PSYC 1101 Exam 2 10 28 2013 p 54 55 113 126 How Drugs and Other Chemicals Alter Neurotransmission Drugs and other chemicals affect brain chemistry at synapses by either exciting or inhibiting neurons firing o Agonists similar enough to a neurotransmitter to bind to its receptor and mimic its affects Opiates high o Antagonists bind to receptors but their effect is to block a neurotransmitters functioning Enough like the natural neurotransmitter to occupy the receptor site but not similar enough to stimulate the receptor DRUGS and CONSCIOUSNESS Psychoactive drugs chemicals that change perceptions and moods Drug s overall effect depends not only on its biological effects but also on the psychology of the user s expectations Tolerance Dependence and Addiction Tolerance diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug requiring larger and larger doses before experiences the drug s effect o Neuroadaptation brain chemistry adapts to offset the drug effect consequences Addiction compulsive drug craving and use despite adverse Abruptly stopping the drug may lead to undesirable effects of withdrawal physical pain intense cravings indicates physical dependence o Can also develop psychological dependence stress relieving drugs like alcohol TYPES OF PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS 3 categories depressants stimulants hallucinogens All do work on the synapses either stimulating inhibiting or mimicking the activity of brain s own neurotransmitters Drugs such as alcohol barbiturates tranquilizers and opiates calm neural activity and slow body functions Depressants ALCOHOL o Disinhibitor slow brain activity that controls judgment o Slowed Neural Processing reactions slow speech slurs performance deteriorates o Memory Disruption blackouts results from the way alcohol suppresses REM sleep which helps fix the day s experiences into permanent memories Long term effects on the brain and cognition binge drinkings leads to cell death and reduces the birth of new nerve cells Alcohol Dependence shrink the brain o Reduced Self Awareness and Self Control o Expectancy Effects expectations influence behavior attribute sexual responses to alcohol released inhibitions Believe that alcohol affects social behavior in social ways will behave accordingly regardless of whether or not they actually consumed alc o Acts on GABA receptor agonist releases endorphins indirectly stimulates the release of dopamine o Tranquilizers depress nervous system activity Induce sleep Impair memory judgment o Anxiolytics reduce anxiety o All GABA antogonists increase inhibitory postsynaptic o All agonists of endorphins and dopamine o Opium and its derivatives morphine and heroin o When brain is constantly artificially flooded with an artificial opiate the brain eventually stops producing endorphins when artificial is withdrawn the brain lacks the normal level of its own painkillers BARBITURATES potentials OPIATES Stimulants Excites neural activity and speeds up body function Include caffeine nicotine amphetamines cocaine and methamphetamine and ecstasy NICOTINE COCAINE o Travels to the brain in as little as 10 seconds after absorbed into the bloodstream o Activiates nicotinic acetylcholine ACh receptors o Increases excitation via adrenaline epinephren release o Indirectly activates dopamine o In higher concentrations stimulates endorphin release o Enters bloodstream quickly producing rush of euphoria that depletes the brain s supply of neurotransmitters dopamine serotonoin and norepinephrine blocks the reuptake of dopamine norepinephrine and serotonin Extra neurotransmitter molecules remain in the synapse intensifying their normal mood altering effects and producing a europhoric rush o Short high 15 30 minutes and crash METHAMPHETAMINE o Related to amphetamine greater effects o Triggers the release of dopamine o Causes heightened energy and euphoria o Blocks nonepinephrine reuptake severe aftereffects Ecstasy o Stimulant and mild hallucinogen Triggers dopamine release o Major effect is releasing stored serotonin and blocking its reuptake prolonging feel good flood o THC cannabinoid o 2 AG Anandamide cannabinoids appetite stimulation sensitivity o partly responsible for our anti stress reaction endogenous decreased pain Hallucinogens Marijunaa PSYC 1101 Lecture Notes 10 29 13 A consequence that decreases the likelihood of a behavior occurring Punishment again in the future Ways to increase behavior o Positive punishment administer an aversive stimulus spanking parking ticket o Negative punishment withdraw a desirable stimulus time out from privileges revoked driver s license Problems with Physical Punishment Punished behaviors may restart when the punishment is over Might learn an attitude of fear or hatred towards the punishment and this can generalize to a fear hatred of all adults Physical punishment models aggression and control of a method of dealing with problems Punishing focuses on what NOT to do which does not guide people to a desired behavior In order to teach desired behavior reinforce what s right rather than what s wrong Superstition acquired behaviors Repeating actions have effect on environment BF Skinner pigeon experiments False links of what they do and what they see Universe operates without them Human nature to take control over randomness superstitious thinking MEMORY Memory Processes Encoding getting information into memory Storage Retaining information in memory Retrieval Recalling or using previously encoded and stored information Three Stage Model of Memory memory Sensory input from the environment is recorded as fleeting sensory o External Events sensory input Sensory Memory Attention to important novel info encoding Working short term memory encoding retrieving Long term memory o Hearing sensory memory stronger Information is processed in working memory o First pass at maintaining information Actively processing it juggling it in your head o Also activated when we retrieve a memory Information is encoded into long term memory for later retrieval Working Memory Active processing of information Stream of thought Associates new and old information Solves problems Processing How information gets encoded into memory o Automatic processing unconscious encoding of information about space time frequency conditioned associations and emotional experiences Mental maps practicing routine o Effortful processing is encoding that requires attention and conscious effort rehearsal library school work etc If we are need to
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