Week 10 Tutorial Flashcards
What contexts are animal models used in?
Pharmaceutical companies
Functional genomics
Basic research
What happens to a rat’s behaviour when given (THC) cannabis?
More relaxed, flattened body posture
Does the hot plate test cause damage to the rat?
Only leave the rat on for about 60 seconds to stop tissue damage
What happens when THC rat is placed on hot plate?
Stay on the hot plate much longer than sober rat before showing a pain response
What does the bar test assess?
Catalepsy
What drugs produce catalepsy in rats?
THC, morphine
What does the elevated plus maze test assess?
Common test of anxiety
Exploits the rat’s natural fear of open spaces
What does an anti-anxiety (anxiolytic) drug typically do to rat’s behaviour when they are placed in the elevated plus maze?
Librium treated rat spends more of its time in the open arms of the maze compared to the placebo
Why might testing high doses of alcohol or benzodiazepines on the plus maze be problematic?
The rats could fall off the ledge if they have too much of these drugs
What is stereotypy?
Repetitive, stereotyped and seemingly purposeless behaviours induced by high doses or repeated doses of stimulant drugs
What is stereotypy associated with?
Hyperdopaminergic state in the dorsal and ventral striatum and is often caused by behavioural and neurochemical sensitisation
Describe the effects of high dose amphetamine on behaviour
More motor activity compared to sober rat
Stereotyped behaviour: heightened alertness, repetitive sniffing behaviour
What kind of drug can be given to block stereotypy induced by amphetamines?
Dopamine antagonist
What was the difference between pure THC and THC + cannabidiol?
pure THC leads to more depressive state: agitation, suspicion
What might be the effect of smoking marijuana that’s been bred to contain high THC?
Increase in psychotic episodes and anxiety
What 2 purposes does reuptake serve?
To terminate the action of the neurotransmitter
To recycle the neurotransmitter
What do all major neurotransmitters have?
Transporter proteins
What happens when drugs bind to transporter proteins?
Inhibit the reuptake of neurotransmitter into the terminal
Make the transporter work in reverse
Name some drugs that work on transporter proteins
cocaine, amphetamine, MDMA
What happens when enzymes are affected by drugs?
Inhibit the enzymes involved in degradation of neurotransmitters
What is an important enzyme involved in degradation?
Monoamine oxidase (MAO)
Present in 2 forms:
MAO-A = metabolises serotonin
MAO-B: metabolises dopamine
What drugs inhibit MAO?
amphetamine and MDMA
What is a MAO inhibitor?
The antidepressant, moclobemide
What happens when a drug binds directly at the receptor?
Evokes a functional change to the neuron (agonist)
Prevents change from occurring (antagonist)
Give examples of agonists
THC, nicotine, heroin
