PSY 315 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Methylphenidate, Naloxone, Opiate
Document Summary
Drug = substance other than food with biological action. Drug effect | purpose of drug is to elicit chemical/physiological change in tissue/organism. Drug receptors | widely; any biochemical structure able to receive/interact with a drug and cause responses: most important point where drugs contact/produce changes in nerve cells, ex. Drug action = interacting of drug molecules with living tissue (mechanism of action = specific process) Effects of most drugs is known, but not the exact mechanism of action. Determinants of biological action: drug receptors, administration, absorption, distribution, drug fate, dosage, non-specific factors (perception of drug, who you are, beliefs/expectation, color/size of drug, sex, bmi) Importance of administration: heroin is an alkali substance that is immediately neutralized by stomach acid (explains why it"s difficult to get heroin in brain unless snorting/smoking) Drugs to treat depression interferes with enzymes that break down ne; keeps activating receptors.
