Psych Meds - Info Flashcards
(19 cards)
Which enzyme primarily metabolizes & inactivates neurotransmitters?
Monoamine Oxidase
Neurotransmitters located in the brain stem?
dopamine & norepinephrine
Functions of Dopamine
Movement,
Motivation/Reward
Regulates emotional response
Dopamine in Parkinson?
- ↓ levels in the brain ( substantia nigra)
- leads to ↓ movement, stiff, tremor, rigidity
Dopamin in Schizophrenia & Psychosis?
- ↑ levels in certain brain areas ( mesolimbic pathways) causes hallucination & delusion. +ve symptoms
- ↓ levels in certain brain areas causes ↓ emotion exp. & social withdrawal. ( prefrontal cortex.) - -ve symptoms
Antipsychotic meds work by?
↓ dopamine activity by blocking D2 receptors
- can sometimes worsen the negative symptoms of sczhio & psychosis
Most prevalent neurotransmitter in the nervous system?
Norepinephrine
Norepinephrine
attention
learning
memory
sleep
wakefulness
mood regulation
Excess norepinephrine is related to
Anxiety disorders
Epinephrine
- controls fight/flight in the PNS
Serotonin
- found only in the brain
- derived frm tryptophan & dietary amino acid
- mostly inhibitory
- control:
food
sleep,
wake
temp. reg.
pain
sexual behaviour
reg. of emotions
Histamines
-allergic response
- control gastric secretion
- cardiac stim.
- alertness
Some psychotropic drugs block histamine causing weight gain, sedation & hypotension
True
Ach
- found in the brain & spinal cord & PNS;
- neuromuscular junc. mostly in skeletal muscle
- excitatory & inhibitory
- sleep & wake cycle
- pain
- arousal
- movement
- memory retent.
Ach associated with which diseases?
- Parkinson
- Huntington
- Alzheimer - ↓ Ach
Glutatmate & Aspartate
- Excitatory amino acids
- can have neurotoxic effects @ ↑ lvls
Glutatmate & Asparate have been implicated in brain damage caused by
stroke,
hypoglycemia,
sustained hypoxia, or ischemia
- Alzheimer & Huntington
GABA
- major inhibitory neurotransmitter
- prevent postsynaptic excitation at the neurojunc.
