Chapter 14: Basic Principles of Neuropharmacology

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from Chapter 14: Basic Principles of Neuropharmacology.

Neuropharmacology

The study of drugs that alter processes controlled by the nervous system.

Axonal Conduction

The process of conducting an impulse along an axon, which is essentially the same in all neurons.

Synaptic Transmission

The process by which information is carried across the gap between the neuron and the postsynaptic cell.

Postsynaptic Cell

A target cell, such as another neuron, a muscle cell, or a cell within a secretory gland, that receives signals across a synaptic gap from a neuron.

Local Anesthetics

Drugs that work by altering axonal conduction, producing nonselective inhibition that suppresses transmission in any nerve they reach.

Steps in Synaptic Transmission

The five basic steps consisting of transmitter synthesis, transmitter storage, transmitter release, binding of transmitter to its receptors, and termination of transmitter action.

Selectivity

The ability of a drug to alter a specific disease process while leaving other physiologic processes largely unaffected.

Three Information Requirements for PNS Drugs

The three types of information needed to understand a PNS drug: 1) the type or types of receptor through which the drug acts, 2) the normal response to activation of those receptors, and 3) what the drug does to receptor function.