PSY 212 Exam 1 Study Guide Flashcards

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering drug terminology, history, scheduling, neuroanatomy, pharmacology, and conditioning principles from PSY 212 Exam 1 Notes.

Drug Use

Neutral, baseline term for drug consumption that does not meet the criteria for drug abuse.

Drug Misuse

Use of a drug for reasons other than what it was prescribed for, whether accidental or intentional.

Drug Abuse

Any use of drugs causing physical, psychological, legal, or social harm to the user or to others affected by their behavior.

DSM-5-TR Substance Use Disorder Severity

Diagnosis classified by criteria met: mild ($2$-$3$ criteria), moderate ($4$-$5$ criteria), or severe ($6+$ criteria).

Harrison Narcotics Tax Act (1914)

Act that strictly regulated legal opiate supply and required licensing, which ironically doubled dependence rates by pushing users toward heroin.

Controlled Substances Act (1970)

Landmark law providing the basis for all current U.S. drug regulation and creating five drug schedules.

Controlled Substances Act Schedules Table

Classification framework ranking controlled substances into five schedules based on medical utility, misuse potential, and dependence risk.

Schedule I Drugs

Substances with high abuse potential and no accepted medical use, such as heroin, LSD, marijuana (federally), ecstasy, methaqualone, and peyote.

Schedule II Drugs

Substances with high abuse potential, accepted restricted medical use, and severe dependence risk, such as cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, Adderall, and Ritalin.

Schedule III Drugs

Substances with moderate or low abuse potential, such as products containing less than $90\text{ mg}$ codeine per dose, ketamine, and anabolic steroids.

Fair Sentencing Act (2010)

Federal legislation passed to reduce racial sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine.

Somatic Nervous System

PNS division responsible for voluntary movement, carrying sensory input and motor output to skeletal muscles.

Sympathetic Nervous System

Branch of the autonomic nervous system governing the 'fight-or-flight' response via epinephrine and norepinephrine release.

Medulla

Hindbrain structure controlling essential autonomic functions such as breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, swallowing, and vomiting.

Substantia Nigra

Midbrain structure that produces dopamine, whose degeneration causes Parkinson's disease.

Mesolimbic Dopamine Pathway

The brain's reward pathway connecting the nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area (VTA), and frontal cortex, central to drug reinforcement.

Prefrontal Cortex

Brain area involved in executive functions, including planning, impulse control, and decision-making.

Nitric Oxide (NO)

Atypical gaseous neurotransmitter synthesized on demand that diffuses freely through membranes and binds to soluble guanylate cyclase.

GABA

The most abundant inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, targeted by depressants, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, and alcohol.

Glutamate

The most abundant excitatory neurotransmitter, crucial for learning and memory through NMDA, AMPA, and Kainate receptors.

Sodium-Potassium Pump ($\text{Na}^+/\text{K}^+$ Pump)

Membrane pump maintaining the resting membrane gradient by pumping $3\text{ Na}^+$ out of the neuron and $2\text{ K}^+$ in.

Schwann Cells

PNS glial cells that myelinate a single axon segment at a time and can help axons regrow.

Oligodendrocytes

CNS glial cells that myelinate multiple axons at once and cannot help axons regrow.

Agonist

A chemical that binds to a receptor and activates it, mimicking the action of an endogenous ligand.

Antagonist

A chemical that binds to a receptor without activating it, preventing other ligands from binding.

Pharmacokinetics

Study of 'what the body does to the drug', encompassing Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Excretion (ADME).

Pharmacodynamics

Study of 'what the drug does to the body', focusing on biochemical and physiological effects and mechanisms of action.

Potency

The minimum dose needed to produce maximal (efficacious) effect.

Efficacy

The peak/plateau of the dose-effect curve, representing the maximum effect a drug can produce.

ED50

The effective dose at which 50\text{\null}\% of individuals display a specified drug effect.

LD50

The dose that is lethal to 50\text{\null}\% of nonhuman test animals within a specified timeframe.

Therapeutic Index

A measure of drug safety calculated as $\frac{\text{LD}_{50}}{\text{ED}_{50}}$, where a higher index signifies a safer drug.

Drug Synergism

Interaction where the combined effect of two drugs is greater than either alone, shifting the dose-response curve left.

Dispositional Tolerance

Type of tolerance resulting from the body metabolizing a drug more rapidly with regular use.

Functional Tolerance

Type of tolerance where the brain/CNS becomes less sensitive to a drug's physiological effects over time.

Conditioned Compensatory Response

A learned homeostatic counter-response triggered by drug-associated environmental cues that contributes to tolerance and can cause overdose in novel settings.