Psychopharmacology of Psychiatry Flashcards
What are the 4 main methods of treatment in medicine? Give an example of each
Chemical (drugs and medicines) Electrical stimulation (ECT for depression) Structural rearrangement (surgery and orthopaedics) Talking therapies (CBT)
What are some of the way drugs can be classified?
Based on clinical structure
Based on illness they treat
Based on pharmacology
What are the 4 targets psychiatry drugs can work on?
Receptors
Enzymes
Ion channels
Reuptake transporters
What conditions are monoamine oxidase inhibitors used for?
Anxiety and dperession
What conditions are acetylcholinesterase inhibitors used for?
Dementia
What conditions is lithium for?
Ones that require mood stability
How does lithium work?
Blocks glycogen synthase kinase
What receptor is blocked for schizophrenia?
Dopamine
What receptor is targeted by an antagonist for depression?
Serotonin
What receptor is targeted by an antagonist for sleep?
Histamine
What receptor are benzodiazepines an agonist for?
GABA
What receptor does guaniface enhance and in what condition?
Noradrenaline in ADHD
Citalopram blocks the reuptake of which neurotransmitter?
Serotonin
Which subpart of the serotonin receptor is inhibitory?
5HT1a
What subpart of the serotonin receptor do psychedelics work on?
5HT2
How does sodium valporate work?
By blocking an ion channel for mood stabilisation and epilepsy
What are the 2 catagories of neurotransmitters (in terms of time it takes them to work)?
Fast acting and slow acting
What disorder does excess glutamate cause?
Epilepsy
Alcoholism
What condition does GABA deficiency cause?
Anxiety
What conditions does 5-HT deficiency cause?
Depression
Anxiety
What is the serotonin receptor called?
5-HT
What condition does excess dopamine cause?
Psychosis
What condition does excess noradrenaline cause?
Nightmares
What condition does dopamine deficiency cause?
Impaired memory/dementia
What are partial agonists?
They have lower efficacy than full agonists, they can switch between agonist and antagonist depending on wether theres a deficiency or not
What are inverse agonists?
They work in the opposite way to agonists, but they neither fully block nor activate receptors (like on/off light switches and dimmer switches)
On the GABA-A receptor what is the role of the alpha-1 subunit?
Regulates inhibition from GABA inter neurones onto pyramidal cells
On the GABA-A receptor what is the role of the alpha-2 subunit?
Controls output of pyramidal cells
What will inhibition of the GABA-A receptor alpha 2 subunit cause?
Prevents firing of the cell
On the GABA-A receptor what is the role of the alpha-5 subunit?
Dampens tonic activity in the brain
Where is alpha 5 subunit of the GABA-A receptor most highly expressed?
Emotionally rich areas of the brain
What type of receptor is GABA-A?
Ion channel linked
What is the orthosteric site?
The site the neurotransmitter is supposed to bind to
What site on the GABA receptor do benzodiazepines act on? How do they work?
They act on allosteric sites and enhance the secretion of GABA to cause sedation
What conditions are benzodiazepines used for?
Helping with sleep, anxiety, epilepsy
How selective is haloperidol? What is it used for and what does it act on?
It is very selective and blocks the d2 dopamine receptor, used in schizophrenia
How selective is citalopram?
Very
What are the 3 ways tricyclic amitriptyline works? Does it cause side effects?
Histamine blocker
5HT receptor blocker
Muscarinic anticholinergic blocker
It causes lots of side effects
