Lecture 1 – Cartoonology
Psychologists are allowed to prescribe drugs in five states in USA;
-> new mexico
-> louisiana
-> illinois
-> iowa
-> idaho
→ but only when they have;
-> PhD
-> special postgrad training
-> licence to practise idependently
Psychologists know a person very well, because they see them a lot.
Psychiatrists doesn’t know a person very well, beause they don’t see them a lot.
-> so why is it that only psychiatrist can prescribe drugs?
When a drug is forbidden, it doesn’t mean it’s dangerous. It’s just not evaluated enough.
LSD
Canabis (pot)
-> can we use this as a cure for psychiatric
symptoms?
Smoking canabis can increase depression and
psychosis. It also can decreace IQ.
CBD;
-> claimed to help against fear, stress, pain,
anxiety, excema, sleeplessnes, cancer, enz.
-> evidence it helps for Dravet Syndrome
Schizofrenia
Smoking pot: cause of schizofrenia or self-medication?
Drug development
Why aren’t antidepressants getting any better?
Why are drugs so expensive?
,Ritalin helps you focus;
-> by blocking the dopamine transporters
Function nervous system: interaction between
chemical and electrical activity of assemblies
of neurons
-> nervous system = chemical
-> using EEG = electrical
Neurons, dendrites and axons make circuits;
-> interregional
-> local
-> micro
→ the connectivity of our neurons makes humans unique, the circuits
Dendritic spines are morphological correlate of glutamatergic synapses in excitatory neurons.
Dendritic input;
-> spine: excitatory (glutamate)
-> no spine: inhibitory (GABA)
-> axonal output can be excitatory or inhibitory
Pruton (the end of an axon)
Freefloating membrane proteins
-> receptors floades in the membrane
-> proteins holds them together
-> response system
Volume transmission: monoamine autoreceptors
-> autoreceptors bind ligands that are released by that same neuron
-> function: feedback mechanism to regulate neurotransmitter synthesis and/or release
-> usualy inhibitory
Retrograde neurotransmission
-> endocannabinoid (endogenous marijuana): bind to presynaptic receptors and inhibit
synapse
-> nitric oxide: t cGMP sensitive targets (2nd messenger system)
-> neurotrophic factors (NGF): all the way to the cell nuclues, modulating gene expression
,Molecules; chemicals
-> mono-aminen
-> serotonine
-> norepinephrine
-> dopamine
-> amino acids
-> glutamate
-> GABA
→ these are the most investigated ones
The discovery of neurotransmitters:
The neuron is a chemical factory
-> many neuronal components
-> all with specific functions
-> major actual targets for psychopharmaca are synaptic
Lecture 2 – Modes of communication
Transport through the blood might be seen as volume conduction.
Neurotransmitters aren’t the whole chemical story
In the brain, every cell is different
-> makes it complicated
In the lever, every cell is kind of the same
Fast chemical communication; needs fast transport not
only in synapses, also in the other parts of the neuron
All chemicals are potential targets for psychopharmaca
, The agonist-antagonist story
-> neurotransmitters fit on receptors like a key in a lock
Acetylcholine (Ach) is the key
-> in the brain and the periphery on 2 different receptors:
-> nicotinic-receptors
-> excitatory
-> ion channels
-> at the neuromuscular junction
-> agonist
-> curare = antagonist
-> muscarinic-receptors
-> G-protein
-> linked receptors
-> agonist
-> atropine = antagonist
-> ACh is the neurotransmitter of the autonomic NS
Antagonist = freezing receptor > doing nothing
Agonist = fully making the receptor active
Partial agonist = is doing a little bit (more gentle)
Inverse agonist = opposite of agonist