Classify That Drug!
This category of drugs, which includes caffeine and cocaine, speeds up central nervous system activity, increasing your alertness and heart rate.
What are stimulants?
The neurotransmitter known as a "pleasure" chemical and plays a central role in the reward pathway in our brain
This sleep disorder is characterized by brief episodes of cataplexy and often requires treatment with stimulants.
What is narcolepsy?
Consisting of the only the brain and spinal cord, this primary division of the nervous system acts as the body's main command center.
What is the central nervous system?
This is the precise scientific term for the brief electrical charge that travels down an axon when a neuron fires.
What is an action potential?
Alcohol and anti-anxiety medications (like benzodiazepines) belong to this category, which slows down bodily and mental processes.
What are depressants?
Drugs that mimic a natural neurotransmitter to activate a receptor site are called this, while drugs that block a receptor are called antagonists.
What is an agonist?
This specific stage of sleep where the most vivid story-like dreaming occurs, and the brain looks nearly as active as it does when awake.
What is REM sleep (rapid eye movement)?
This specific branch of the autonomic nervous system triggers the fight-or-flight response, accelerating heart rate and pausing digestion during high-stress situations.
What is the sympathetic nervous system?
This lobe of the brain is critical for understanding and producing speech, as well as learning and memory. (It is also Dr. Reyna's favorite lobe)
What is the temporal lobe?
Derived from the opium poppy, drugs in this category like morphine and heroin are used to treat severe physical pain
What are opioids (narcotics)?
Many popular antidepressants (like SSRIs) target this specific neurotransmitter, which helps with regulating your mood, sleep, and appetite.
What is serotonin?
Driven by light exposure, this internal biological clock regulates our cycles of alertness, body temperature, and sleepiness.
What is the circadian rhythm.
Situated at the back of the brain (near the base of the skull), whose name means "little brain", is responsible for fine motor control, balance, and physical coordination.
What is the cerebellum?
Using lots of x-rays at once, this imaging technique is able to show sections of the inside of the body. You can see muscles, organs, blood vessels, and bones.
What is a CT scan? (computerized tomography)
LSD, Psilocybin (Mushrooms), and MDMA belong to this drug class know for changing your sensory perceptions and reality
What are hallucinogens (or psychedelics)?
Alcohol exerts its primary calming and sedative effects on the brain by mimicking or enhancing this inhibitory neurotransmitter.
What is GABA?
Trying to rouse someone from this stage of sleep is extremely difficult, and upon waking often report feeling groggy.
What is Stage 3/ Deep Sleep?
This wrinkly outer layer of the brain is divided into four lobes and is responsible for high-level processes like thinking, language, and sensory perception.
Defined as a state marked by relatively low levels of physical activity and reduced sensory awareness that is distinct from periods of rest that occur during wakefulness.
What is sleep?
This important difference between traditional oxycodone and OxyContin is what makes it more addictive
How long the drug lasts and you feel the effects
(6 hours-traditional oxy VS 12 hours-OxyContin)
This specific structure in the limbic system, latin for "almond" and lights up when we experience emotion
What is the amygdala?
We sleep so we can achieve and maintain balance and optimal functioning within a system (this is called).
What is homeostasis?
Deep within the brain, this tiny structure serves as the main command center for your hormones; regulating fundamental biological needs like hunger, thirst, and body temperature.
What is the hypothalamus?
This long, cable-like tail carries the electrical impulse away from the cell body toward the next neuron.
What is the axon?