Psychopharmacology

Question 1

Synaptic weighting

Answer 1

• conserves energy
• weaker connections can be pruned
• stronger connections get delegated work

Question 2

Reciprocal inhibition

Answer 2

• happens on a network level
• if network 1 is excitatory network 1 inhibits network 2 which is inhibitory, making it unable to inhibit
• conserves energy
• example of a phasic change

Question 3

Post inhibitory rebound

Answer 3

• when reciprocal inhibition happens network 2 is easier to excite because it was inhibited
• after being inhibited there is increased excitability

Question 4

Pharmacokinetics

Answer 4

• medications for mental disorders are based on pH (absorption)
• how to get to the target/brain –> has to pass blood-brain barrier (distribution)
• how long the drug will stay in the system

Question 5

Affinity

Answer 5

how sterically available the drug is for its binding site

Question 6

Potency

Answer 6

how much of the drug does it take to get the action

Question 7

Efficacy

Answer 7

how well the drug does what it is intended to do

Question 8

Half-life

Answer 8

time it takes for 50% of the drug to be eliminated from the body

Question 9

Parent compound

Answer 9

compound you want to reach the target

Question 10

Therapeutic index

Answer 10

• lethal dose divided by effective dose
• takes into account amount of drug (conc.) needed to produce death over the amount of drug needed to produce desired effect
• higher is better because it means that the drug works super well with an amount very far away from the amount that would cause death

Question 11

Conformational change

Answer 11

change in protein structure, usually due to environmental factors

Question 12

Direct agonist

Answer 12

• mimics endogenous chemical action
• activates receptor
• high affinity
• high efficacy
• can be selective or non-selective

Question 13

Indirect agonist

Answer 13

• enhance endogenous chemical action
• does not directly affect neurotransmitter or receptor
• e.g. blocks reuptake or blocks breakdown or alters chemical release

Question 14

Direct antagonist

Answer 14

• blocks action of receptor (no action)
• high affinity
• zero efficacy
• zero potency
• selective or non-selective

Question 15

Indirect antagonist

Answer 15

• reduces endogenous chemical action
• does not directly affect neurotransmitter or receptor
• e.g. decrease chemical availability via autoreceptor action

Question 16

Partial agonist

Answer 16

• binds to the same site as agonist but doesn’t have as much efficacy
• high affinity
• low efficacy

Question 17

Partial agonist

Answer 17

• binds to the same site as agonist but doesn’t have as much efficacy (allows only for a certain amount of protein conformation to occur)
• high affinity
• low efficacy

Question 18

Allosteric modifiers

Answer 18

• mostly agonists (rarely antagonists)
• increase efficacy of steric site to make it more likely to bind
• different binding location than endogenous chemical
• high affinity
• high efficacy

Question 19

Inverse agonist

Answer 19

• has negative action/goes below even normal levels (e.g. if channel is normally a little open for ions, inverse agonist makes it so that channel closes a little)
• prevents change
• binds at agonist site to prevent binding of agonist
• decreases functioning of protein itself
• high affinity
• high potency
• binds in a way that lasts longer than antagonist

Question 20

Plasticity

Answer 20

• neurons have emergent properties due to gene by environment interaction
• this creates stable environments called tonic pools
• phasic pools are caused by electrical/neurochemical changes in tonic pools
• –if phasic change is repeated then eventually the tonic pool needs to adapt (e.g. drugs changing brain chemistry)

Question 21

Tonic pools

Answer 21

• tonic pools –> constant and stable environment
• –develop because some predictable/commonly used pathways are solidified and become energy efficient
• –common communication between specific neurons = stronger connection

Question 22

Phasic pools

Answer 22

• phasic pools –> formed because of abrupt/anomalous changes in chemical information
• –allow for cells to respond to errors/injury/signals in order to regain a tonic environment

Question 23

Indirect action

Answer 23

alters communication in neighboring cells/environment as opposed to directly changing the biological predisposed physiology

Question 24

Direct action

Answer 24

• drug acts directly on receptor

- ligand binds to receptor’s binding site

Question 25

NMDA and AMPA receptors

Answer 25

• ionotropic
• NMDA gate Na and Ca (require glutamate or glycine to open)
• AMPA gate Na and K (ligand gated – glutamate)
• Mg blocks inside of NMDA and in order for Mg to be removed Na or K must flow through AMPA and depolarize NMDA receptor
• NMDA receptors regulate number of AMPA receptors at synapse
• contributes to LTP (strengthening of synapses)

Question 26

Pools

Answer 26

pools are dependent on emergent properties and are involved in plasticity