Behavioral Pharmacology Unit 1

• Pharmacodynamics is the physiological biochemical drug effects on the organism
• Pharmacokinetics is how the drug passes through the body and how it is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted.
• Pharmacogenetics is how genetic differences influence a drug's pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics
• Additive drug effects are when the magnitude of the combined drug effect is the addition of each drug's individual effect
• Synergistic drug effects are when the magnitude of combined drug effect is greater than the addition of each drug's individual effect
• Review process for animal research considers replacement, refinement, and reduction.
• Phase 1 of clinical trials involves determining the most frequent adverse side effect
• Phase 2 of clinical trials involves determining the therapeutic effectiveness in individuals with disorder
• Phase 3 of clinical trials involves further determination of therapeutic effectiveness in a longer time span than phase 2
• Phase 4 involves continued studies after FDA approval
• A glial cell is a non-neuronal cell that supports and surrounds neurons.
• Astrocytes are glia cells that are important for BBB (blood-brain barrier) and regulating extracellular environment
• Microglia remove cellular waste and immune response in CNS (central nervous system)
• Oligodendrocytes make up the myelin in CNS
• Schwann cells make up the myelin in PNS
• The somatic nervous system is part of the PNS and is responsible for voluntary movement
• the autonomic nervous system is part of the PNS and is responsible for involuntary responses
• The sympathetic division of ANS prepares body to respond to stressors, while parasympathetic division restores homeostasis
• The superior colliculi is in charge of vision in the midbrain
• The inferior colliculi is in charge of hearing in the midbrain
• The ventral tegmental area is part of the midbrain in charge of reward with dopaminergic neurons
• The hypothalamus is in charge of homeostasis and signals pineal gland hormone release
• The nucleus accumbens is in the limbic system and is responsible for reward processing
• The cerebellum is in charge of error correction in movements
• The basal ganglia is in charge of initiating movement
• An action potential is an abrupt depolarization of the neuron's membrane that allows communication over long distances
• Depolarization is when there is less of an electrical charge difference between the inside and outside of a cell
• Exocystosis is when vesicles fuse with the cell membrane of the presynaptic neuron and cause release of neurotransmitters
• Ionotropic receptors are ion channels that open when a neurotransmitter binds to it. It changes local potential to be excitatory or inhibitory.
• Metabotropic receptors do not have an ion channel and have a longer effect. It can change local potential, enzyme regulation, protein synthesis, and gene activation.
• A G protein-coupled receptor is a metabotropic receptor that has 3 subunits that separate from the receptor when activated and can activate ion channels, effector enzymes, protein kinases, and a substrate protein.
• Receptor tyrosine kinases are a type of metabotropic receptor
• Autoreceptors are presynaptic neuron receptors that are activated by the released neurotransmitter and can inhibit further release
• Heteroreceptors are presynaptic neuron receptors that neurotransmitters from other neurons bind to which causes a decrease or increase in neurotransmitter release
• Glutamate is an amino acid neurotransmitter with both excitatory and inhibitory effects and both ionotropic and metabotropic receptors (NMDA, AMPA, kainate, and mGlu)
• Glutamate is made by glutaminase converting glutamine to glutamate
• Glutamate is catabolized by glutamine synthetase and undergoes reuptake by glutamine transports
• GABA is made by GAD enzyme converting glutamate into GABA
• GABA is an amino acid neurotransmitter that is inhibitory and has both ionotropic and metabotropic receptors (GABAa, GABAb)
• GABA aminotransferase turns GABA back into glutamate