Psychiatric Disorders And Drugs Flashcards
Drugs can be separated into two categories based on their method of transmission at the synapse. What are they?
These two categories are called agonistic and antagonistic drugs. Agonistic drugs are those that work to mimic the effect of a neurotransmitter in the brain. Antagonistic drugs work by blocking neurotransmitters in the brain.
What happens within the brain when drugs are taken?
Drugs -> stimulates dopamine release -> inhibits GABA -> increases activity in the nucleus accumbens
What are the two types of alcoholism?
Type 1 - late onset (after 25) less severe and normally not many relatives have alcoholism
Type 2 - early onset (before 25) more severe and normally relatives have suffered with it too.
What is a biological explanation for why alcoholism occurs?
Some studies have found that people who suffer from alcoholism have smaller amgydalas. Amygdala’s are connected to fear so by them having a smaller one this could indicate increase risk taking?
What is a biological explanation for depression?
Low serotonin levels as found by Caspi - there was a relationship between the serotonin transport gene and depression.
Fu found that depression had a high heritability rate. Also found to be more common among relatives of women who had early onset depression.
What is Schizophrenia also known as
“Split mind”
Which areas of the brain have been shown to be in action during schizophrenic hallucinations?
PET scans have indicated that the Thalamus, Hippocampus and Auditory cortex are in action during hallucinations.
What is a biological explanation for schizophrenia?
Schizophrenic patients have been found to have larger ventricles (areas of fluid) in the brain.
Gaser used MRI’s
If a drug increases the levels of dopamine in the brain this leads to…
Reduced activity in the brain, but not in the nucleus accumbens.
