PSYC 280 Chapter 4: Neurochemistry

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 280
• Professor: Neil Watson

Document Summary

Locus coeruleus: (cid:862)(cid:271)lue spot(cid:863) origi(cid:374)ates i(cid:374) the po(cid:374)s, proje(cid:272)ts i(cid:374)to (cid:272)orte(cid:454), li(cid:373)(cid:271)i(cid:272) system, thalamas. Most of 5-ht is contained in the raphe nuclei in the midbrain/brain stem. Antipsychotics generally block d2 receptors, and antidepressants improve synaptic availability of serotonin/ne. Alter transmitter release (blocking channels or modulating activity) To understand drug abuse we consider these next models: moral model: people abuse because they have no morals/self control. Different factors that make people more/less vulnerable to drug abuse: biological factors, family situation, personality, environment (ses, or certain places [cue-induced drug use]) Tolerance: repeated treatment of a drug causing up or down regulation of receptors, and resulting in drug not having as potent as an effect as before. Metabolic tolerance: tolerance when repeated exposed causes metabolic receptors to become more efficient in clearing the drug. Functional tolerance: tolerance due to up or down regulation of receptors. Down/up regulation: reduction in receptor availability/increase in receptor availability.