ABA 556- Module 6

Pharmacokinetics

The study of how the body absobs, distributes, metabolizes, and excretes a dug, or what the body does to a drug.

Pharmacodynamics

The study of what a drug does to the body through receptor interactions and dose-response relationships.

Absorption

The process by which a drug enters the bloodstream.

Distribution

After absorption, what the drug needs to reach for their site of action.

Metabolism

How drugs are broken down- primairly by the liver

Phase 1- Modification: oxidation, reduction, etc.

Phase 2- Conjugation: making drugs more water-soluble for excretion.

Elimination

AKA Excretion, how the drug is eliminated from the body, mainly by urine (renal excretion) but can be excreted via feces, sweat, or breath.

Dose-response curve

Threshold, maximal effect, and potency

Used as a way to determine effective doses and safety margins.

Stimulants

Drugs that increase dopamine and norepinephrine acitivty (increase activity)

Effects- increased alertness, locomotor activity, and reinforcement

Examples- Cocaine, amphetamines, methylphenidate

Depressants

Enhance GABAergic inhibition (decrease activity)

Effects- sedation, anxiolysis, impaired coordination

Examples- Benzodiazepines, barbiturates, alcohol

Opiods

Act on mu-opiod receptors (reduce pain, produce pleasure)

Effects- Pain relief, euphoria, respiratory depression

Examples- Morphine, heroin, fentanyl

Cannabinoids

Act on CB1 and CB2 receptors

Effects- Relaxation, altered memory, appetite stimulation

Examples- THC and CBD

Self-adminstration

Self-administration is a behavioral model used in research to study the reinforcing properties and effects of drugs. It is based on the principles of operant conditioning, where subjects learn to perform a specific action to receive a drug delivery. When a subject voluntarily performs the action to receive the drug, this suggests that the drug may function as a positive reinforcer by increasing the likelihood that the behavior will occur again to receive the drug.

Reinforcer efficacy

It measures how strongly a reinforcer produces the same behavior in the future, influenced by dosage, delay to the drug’s effect, schedule of reinforcement, and individual differences.

Conditioned place preference

Measures drug reinforcemnt without requiring self-adminstration.

Progressive ratio schedule

Assess breakpoints for drug- seeking behavior.

(How far a participant is willing to work in the increasing requirements for the reinforcement until the give-up).

Breakpoint

Index of the reinforcing efficacy or motivational strength of the drug.

Higher the break point suggests the reinforcer is more powerful/ more motivating as a reinforcer.

Demand Curve (in drug self-administration)

The relationship between the “price” of a drug and the quanitiy consumed.

Is used as a way to: measure reinfrocer efficacy, tracking value changes, understanding the drug’s interactions, and evaluating reinforcer replacement therapies.

Drug discrimination procedure

An operant conditioning procedure used to assess the interoceptive (internal stimulus) effects of drugs.

Subjects are trained to respond differently depending on whether they have been given a particular drug or placebos, functions as a discriminative stimulus for behavior.

Substitution (in drug discrimination)

If a test drug produces the same subjective state or behavioral responses as a known drug under identical conditions,

Generalization (in drug discrimination)

The extent to which a novel drug produces similar effects as a known drug.

Not all effects are shared, but some are similar.