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Bio Pysc: Chap 4
Chemical Bases of Behavior
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| neurochemistry | the branch of neuroscience concerned with the fundamental chemical composition and processes of the nervous system. |
| neuropharmacology | also called psychopharmacology. The scientific field concerned with the discovery and study of compounds that selectively affect the functioning of the nervous system. |
| amine neurotransmitter | a neurotransmitter based on modifications of a single amino acid nucleus, such as acetylcholine, serotonin, or dopamine. |
| peptide neurotransmitter | a neurotransmitter consisting of a short chain of amino acids. |
| gas neurotransmitter | a soluble gas, such as nitric oxide or carbon monoxide, that is produced and released by a neuron to alter the functioning of another neuron. |
| receptor | also called receptor molecule. A protein that captures and reacts to molecules of a tranmitter or hormone. |
| ionotropic receptor | a receptor protein that includes an ion channel that is opened when the recpetor is bound by an agonist |
| metabotropic receptor | a type of transmitter receptor that does not contain an ion channel but may, when activated, use a G protein system to open a nearby ion channel. |
| receptor subtype | any type of receptor having functional characteristics that distinguish it from other types of receptors for the same neurotransmitter. |
| ligand | a substance that binds to receptor molecules, such as those at the surface of the cell. |
| agonist | a molecule, usually a drug, that binds a receptor molecule and intiates a response like that of another molecule, usually a neurotransmitter |
| antagonist | a molecule, usually a drug, that interferes with or prevents the action of a transmitter. |
| inverse agonist | a substance that binds to a receptor and causes it to do the opposite of what the naturally occuring transmitter does. |
| endogenous | produced inside the body. |
| exogenous | arising from outside the body. |
| co-localization | also called co-release. Here, the appearance of more than one neurotransmitter in a given presynaptic terminal. |
| acetylcoline (ACh) | an amine transmitter that stimulates muscle contraction, but is also found thourhgout the brain. |
| cholinergic | referring to cells that use acetylcholine as their synaptic transmitter. |
| nicotinic | referring to cholinergic receptors that respond to nicotine as well as to acetylcoline |
| muscarinc | referring to cholinergic recptors that respond to the chemical muscarine as well as to acetylcholine. |
| catecholamines | a class of monoamines that serve as neurotransmitters, including dopamine and norepinephrine. |
| indoleamines | a class of monoamines that serve as neurotransmitters, including serotonin and melatonin |
| dopamine (DA) | a monoamine transmitter found in the midbrain--especially the substania nigra--and basal forebrain. |
| mesotriatal pathway | a set of dopaminergic axons arising from the midbrain and innervating the basal ganglia, including those from the substantia nigra to the striatum. |
| mesolimbocortical pathway | a set of dopaminergic axons arising in the midbrain and innervating teh limbic system and cortex. |
| substantia nigra | a midbrain structure that provides dopaminergic projections to areas of the forebrain, especially the basal ganglia. |
| striatum | the caudate nucleus and putamen together. |
| ventral tegmental area (VTA) | a portion of the midbrain that projects dopaminergic fibers to the nucleus accumbens. |
| norepinephrine (NE) | also called noradrenaline. A synaptic transmitter that is produced mainly in brainstem nuclei. |
| locus coeruleus | a small nucleus in the brainstem whose neurons produce norepinephrine and modulate large areas of the forebrain. |
| noradrenergic | referring to systems using norepinephrine (noradrenaline) as a transmitter. |
| serotonin (5-HT) | a synaptic transmitter that is produced inteh raphe nuclei and is active in structures throughout the cerbral hermispheres |
| sertonergic | referring to neurons that use serotonin as their synaptic transmitter. |
| raphe nuclei | a string of nuclei in the midline of the midbrain and brainstem that contain most of teh serotnergic neurons of the brain. |
| dorsal raphe | one of the midbrain nuclei that give rise to most of the serotonergic projections of the brain. |
| glutamate | an amino acid transmitter, the most common excitatory transmitter. |
| aspartate | an amino acid transmitter that is excitatory at many synapses. |
| gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) | a widely distributed amino-acid transmitter, and the main inhibitory transmitter in the mammalian nervous system. |
| glycine | an amino acid transmitter, often inhibitory. |
| glutamatergic | referring to cells that use glutamate as theri synaptic transmitter. |
| excitotoxicity | the property by which neurons die when overstimulated, as with large amounts of glutamate. |
| opioid peptide | a type of endogenous peptide that mimics the effects of morphine in binding to opioid receptors and producing marked analgesia and reward. |
| nitric oxide (NO) | a soluble gas that serves as a retrograde gas neurotransmitter in the nervous system. |
| retrograde transmitter | a neurotransmitter that diffuses from the postsynaptic neuron back to the presynaptic neuron. |
| binding affinity | the propesity of molecules of a drug (or other ligand) to bind to their corresponding receptors. Drugs with high affintiy for their receptors are effective even in low doses. |
| efficacy or intrinsic activity | the ectent to which a drug activates a response when it binds to a receptor. |
| partial agonist or partial antagonist | a drug that, when bound to a receptor, has less effect than the endogenous ligand would. |
| competitive ligand | a substance that directly competes with the endogenous ligand for binding to a receptor molecule. |
| noncompetitive ligand | a drug that affects a transmitter receptor while binding at a site other than that bound by the endogenous ligand. |
| modulatory site | a portion of a receptor that, when bound by a compound, alters the receptor's response to its transmitter. |
| dose-response curve (DRC) | a formal plot of drug's effects (on the y-axis) versus the dose given (on the x-axis). |
| pharmacodynamics | collective name for the factors that affect the relationship between a drug and its target receptors, such as affinity and efficacy. |
| tolerance | a condition in which, with repeated exposure to a drug, an individual becomes less responsive to a constant dose. |
| metabolic tolerance | the form of drug tolerance that arises when the metabolic machinery of the body becomes more efficent at clearing the drug, as a consequence of repeated exposure. |
| functional tolerance | decreased responding to a drug after repeated exposures, generally as a consequence of up-or down-regulation of receptors. |
| up-regulation | a compensatory increase in receptor availability at the synapses of a neuron. |
| cross-tolerance | a condition in which the development of tolerance for an adminstered drug causes an individual to develop tolerance for another drug. |
| withdrawal symptom | an uncomfortable symptom that arises when a person stops taking a drug that he or she has used frequently, especially at high doses. |
| sensitization | a process in which the body shows an enhanced response to a given drug after repeated doses. |
| bioavailable | referring to a substance, usually a drug, that is present in the body physiological mechanisms. |
| biotransformation | the process in which enzymes convert a drug into a metabolite that is itself active, possibly in ways that are substantially different from the actions of the original substance. |
| pharmacokinetics | collective name for all the factors that affect the movement of a drug into, through, and out of the body. |
| blood-brain barrier | the mechanisms that make the movement of substances from capillaries into brain cells more difficult than exchanges in other body organs, thus affording the brain greater protection from exposure to some substances found in the blood. |
| neuromodulator | a substance that influences the activity of synaptic transmitters. |
| caffeine | a stimulant compound found in coffee, cacao, and other plants. |
| adenosine | in the context of neural transmission, a neuromodulator that alters synaptic activity. |
| autoreceptor | a receptor for a synaptic transmitter that is located in the presynaptic membrane and tells the axon terminal how much transmitter has been released. |
| antipsychotics | a class of drugs that alleviate schizophrenia. |
| neuroleptics | a class of antiphychotic drugs, traditionally dopamine receptor blockers. |
| typical neuroleptics | a major class of antischizophrenic drugs that share an antagonist activity at dopamine D_2 receptors. |
| atypical neuroleptics | a class of antischizophrenic drugs that have actions other than dopamine d_2 receptor antagonism that characterizes the typical neuroleptics. |
| antidepressants | a class of drugs that relieve the symptoms of depression. |
| monamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI or MAO inhibitor) | an antidepressant drug that blocks teh breakdown of monoamine neurotransmitters by the enzyme monoamine oxidase, resulting in an accumulation of monoamine transmitters in synapses. |
| tricyclic antideressants | a class of drugs that act by increasing the synaptic accmulation of serotonin and norepinephrine. |
| selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) | a drug that blocks the reuptake of transmitter at serotonergic synapses. |
| anxiolytics | a class of substances that are used to combat anxiety. |
| depressants | a class of drugs that act to reduce neural activity. |
| benzodiazepine agonists | a class of antianxiety drugs that bind to sites on GABA_A receptors. |
| orphan receptor | any receptor for which no endogenous ligand has yet been discovered. |
| allopregnanolone | a naturally occuring steroid that modulates GABA receptor activity in much the same way that benzodiazepine anxiolytics do. |
| neurosteroids | steroids produced in the brain. |
| fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) | a disorder including mental retardation and characteristic facial anomalies, that affect children exposed to too much alcohol (through maternal ingestion) during fetal development. |
| opium | a herterogenous extract of the seedpod juice of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. |
| morphine | an opiate compound derived from the poppy flower. |
| analgesic | referring to painkilling properties. |
| heroin | diacetylmorphine; an artificially modified, very potent form of morphine. |
| opioid receptor | a receptor that responds to endogenous and/or exogenous opiates. |
| periaqueductal gray | the neuronal body-rich region of the midbrain surrounding the cerbral aqueduct that connects the third and fourth ventricles. |
| endogenous opioids | a family of peptide transmitters that have been called the body's own narcotics. The three kinds are enkephalins, endorphins, and dynophins. |
| enkephalins | one of three kinds of endogenous opiates. |
| endorphins | one of three kinds of enogenous opiates. |
| dynorphins | one of three kinds of enogenous opiates. |
| marijuana | a dried preparation of the Cannabis sativa plant, usually smoked to obtain THC. |
| 9-tetrahydocannabinol (THC) | the major active ingredient in marijuana. |
| endocannabinoid | an endogenous ligand of cannabinoid receptors; thus, an analog of marijuana that is produced by the brain. |
| anadamide | an endogenous substance that binds the cannabinoid receptor molecule. |
| nicotine | a compound found in plants including tobacco, that acts as an agonist on a large class of cholinergic receptors. |
| cocaine | a drug of abuse, derived from the coca plant, that acts by potentiating catecholamine stimulation. |
| dual dependence | dependence for emergent drug effects that occur only when two drugs are taken simulaneously. |
| amphetamine | a molecule that resembles the structure of teh catecholamine transmitters and enhances their activity. |
| cocaine-and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) | a peptide produced in the brain when an animal is injected with either cocaine or amphetamine. Associated with the appetite control circuitry of the hypothalmus. |
| hallucinogens | a class of drugs that alter sensory perception and produce peculiar experiences. |
| LSD | also called acid. Lysergic acid diethylamide, a hallucinogenic drug. |
| phencyclidine (PCP) | also called angel dust. an anesthetic agent that is also a psychedelic drug. |
| dissociative drug | a type of drug that produces a dreamlike state in which consciousness is partly seperated from sensory imputs. |
| ketamine | a dissociative anesthetic drug that acts as an NMDA receptor antagonist. |
| MDMA | also called Ectasy. A drug of abuse, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine. |
| nucleus accumbens | a region of the forebrain that receives dopaminergic innervation from the ventral tegmental area. |
| cue-induced drug abuse | an increased likelihood to use a drug (especially an addictive drug) because of the prescence of environmental stimuli that were present during previous use of the same drug. |
| extracelluar signal-regulated kinase (ERK) | an important intracelluar signal transduction system that can be activated by many different events that affect the cell surface. |
| orexins | a group of proteins expressed in the lateral hypothalmus that trigger feeding and have been implicated in narcolepsy. |
Created by:
Doublefault84