Drugs and Behavior

Subdecks (5)

Cards (194)

  • Drug
    A substance that alters the physiology of the body but is not a food or nutrient
  • Names of drugs
    • Chemical name
    • Generic name
    • Trade name
  • Drug dosages
    • Metric and effectiveness (X mg/kg)
    • Dose response curve
  • Median effective dose (ED50)
    Dose at which 50% effected
  • Median lethal dose (LD50)
    Dose at which 50% died
  • Potency
    Difference in ED50
  • Effectiveness
    Difference in maximum effect
  • Antagonism
    One drug diminishes impact of another (DRC shifts to right, reducing potency)
  • Additive effect
    Shifts the DRC to the left, increasing potency
  • Superadditive effect or potentiation

    Combining drugs increases their effectiveness beyond expected
  • Pharmacokinetics
    • Absorption
    • Distribution
    • Elimination
  • Routes of drug administration
    • Parenteral
    • Inhalation
    • Oral
    • Transdermal
  • Parenteral
    • Requires vehicle solution (e.g. 0.9% NaCl)
    • Four common types: subcutaneous (sc.), intramuscular (i.m.), intraperitoneal (i.p.), intravenous (i.v.)
  • Inhalation
    Inhaled drugs dissolve into the moist mucous membrane and are distributed more quickly to the brain than through other routes
  • Oral
    • Drugs pass through the intestines of the digestive system
    • Lipid-soluble drugs can pass through the lipid bilayer, charged (ionized) drugs cannot
  • pH
    • Measure of hydrogen ion (H+) concentration
    • Determines ionization of drugs
  • Transdermal
    • Epidermis is impermeable to water
    • Some drugs like nicotine and scopolamine can be administered transdermally
  • Factors affecting drug distribution
    • Lipid solubility
    • Capillary pores
    • Blood-brain barrier
    • Passive and active transport
    • Protein-binding
    • Placental barrier
  • Excretion and metabolism
    • Kidneys
    • Liver
  • Metabolism
    Enzymes change the structure of drugs, often making them less active, less toxic, and more likely to ionize in the kidneys
  • Rate of elimination
    • Faster at higher concentrations
    • Half-life: time to reduce concentration to half
  • Factors that alter drug metabolism
    • Heavy alcohol drinking increases enzyme induction
    • Enzyme depression
    • Disulfiram competes with acetylaldehyde for aldehyde dehydrogenase, slowing down metabolism
  • Age
    • Enzyme systems take time to develop after birth, so drug metabolism is different in infants
    • Liver functioning declines with age