high affinity drugs **
- easier to bind
- produce effects at low concentration
- lower doses
- most desirable for therapeutic effects
low affinity drugs **
- slower to bind
- higher doses
- produce effects at high concentration
- most desirable for toxic side effects
nicotine **
- increases ACh
- blocked by curate
cocaine **
blocks dopamine
benzodiazepines **
- valium, xanax, amaine, etc
- indirect agonists of GABA
- anxiety dissolving drugs
- sleep medications
different ways that drugs can affect the synapse **
- antagonists: block or inhibit
- agonists: facilitate or increase
DOPA
increases dopamine
black widow spider **
agonist of ACh
GABA **
- inhibitory
- hyperpolarizes (reduces) neurons
- regulates communication btw brain cells
Glutamate **
- excitatory
- depolarizes neurons
- too much activity can induce excitotoxicity
- sends signals between nerve cells
- important for learning and memory
Glutamte receptors **
- NMDA: ionotropic
- AMPA: ionotropic
- Kainate: ionotropic
- metabotropic glutamate receptors
NMDA **
controls Ca++ channels and blocked by Mg2+ ions
AMPA **
controls Na+ channels
Kainate
controls Na+ channels, stimulated by Kainic acid
metabotropic glutamate
sensitive to glutamate
alcohol
antagonist of NMDA
agonist of GABA
GABA receptors **
- GABA-A: ionotropic, open Cl- channels
- GABA-B: metabotropic, control K+ channels
Acetylcholine **
-activates cerebral cortex and facilitates learning
- nicotinic = ionotropic
- muscarinic= metabotropic
botulinum toxin (botox) **
antagonist of ACh
Inotropic receptor **
contains a binding site for a neurotransmitter
-an ion channel that opens
metabotropic receptor **
activates an enzyme that begins a series of events that opens an ion channel elsewhere in the membrane of the cell
poisonous mushrooms
agonist muscarine
neostigmine
-inhibits
