Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

317- Psychopharmacology > Serotonergic System > Flashcards

Serotonergic System Flashcards

1
Q

What are psychedelic drugs?

A

Primary effect is altering perceptions

They rarely cause pure hallucinations.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What are examples of classic hallucinogens?

A 
LSD
Psilocybin
Bufotenine 
Mescaline 
MDMA
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What properties does MDMA have?

A

Hallucinogenic and amphetamine (stimulant) properties.

Increases the activity of both serotonergic and dopaminergic.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is another name for serotonin?

A

5HT

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

How are serotonin precursors ingested?

A

Through diet, such as turkey, tuna, hallibut, salmon, sardines and cod, dairy products, nuts and seeds.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

How does serotonin synthesis work?

A

Ingest precursors through diet

Tryptophan goes to 5-Hydroxytryptophan goes to 5HT/Serotonin

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Where are serotonin containing neurons found?

A

In the raphe nuclei of the brain stem

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What are the behavioural functions of serotonergic projection from raphe?

A
  • To frontal cortex may be important for regulating mood.
  • To the basal ganglia may help control movements as well as obsession compulsion.
  • To limbic areas may be involved in anxiety and panic.
  • To the hypothalamus may regulate appetite and eating behaviour
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What are the behavioural functions of serotonergic projection descending to the brain?

A
  • Serotonergic neurons in the brainstem regulate sleep.
  • Serotonergic neurons descending down the spinal cord may be responsible for controlling certain spinal reflexes that are part of the sexual response, such as orgasm and ejacualtion.
  • The chemoreceptor trigger zone in the brainstem can mediate vomiting.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

How many serotonin receptors are there?

A

At least 4 major categories of receptors

  • 2 Key presynaptic receptors
  • Several post synaptic receptors
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What are they two key presynaptic receptors?

A

5HT1A - Located at dendrites of cell body, slows neuronal impulse flow through serotonin neuron.

5HT1D - Located on the presynaptic axon terminal , inhibits 5HT release

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

How can serotonin be manipulated?

A

Diet - Eating trytophan (essential amino acid) rich diet.

Drugs- SSRIs such a fluoxetine (Prozac) or ecstasy

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Who are two big researchers in MDMA?

A

Curran and Parrott.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What dosage is MDMA taken in?

A

Usually in tablets, capsules or pills

75 to 150mg, although experienced users often take more (Parrott, 2005)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

How is MDMA metabolised?

A

Absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and its onset of action is typically within 30 minutes of ingestion even though the time to peak plasma concentrations is approx 2-3 hours. (Kolbrich et al, 2008)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What are the mechanisms of MDMA in action?

A

Release of serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine.

Release of oxytocin, a neuropeptide involved in affiliative behaviours (Dumot et al,. 2009)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What are the mechanisms of MDMA at receptors?

A

MDMA increases release of serotonin
MDMA is a 5HT receptor agonist
Blocks the serotonin transporter (SERT)

Pretends to be serotonin so increases neurotransmission

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What happens at the synapse when MDMA is taken?

A

Serotonin floods the synaptic gap, releases serotonin from vesicles. Then binds with postsynaptic receptors and there is a massive increase in serotonergic activity.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

How is dopamine involved at the synapse when MDMA is taken?

A

MDMA also releases dopamine

Dopamine is released into the synapse with serotonin

20
Q

What is dopamine implicated in?

A

Control and regulation of movement and its two major pathways are often referred to as the pleasure pathways.

Explains the fluidity of movement and increased feelings of happiness that people experience when take MDMA

21
Q

What is Monoamine Oxidase?

A

An enzyme that breaks down serotonin. After reuptake pumps remove the serotonin, MAO breaks most of it down.

22
Q

What happens at the synapse when experiencing come down?

A
  • There is still serotonin in the synaptic gap but it is reduced.
  • Uptake pumps are still removing serotonin from the synapse and MAO is still breaking it down.
  • Dopamine haven’t lowered as much as serotonin because it replenishes itself more quickly than serotonin.
  • Loss of serotonin in the vesicles –> no more serotonin left to be released.
23
Q

What could happen with MDMA taking at receptors?

A

Depending on the amount of MDMA, serotonin might be depleted to the extent that fewer receptors are activated than before ecstasy was taken.

24
Q

How might people feel on the come down?

A
  • ‘Ate up’ feeling
  • Users can become depressed
  • Feeling non-social, tired and irritable
25
Q

Why does taking more MDMA after come down not work?

A

Does depend on how much taken

  • Brain needs time to rebuild serotonin levels (can take up to 2 weeks)
  • Larger the dose, the greater serotonin depletion and longer it takes for the brain to replenish it.
26
Q

What are possible acute effects of taking ecstasy?

A

Increased feelings of empathy, feelings of closeness to others, sociability.

Decreases aggressiveness and defensiveness

Increased feelings of acceptance

Derealization-causes the surrounding to feel different or ‘unreal’.

Time-perception alterations

Difficulty concentrating

27
Q

How might oxytocin be involved in ecstasy?

A

Proposed that oxytocin mediates the effects of MDMA on prosocial behaviour (Thompson et al 2007)

However, debate about whether oxytocin in result of taking MDMA or whether behaviour after taking increases oxytocin.

