Pharmacology- Neurotransmitters
This type of drug increases the effects of a neurotransmitter.
What is an agonist?
What is caffeine?
What are the 4 stages of sleep and in what ways do they differ?
What are Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3 (Slow-wave sleep), and REM (Rapid Eye Movement).
Stages Differ in neural activity, eye movement, and muscle activity.
The process where specialized receptors convert environmental energy into neural signals.
What is transduction?
These specialized cells found in the cochlea allow us to convert sound waves into neural signals.
What are hair cells?
This neurotransmitter is known for being the most prominent inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, generating inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs) and is enhanced by alcohol consumption.
What is GABA?
This impact can be psychological or physical, not inherently harmful.
An example might be you feeling grumpy on a morning when you skipped your coffee.
What is dependence?
This stage of sleep, associated with learning and especially abundant in infants, decreases in proportion as we age into adulthood.
What is REM sleep?
The concept that explains why we eventually stop feeling our glasses on our nose or clothing against our skin.
What is sensory adaptation (or sensitivity to change)?
These tiny bones in the middle ear—the malleus, incus, and stapes—transmit vibrations from the eardrum to the oval window.
What are ossicles?
This neurotransmitter is the brain’s most predominant excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, and excessive levels of it can lead to seizures.
What is glutamate?
This synthetic compound, also referred to as "ecstasy," combines stimulant and psychedelic properties.
What is MDMA (mthylenediozymethamphetamine)?
What is the purpose of sleep (i.e. why is it important for our overall health and brains)?
Memory consolidation: sleep restores & rebuild our fading memories
Recovery & restoration: sleep helps restore and repair brain tissue
And more!
In hearing, this characteristic of a sound wave determines its pitch.
What is frequency (or wavelength)?
The principle that distinct sensory experiences travel along separate neural pathways throughout our sensory systems.
What are labeled lines?
This category of neurotransmitters includes dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin.
What are monoamines?
This phenomenon explains why expectations can significantly alter the subjective effects of psychedelic drugs.
What is the placebo effect?
This small part of the hypothalamus acts as the master clock for our circadian rhythm, receiving light signals and regulating daily activity patterns.
What is the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)?
These two coding mechanisms are used by the brain to identify the frequency of sounds.
What are place coding and temporal coding?
This device helps people with hearing difficulties by surgically implanting electrodes near the cochlea to stimulate the auditory nerve directly.
What is a cochlear implant?
This active process is one of 3 processes that clear neurotransmitters using enzymes in the synapse that bind to the NT and degrade them.
What is degradation?
Unlike most psychiatric medications which require ongoing use, these drugs typically show therapeutic benefits with limited dosing sessions combined with therapy.
What are psychedelics/ hallucinogens?
What is sleep deprivation?
The narrow, stiff end of the basilar membrane that responds to high-frequency sounds around 1600 Hz.
What is the basal end?
This phenomenon describes how our sensory systems interact and influence the perception of each other, contributing to our integrated sensory experience.
What is sensory interaction?