Neuropharmacology

Question 1

focuses on the basic chemical composition and processes of the nervous system

Answer 1

Neurochemistry

Question 2

is the study of compounds that selectively affect the nervous system

• The presynaptic neuron releases an endogenous (internal) substance – a neurotransmitter

Answer 2

Neuropharmacology

Question 3

any substance that binds to receptor

• Endogenous ligands bind to a receptor and activate a change (e.g. opens an ion channel)

Answer 3

Ligand

Question 4

• When a drug activates the receptor, it’s acting as an…
• the other only produce a small response

Answer 4

agonist

Partial agonists

Question 5

When a drug binds to a receptor without activating it and blocks it, is an…

Answer 5

antagonist

Question 6

They don’t – they just spread throughout the body and bind to their receptors when they find them

Answer 6

How do drugs know where to go?

Question 7

the collective name for all the factors that affect the movement of a drug into, through, and out of the body

Answer 7

Pharmacokinetics

Question 8

free to act on the target

Answer 8

bioavailable

Question 9

produces active metabolites that may produce side effects

• A drug’s effect depend on the dose, where it binds, and what it does

Answer 9

Biotransformation

Question 10

the degree of chemical attraction between a ligand and a receptor

Answer 10

Binding Affinity

Question 11

the ability of a bound ligand to activate the receptor

Answer 11

Efficacy (intrinsic activity)

Question 12

is a graph of the relationship between drug doses and the effects

Answer 12

A Dose-Response Curve (DRC)

Question 13

tight junctions between the cells of blood vessels in the CNS prevent the movement of large molecules; can limit drug availability

Answer 13

Blood-Brain Barrier

Question 14

Reduced Efficacy of the Drug

Answer 14

Repeated Drug Treatments May Result in Drug Tolerance

Question 15

organ systems become more effective at eliminating the drug

Answer 15

Metabolic Tolerance

Question 16

target tissue may alter its sensitivity to the drug by changing the number of receptors

Answer 16

Functional Tolerance

Question 17

in response to an agonist – fewer receptors

Answer 17

Down-Regulation

Question 18

in response to an antagonist – more receptors

Answer 18

Up-Regulation

Question 19

tolerance to one drug is generalized to other drugs in its class

Answer 19

Cross-Tolerance

Question 20

depends on absorption
by the gut, which is somewhat slower than most other routes and
affected by digestive factors such as acidity of the stomach and the
presence of food.

• slow to moderate

Answer 20

ingestion

Question 21

take advantage of the rich
vascularization of the nose and lungs to convey drugs directly into the
bloodstream

• moderate to fast

Answer 21

inhalation

Question 22

• under the skin tend to have the slowest effects because they must diffuse into nearby tissue in order to reach the bloodstream
• intravenous have very
  rapid effects because the drug is placed directly into circulation
• moderate to fast

Answer 22

peripheral injection

Question 23

directly into the central nervous system and are used in order to circumvent the blood-brain barrier, to
rule out peripheral effects, or to directly affect a discrete brain
location.

• fast to very fast

Answer 23

central injection