models.

Answer 5

1. Predictive validity
2. Face validity
3. Construct validity

Question 6

What determines predictive ability?

Answer 6

True negatives, false negatives: known treatments are predicted to be ineffective

True positives and False positives: known ineffective drugs are predicted to be affective

Question 7

What does sensitivity refer to?

Answer 7

How easily an animal model detects true positives

P HIT/ (p HIT + MISS)

Question 8

What does specificity refer to?

Answer 8

How well a test avoids making false positives

1- p false alarm

Question 9

What is face validity?

Answer 9

Model that has validity based on analogy rather than homology

Question 10

What is construct validity?

Answer 10

The model has sound theoretical rationale

Question 11

Define: phenomenology

Answer 11

The study of structures of consciousness as experienced from the first person point of view

Question 12

What was the first antipsychotic

Answer 12

Chlorpromazine

Question 13

Tolerance

Answer 13

The effect of drug declining with repeated treatment due to a shift to the right in the DCR

Question 14

Sensitisation

Answer 14

Effects of a constant dose may increase with repeated treatment- left shift of DCR

Question 15

Pharmacokinetic factors altering drug repsponse

Answer 15

Induction of metabolising enzymes
Age related changes in mets losing enzymes
Circadian rhythms
Progressive hepatotoxicty/ renal toxicity
Saturation of non specific or lipid / protein binding compartments

Question 16

Pharmacodynamic factors: post synaptic

Answer 16

Receptor density changes
Receptor affinity changes
Efficacy changes

Question 17

Pharmacodynamic factors: presynaptic

Answer 17

Changes in release rates of endogenous neurotransmitter

Question 18

What is pharmacodynamic increase of response called?

Answer 18

Fast and short term: Reverse tachyphylaxis

Slow and long lasting: sensitisation, supersensitivity, up regulation

Question 19

Pharmacodynamic decrease in response is called:

Answer 19

Fast and short term: Desensitisation, auto inhibition, tachyphylaxis

Slow and long lasting: tolerance, down regulation, subsensitivity

Question 20

Receptor density changes

Answer 20

Reduction in density with agonists

Increase in density with antagonists

Question 21

Subsensitivity

Answer 21

Resultant from a chronic agonist use resulting in a reduction in receptor density

Question 22

Supersensitivity

Answer 22

Antagonist chronic use causing increase in receptor density

Question 23

The affinity effects are due to

Answer 23

Phosphorylation of sites on the receptor or conformational shifts of the receptor due to occupancy by drug or neurotransmitter