PSYCH 220 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Tegmentum, Barbiturate, Prolactin
Document Summary
Chapter 4 (part 2): the chemistry of behavior: neurotransmitters and neuropharmacology. Ligand any substance that binds to a receptor: a neurotransmitter is an endogenous ligand. When a neurotransmitter binds to a receptor, it activates a change. Agonist a drug binds to a receptor to activate it. Antagonist a drug binds a receptor without activating it and blocks it: prevents the normal neurotransmitter from activating the receptor. The effect of a drug depends on where it binds, what it does and the dose: binding affinity the degree of chemical attraction between a ligand and a receptor. High binding affinity if the ligand attracts readily to the receptor and wants to bind. Low binding affinity if the ligand binds, but doesn"t adhere very rapidly: efficacy (intrinsic activity) the ability of a bound ligand to activate a receptor. How efficient is it, how well can it affect change. Dose-response curve (drc) a graph of the relationship between drug doses and the effects.
