PSY-B - Psychology PSY-B 320 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Acetylcholine, Area Postrema, Lake Trout
14 Feb 2017
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Psychopharmacology: study of how drugs affect the nervous system and behavior. Drugs: chemical compounds administered to produce a desired change in the body. Psychoactive drug: substance that acts to alter mood, thought, or behavior (can be used to manage neuropsychological illness; also can be abused) Gaining access to the brain: small, uncharged molecules (e. g. , oxygen and carbon dioxide) are fat soluble and can freely cross the bbb. Larger, charged molecules (e. g. , glucose, amino acids, fats) must be actively transported across the bbb: difficulty developing drugs for the brain. Estimated 98% of all drugs that may affect brain function and have therapeutic use, cannot cross the blood-brain barrier. Blood-brain barrier-free brain regions: area postrema: allows toxic substances in the blood to trigger a vomiting response, pineal gland: enables hormones to reach it and modulate the day/night cycles controlled by this structure. Drug action at synapses: most psychoactive drugs exert their effects by influencing synaptic chemical signaling, antagonist.
