Pharmacokinetics
The process by which drugs are:
-Absorbed
-Distributed within the body
-Metabolized
-Excreted
Soma
Cell body
Contains Nucleus
Dendrite
Receives info from the terminal of other neurons
Synapse
Junction between the terminal of the axon and the dendrite of another neuron
Axon
Conveys information from the Soma of a neuron to its terminal
Myelin Sheath
Sheath that surrounds axons and insulates them
-This prevents messages from spreading between adjacent axons
Intravenous (IV)
Directly into vein
Intraperitoneal (IP)
Injection into the peritoneal cavity
-The space around the stomach
Intramuscular (IM) Injection
into a muscle
Subcutaneous (SC) Injection
The space beneath the skin
Oral Administration
Swallowed
Sublingual Administration
Placed beneath the tongue
Intrarectal Administration
Into the rectum
Inhalation
Vaporous substance into the lungs
Topical Administration
Absorbed through the skin
Dose-Response Curve
Increasingly stronger doses of the drug produce increasingly larger effects until the maximum effect is reached
Drug Effectiveness
Different drugs have different sites of action
-Drugs vary in their effectiveness has to do with the affinity of the drug with it's sight of action
Affinity
the readiness with which two molecules join together
Tolerance
Decrease in the effectiveness of a drug that is administered repeatedly
Sensitization
increase in the effectiveness of a drug that is administered repeatedly
Withdrawl Symptoms
Symptoms opposite to those produced by the drug
-Occurs when drug is administered repeatedly
Ionotropic Receptors
Fast
-Opens an Ion channel with the neurotransmitter binds
Metabolic Receptors
Slow
-Alters chemical reactions within the cell to open an ion channel
Agonist Molecule
Fills the receptor site and activates it, acting like the neurotrasmitter
-Same effect created as neurotrasmitter
Antagonistic Molecule
Fills the lock so that the neurotrasmitter cannot get in and activate the receptor site
-Goes against effect of neurotransmitter
Mesocortical Pathway
To the frontal cortex
-Thinking and planning
-When treating schizophrenia, the more medication effects, the more effective the medication treats psychosis
Nigrostriatal Pathway
To the substantia nigra and striatum
-movement
Mesolimbic Pathway
To the Limbic System
-Addiction, pleasure, reward
-Cell bodies in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), projects to nucleus accumbens, cortex
Serotonin
Regulation of mood
-Elevated by choloclate
-Control of eating, arousal, sleep
-LSD (serotonin agonist in forebrain)
-MDMA (affects both norepinephrine and serotonin
SSRI
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor
Oxytocin
Neurotransmitter peptide
-Governs attachment, affiliation, pair bonding, parenting behaviors
-Oxytocin receptors are found in the hypothalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala
Acetylcholine (ACh)
Primary neurotransmitter secreted in CNS
-Muscular movement, regulating REM sleep, perceptual learning and memory
-Nicotinic receptor
-Muscarinic receptor
Nicotinic receptor
ionotropic acetylcholine receptor that is stimulated by nicotine and blocked by curare
Muscarinic receptor
a metabotropic acetylcholine receptor
Sensory Receptor Organs
Organs specialized to detect a certain stimulus
Receptor Cells
Within organ convert the stimulus into an electrical signal
Sensory Transduction
Converting environmental stimuli into action potentials
-Stimulus energy, sensory receptors, neural impulses, brain
Stimulus energy
Light, sound, smell, ect
Sensory receptors
Eyes, ears, nose, ect
Neural Impulses
...
Brain
Visual, auditory, olfactory, ect
Mechanical sensory system
Touch, pain, hearing, vestibular, joint, muscle
Touch
contact with or deformation of body surface
Pain
Tissue damage
Hearing
sound vibrations in air or water
Vestibular
head movements and orientation
Joint
position and movemenr
Muscle
tension
Visual sensory system
seeing -- visible radiant energy
Thermal sensory system
Cold -- decrease in skin temp
Warmth -- increase in skin temp
Chemical sensory system
Smell, taste, common chemical, vomeronasal
Smell
odorous substances dissolved in air or water in the nasal cavity
Taste
substances in contact with tongue
Common chemical
changes in CO2, pH, osmotic pressure
Vomeronasal
pheromones in air or water
Electrical sensory system
Electroreception -- differences in density of electrical currents
Parallel Processing
Turning light into the mental act of SEEING
-Building of perception out of sensory details processed in different areas of the brain
-Light waves -- chemical reactions -- neural impulses -- features -- objects -- and ...
-color -- motion -- form -- depth
Binding Problems
Problem of how the unity of conscious perception is brought about by the distributed activities of the CNS
Reticular Activating System (RAS)
Controls the 3 sleep and arousal states
-waking
-asleep (resting of slow wave sleep (SWS))
-Asleep and dreaming (REM)
Bottom Up Selective Attention
Attributes of the stimulus "grabs" your attention
-Brightness
-Emotionality
-Biological salience
Top Down Selective Attention
Your goals or intentions determine your attention
-Intentional attentional search
-Inhibiting attention to other aspects
Superior Colliculus
Forcibly moving attention from one object to another
Role of Thalamus
Gating/Filtering
Parietal Lobe
Allocation of attentional resources, controlling attention
-Top Down
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN)
Part of hypothalamus
-Main control center of the circaduim rhythms of sleep and tempurature