28
Q

What are some undesirable effects of MDMA?

A

Nausea, headache, hallucination, agitation, palpitations, abdominal cramps, hypothermia, seizure, dizziness, allergic reactions.

29
Q

What are some desirable effects of MDMA?

A 
Liking effects 
Euphoria 
Relaxed 
Arousal
Sociable
30
Q

What are effects that happen 24-48 hours after taking drug?

A

Reports of a crash à Muscles ache, fatigue, depression, irritability, difficulty concentrating, headache (Peroutka et al 1988, Solowji et al, 1992).

31
Q

What did Curran and Travil (1997) study?

A

Studied people in days after they had taken ecstasy

Increased rating of disconnected, sad and bored

Had lower mood than alcohol users the day after taking the drug, but were even more depressed 4 days later at which point scores of some users were in the range of clinical depression.

32
Q

What are the physiological effects of MDMA?

A

Altered eye alignment due to increased extraocular (muscles that control eye movement) muscle tension,

Jaw clenching

Decreased appetite

Dry mouth

Increase in blood pressure and heart rate

Mild neurological side effects include pupillary dilation and tremors, but more serious consequences include seizures, strokes and coma.

33
Q

What are potentially dangerous side effects of MDMA?

A

Hepatotoxicity - effects on the liver (liver damage)

Hyperthermis

Effects on the heart and blood vessels

Ecstasy raises body temperature through vasoconstriction (blood vessel narrowing) which slows heat loss.

MDMA increases the desire to exercise beyond the user’s limitations.

The ambient temperatures in clubs and excessive exercise both increase body temperature

Sometime the tablets are not 100% pure and contain other dangerous substances that also raise body temperature.

Hypothermia is probably the result of an interaction of drug effects, setting of use and user’s behavoiur.

When overheating occurs, the body loses fluids

MDMA may mask the feeling of thirst

Dehydration impairs sweating and therefore cooling - essential to take fluids to prevent dehydration

But too much fluid is also dangerous - electrolytes in blood can be diluted to dangerous levels à hypernatremia can be fatal.

34
Q

How can you reduce risk when taking MDMA?

A

Stay cool

Drink electrolytes (Don’t exceed 500ml/hr.)

Don't take if have:
Heart condition
Prone to seizures 
Have had meningitis 
Predisposition to heat sensitivity 
Are taking MAOIs, SSRIs, SNRIs, TCAs.
35
Q

What are some potential psychiatric problems? Psychotic

A

Although rare, can produce state of intoxication which mimics psychosis, such as paranoia, but does not last more than a few days normally.

It most frequently occurred in regular or experienced users. In the cases reported the recovery percentage is poor (34.5% full recovery) (Baggot et al, 2001)

36
Q

What are some potential psychiatric problems?

Affective

A

Typically anxiety shown through acute panic response or chronic panic disorder

In some cases the panic attacks quickly resolve although in others anxiety or panic attacks could persist for weeks. The recovery percentage from the cases reported was good.

37
Q

What are some potential psychiatric problems?

Depression

A

Chronic ecstasy use is often followed by longer lasting depression

38
Q

What are some potential psychiatric problems?

Depersonalization and derealization

A

Depersonalization refers to the feeling that one is not ‘real’ and that one is detached and unable to feel emotion.

Derealization is the feeling that the surroundings feel different or unreal.

39
Q

What are potential short term psychological problems (up to a week after use)

A

Depressed Moods

Irritability

Anxiety

Decreased alertness

Fatigue

Drowsiness

Impaired cognitive function

40
Q

What are long term effects of MDMA?

A

Lowered serotonin levels can cause depression

Users operating on lower-than-normal serotonin levels most of the time which can lead to depression, if taken often enough that serotonin levels are depleted before it can replenish itself.

41
Q

What is the most probable cause of ecstasy-related depression

A

Down-regulation of receptors
The brain is built to adapt to changing circumstances

One of the ways the brain adapts is through the up-and-down regulations of receptors.

Serotonin receptors will down-regulate over time if bombarded with large amounts of serotonin.

This may lead to depression, even after brain serotonin levels have been restored because number of receptors have been reduced.

42
Q

What are the potential long-term psychological problems (Weeks or months after)

A

Increased anxiety

Dysphoric Moods

Increased sensitivity to Emotions

Increased Impulsivity

Impaired cognitive performance

43
Q

What are some methodological problems of studying MDMA?

A

Animal studies have tended to use doses which are much higer than the doses used by humans.

Human studied have tended not to account for the fact that most ecstasy users are poly-drug users or have failed to test the purity of the MDMA used.

44
Q

What evidence is there for MDMA neurotoxicity?

A
  • Basic arguement = whether it will damages terminal buttons of an axon which produced serotonin
  • Ricaurte, Yuan, Hatzidimitriou, Cord & McCann (2002) reported severe neurotoxicity but later retracted in 2003.

Overall = no evidence that it is neurotoxic and causes neuronal atrophy or neuronal death in the brain.

45
Q

What is meant by MDMA neurotoxicity?

A

The way in which MDMA could cause damage to the brain.

317- Psychopharmacology (4 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions