Drugs & the Brain

Question 1

How do we Find Drugs to Treat Brain Disease?

Answer 1

1. Start with natural product and isolate the psychoactive chemical
2. Find the receptor(s) for that chemical
3. Change the chemical structure to improve the drug to work for an indented purpose

Question 2

Pharmacokinetics

Answer 2

• how the body reacts with administered substances for the entire duration of exposure

(the amount of time it takes for a drug to get to your brain can determine how long it take for a drug to take effect)

Question 3

Agonist

Answer 3

is a shape that will trigger the receptor to send a signal to the cell (the drug has effect)

Question 4

Antagonist

Answer 4

it is a shape that will bind to the receptor but will not trigger the receptor to send a signal to the cell

Question 5

Neurons= Salty Bananas b/c

Answer 5

Na+ are outside, while the K - are inside

Question 6

Excitatory neurotransmitters:

Answer 6

Glutamate & acetylcholine

Question 7

Inhibitory neurotransmitters:

Answer 7

GABA & glycine

Question 8

Ions with a positive charge (excitatory)

Answer 8

• Na Sodium
• Ca Calcium
• K Potassium

Question 9

Ions with a negative charge (inhibitory)

Answer 9

• Cl Chloride
• F Fluoride

Question 10

CEREBRAL CORTEX

Answer 10

is required for higher
thought and reasoning,
consciousness

Question 11

Two major divisions of the nervous system

Answer 11

CNS- brain and spinal cord
PNS- nerves- connect to spinal cord or brain

Question 12

Somatic nervous system

Answer 12

sensory neurons and motor neurons- sensing environment, controlling voluntary movements and reflexes

Question 13

Autonomic nervous system

Answer 13

“self-governing” controls the body’s physiology along the endocrine system. The sympathetic ANS mobilizes the body for action

Question 14

Basal Ganglia

Answer 14

initiating voluntary movement

Question 15

Thalamus

Answer 15

information filter

Question 16

Hypothalamus

Answer 16

endocrine system, hormone regulation

Question 17

Amygdala

Answer 17

‘negative’ emotion

Question 18

Hippocampus

Answer 18

memory formation

Question 19

Serotonin is associated with…

Answer 19

Raphe nucleus

Question 20

Dopamine is associated with…

Answer 20

Substantia nigra & ventral tegmentum

Question 21

Norepinephrine is associated with…

Answer 21

Locus coeruleus

Question 22

Endorphins are associated with…

Answer 22

Periaqueductal grey

Question 23

Sleep is associated with…

Answer 23

Reticular Formation

Question 24

Heart rate is associated with…

Answer 24

Medulla Oblongata

Question 25

Serotonin is the agonist of...

Answer 25

every serotonin receptor

Question 26

Every neuron will have...

Answer 26

GABA (quiet) receptors & glutamate (excite)

Question 27

cerebellum

Answer 27

coordinate and refine movements

Question 28

Addiction

Answer 28

a compulsion to do something despite adverse consequences

Question 29

Dependence

Answer 29

the body (as adjusted its physiology) is performing best when the drug is present (where there is dependence, there will be withdrawal)

Question 30

Clean drug

Answer 30

has only one receptor

Question 31

Dirty drug

Answer 31

has multiple receptors thus causes other effects

Question 32

Why is pill form usually optimal?

Answer 32

Liver eliminates poisons

Question 33

Blood Brain Barrier

Answer 33

Drugs must be a little bit fat soluble and a little charged

Question 34

Midbrain

Answer 34

cluster of cells that make the neurotransmitters that regulate pleasure, pain, attention, sleep, wakefulness and sexual arousal

Question 35

Parietal Lobe

Answer 35

touch sensation (Somatosensory) and taste (gustatory)

Question 36

Temporal lobe

Answer 36

hearing (audition) Smell (olfaction)

Question 37

Myelinated axons carry...

Answer 37

the electrical signal more rapidly than unmyelinated axons

Question 38

The reticular activating system is located in

Answer 38

the pons (part of the brain that controls wakefulness)

Question 39

The upstream neuron (releases)

Answer 39

presynaptic

Question 40

The downstream neuron

Answer 40

postsynaptic

Question 41

Synaptic vesicles

Answer 41

neurotransmitters that are synthesised by the upstream neurons and packed into spheres

Question 42

If a neuron is hyperpolarized by an inhibitory neurotransmitter...

Answer 42

it is less likely to fire

Question 43

Action potential sequence

Answer 43

1. an excitatory neurotransmitter lands on dendrite 2. Neuron is depolarized 3. Depolarization spreads along cell body to axon hillock 4. at the axon hillock, the neuron generates an action potential 5. The action potential triggers calcium channels to open 6. Calcium enters the axon terminal and causes the release of neurotransmitters