Day 2-3: Specific Neurotransmitters and Hormones, Drugs

Dopamine

Pleasure neuotransmitter

• Excess of dopamine -> schizophrenia

• Low -> parkinins

• More about pleasure

Are we addicted to dopamine?

• TikTok and videos online -> we are withdrawing at school

•  The more stuff we have, the less happy we are.  

• Dopamine fast

Seratonin

Mood regulationm

Mood Regulation

• Affected by exercise and light exposure.

• Undersupply of serotonin -> depression

Norepinephrine

A stress hormone (chemical messanger) from the central nervous system

It plays a role in:

• Blood flow to skeletal muscles and their contractions

• Mood stability

• Glucose in blood stream

• Diolation of eyes

• the release of renin in the kidneys (salt and and water balance)

• signals the release of glucagon in the liver →to produce glucose

• slows digestion

KNOW THAT IT IS USED IN FOCUS

Glutamine

Found in the brain and is the most common/ plentiful neurotransmitter

Has to do with the with the development and creation of nerve contact and memory and learning

• Too much can correlate to alzheimers

GABA

Has to do with Calming yourself (calms firing nerves in CNS)

High levels of this help concentration

Low levels ccan lead to anxiety, seizures and insomnia.

Endorphins

This helps you get the runners high (euphoria)

• comes out during phsycal activity … also sex

• also produced in response to pain

Substance P

Involved in pain regulation

it is a peptide

Acetylcholine

Has to do with learning and attention

• locomotion and motor control

• if you have alzheimers, then you have less acetylcholine.

Hormones

Secreted by the endocrime glads and they also regulate organ fuction

Adrenaline

Part of the fight or flight repsonse

• comes out in stressful situations

• increases bpm by increasing blood pressure

• Also considered a neurotransmitter

Leptin

Signals you that you are full

• communicates to the brain the amount of fat that you have

Ghrelin

Increases appetite (tells you if you're hungry)

• binds to a growth hormone

Melatonin

“its time to go to bed" hormone

Oxytocin

The cuddle hormone

• also regulates pain

• aka a love drug

• prompts positive feelings

• stimulates uterine contraction at childbirth and signals the body to lactate after.

• Produced when you are having physical touch with someone.

Psychoactive Drugs

Durgs that alter your mental state, behavior, thoughts, actions, and emotions.

Agonists

Molecules that bind to activate receptors to induce a biological response that mimics one of a hormone or neurotransmitter

• you have dopamine agonists for people with parkinsons

Neural firing

Reuptake inhibitors

Prevents the reuptake of of neurotransmitters back into the cell or neuron

• think the SSRIs

Reabsorption

When a neurotransmitter is taken back into the cell (think diffused back into the cell)

Stimulants

Stimulates activity in an organism and can cause high blood pressure, heart rate.

• Caffine: a CNS that can be found in tea, cola, cacao, chocolate and some over the counter meds. ( also an antagonist of adenosine and will make you feel tired eventually)

• Cocaine: Derived from coca leaf that also stimulates the CNS (blocks reuptake of dopamine, seratonin, and norepinephrine.

Depressants

Things that decrease blood pressure or slow the CNS,

At high concentrations: Can press neural functions and low reaction times, and respiration rate

• Alcohol: Ethyl alcohol is the most popular form

Hallcinogens

Produce sensory effects that can be auditory, olfatory(smell), gustory(taste) or tactile (touch).

• Marijuana: THC is the most common one (distributes really quickly to teh brain).

  • stunts brain growth.

Opiods

Think morphine

Clinically used for pain relievers, anesthetics, cough suppressants (thats why you get ided when you buy cough syrup) and are highly addictive

• Heroin (semisynthetic derivative of morphine) and has an incredibly high tolerance after a few uses

Tolerance

Once you get  a hit of something, you will have to take more to get the same effect of it

• building a tolerance

Addiction

Syndrome that develops after cessation of prolonged, heavy consumption of a substance

Withdrawl symtpoms

Symptoms vary by substance but generally include physiological, behvaioral and cognitive manifestations, such as nausea and vomiting, insomnia, mood alterations and anxiety.