Psychopharmacology Flashcards
1
Q
Synaptic weighting
A
- conserves energy
- weaker connections can be pruned
- stronger connections get delegated work
2
Q
Reciprocal inhibition
A
- 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
3
Q
Post inhibitory rebound
A
- when reciprocal inhibition happens network 2 is easier to excite because it was inhibited
- after being inhibited there is increased excitability
4
Q
Pharmacokinetics
A
- 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
5
Q
Affinity
A
how sterically available the drug is for its binding site
6
Q
Potency
A
how much of the drug does it take to get the action
7
Q
Efficacy
A
how well the drug does what it is intended to do
8
Q
Half-life
A
time it takes for 50% of the drug to be eliminated from the body
9
Q
Parent compound
A
compound you want to reach the target
10
Q
Therapeutic index
A
- 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
11
Q
Conformational change
A
change in protein structure, usually due to environmental factors
12
Q
Direct agonist
A
- mimics endogenous chemical action
- activates receptor
- high affinity
- high efficacy
- can be selective or non-selective
13
Q
Indirect agonist
A
- enhance endogenous chemical action
- does not directly affect neurotransmitter or receptor
- e.g. blocks reuptake or blocks breakdown or alters chemical release
14
Q
Direct antagonist
A
- blocks action of receptor (no action)
- high affinity
- zero efficacy
- zero potency
- selective or non-selective
15
Q
Indirect antagonist
A
- reduces endogenous chemical action
- does not directly affect neurotransmitter or receptor
- e.g. decrease chemical availability via autoreceptor action
16
Q
Partial agonist
A
- binds to the same site as agonist but doesn’t have as much efficacy
- high affinity
- low efficacy
17
Q
Partial agonist
A
- 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
18
Q
Allosteric modifiers
A
- 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
19
Q
Inverse agonist
A
- 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
20
Q
Plasticity
A
- 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)
21
Q
Tonic pools
A
- 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
22
Q
Phasic pools
A
- 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
23
Q
Indirect action
A
alters communication in neighboring cells/environment as opposed to directly changing the biological predisposed physiology
24
Q
Direct action
A
- drug acts directly on receptor
- ligand binds to receptor’s binding site
25
NMDA and AMPA receptors
- 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)
26
Pools
pools are dependent on emergent properties and are involved in plasticity
