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Drugs and Behaviour Psychology - Part 1 Lecture Notes
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Drugs and Behaviour Psychology - Part 1 Lecture Notes
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Drugs and Behaviour - Andy ParrottLecture 1: Introduction and Overview – 3rd October 2016
Neurochemistry: Will only be covered at a very basic level.
Main focus: Behavioural effects of psychoactive drugs, a psychological focus.
Clinical drugs: Antipsychotics and antidepressants.
Legal social drugs: Alcohol and Nicotine.
Illicit recreational drugs: Cannabis and MDMA
Historical Introduction and Overview
Human Psychopharmacology: Studying the effects of drugs upon behaviour,
cognitive functions and emotions.
Neolithic times: Opium poppy seeds found in burial chambers. The pain relieving
properties of plants were known a long time before modern day.
Sumeria: Clay tablet laws about drinking alcohol in taverns. Drinking laws in Ancient
Sumeria were similar to that of now in that they had similar problems with alcohol in
terms of disruptive and problematic individuals.
Native Americans: Peyote cactus Contains mescaline which is a psychedelic drug
with similar properties to LSD. It was used in religious ceremonies for religious
insights.
Medieval Europe: Belladonna Pupil dilation using herbs.
1952: Chlorpromazine in France used for schizophrenia.
1960: First benzodiazepine for anxiety reduction. It was widely used but problems
with dependency.
1960Present: Many new drugs for clinical disorders.
The development of which is very complex and expensive.
Nootropic drugs are likely to increase in the future as they are cognitive enhancer which
may be helpful in slowing or stopping the progression of senile dementia. However, the
drug trials show minor effects.
, Wu et al. (2015): Few studies have examined the contribution of treatment on the
mortality of dementia. This study investigated the effects of nootropic treatments on the
mortality of dementia. The median survival time was 3.39 years for Vascular Dementia
without medication and 6.62 years with nootropics. 3.01 years for degenerative dementia
without medication and 6.00 years for degenerative dementia with nootropics.
Pharmacological nootropic treatments have beneficial effects for patients with dementia in
prolonging their survival.
Psychoactive drug classification
CNS Stimulant: Amphetamine, cocaine, caffeine, MDMA Increases alertness
CNS Depressant: Alcohol, barbiturates, benzodiazepine Tend to induce calmness
and sleep.
Antipsychotics: Chlorpromazine for schizophrenia.
Antidepressant: Imipramine, amitriptyline for severe depression.
Many other psychoactive drugs are not covered in this unit (e.g. opiates, nootropics,
psychedelics).
Pharmacokinetics: How drugs are processed by the body
Administration: Oral tablets or drinks. Lungs through smoking is highly effective as
there are thin membranes to the blood system. Injections, transdermal skin patch.
Dosage: Low to high. Short vs long lasting. Depot injections In buttocks to
administer antipsychotics, aids in compliance as effects last 8-12 week and so good
for those who are not motivated to take medication every day.
Acute effects: It is for the acute effects that people take drugs. The acute effects may
differ in novice users. However, all drugs have long term effects and consequences.
Long term/consequences: Alter in regular users, general pattern of decline is similar
for all drugs.
Distribution: Numerous membrane barriers to drug distribution, e.g. cell
membranes, blood capillary, BBB, placenta. Any large molecule cannot reach the CNS
due to the BBB.
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