How Drugs Affect our Behavior Flashcards
1
Q
Receptor agonist vs agonist
A
- agonist is endogenous, receptor agonist is exogenous
2
Q
Competitive vs noncompetitive antagonists
A
- Competitive antaagonist: blocks agonists from binding to the receptors
- Noncompetitve antaagonist: bind to target receptors at a site that is different from where the endogenous ligand binds
3
Q
What does it mean to have a low affinity for a receptor?
A
- If a particular drug has a low affinity for a receptor, then it will quickly uncouple from the receptor
- To bind half the receptors at any given time, a higher concentration of the drug is needed
4
Q
What does it mean if a drug has a high affinity?
A
- the receptor and the drug will stay together for a longer time, and a lower concentration of drug will be sufficient to bind half the receptors
5
Q
What happens when there are equal concentrations of a low affinity and a high affinity drug?
A
- the high affinity drug will be bound to more receptors at any given time
- if the drugs have an equivalent effect on the receptors, then the higher affinity drug will be more potent
6
Q
What is an effective dose?
A
- The basic dose-response curve plots increasing drug doses against increasing strength of the response being studied.
- An effective dose is the dose at which the drug shows half of its maximal effect
7
Q
What is potency?
A
- Relative potencies are assessed by comparing the ED50 values
- In the example, both drugs have comparable effects, but one of the drugs has the effects at lower doses, and therefore is more potent
8
Q
What is efficacy?
A
- Drug efficacies are compared by evaluating maximal responses, rather than doses
- drug with greater maximal effect has higher efficacy
9
Q
What is a partial agonist/antagonist?
A
A drug of only moderate efficacy
10
Q
Phencyclidine
A
- PCP or Angel Dust
- NMDA receptor antagonist
- Mind altering drug that may lead to hallucinations
- Ketamine has similar effects
11
Q
NMDA Antagonists symptoms
A
- Loss of responsiveness (not consciousness)
- Loss of sense of self/identity
- Dissociation
- Psychotic thoughts
- Sensory aberrations
- Aggression and agitation (rare)
12
Q
NMDA and Schizophrenia
A
- Because NMDA receptor antagonists, such as PCP, are psychotomimetic (elicit psychotic symptoms in people), it may be reasonable to assume that NMDA receptors are naturally sub-functional in people with psychotic disorders
- If that is true, may drugs that enhance NMDA receptor function be of benefit to them?
13
Q
GABA-A Receptor
A
- Cl- channel
- Has multiple binding sites for other substances
- These are inbolved in allosteric (enzyme) regulation/modulation
14
Q
Positive allosteric modulators examples
A
- Valium
- Lunesta
- Clonazepam
- Ambiem
15
Q
Ethanol
A
- beverage alcohol
- Calming, anxiolytic, and sedative/hypnotic effects of alcohol depend upon GABA-A receptor positive modulation