Substance Missuse Flashcards
1
Q
What is tolerance?
A
Reduced responsiveness to a drug caused by previous admission
2
Q
What types of drugs can tolerance be in response to?
A
Many - opiates, ethanol, barbiturates
3
Q
What are the types of tolerance
A
Dispositional - less drug reaches site
Pharmacodynamic - site of action less affected
4
Q
What causes withdrawal effect
A
Tolerance causes active response which causes withdrawal effect
usually opposite of acute effect
5
Q
How do drugs use reward centres?
A
Use pathway of ventral tegmental neuron stimulation and increase dopamine levels
E.g. heroin increases firing of dopaminergic neurons
Amphetamine increases dopamine release
Cocaine inhibits dopamine uptake
