Prescription medications are designed to induce a specific effect on a neurotransmitter. Many of the effects of legal and illegal drugs are due to their action on neurotransmitters. Match the drug with the primary neurotransmitter it affects. Ecstasy (MDMA) Cocaine Heroin Alcohol : This drug increases alertness and causes a sensation of a "rush." It blocks the removal of dopamine from a synapse. Because dopamine also affects the heart, individuals who use this drug have an increased risk of heart attack and sudden death. : This drug binds to opioid receptors, which normally bind endorphins. This decreases pain and causes euphoria. : This drug mainly increases GABA to have an inhibitory effect on the brain. : This drug causes an increase in happiness and feeling good. It blocks the removal of serotonin from the synapse.
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- Ecstasy (MDMA) affects dopamine by blocking its removal from the synapse. - Cocaine increases the availability of dopamine in the synapse by blocking its reuptake. - Heroin binds to opioid receptors, which normally bind endorphins. - Alcohol mainly increases Show more…
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A drug that increases the release of a neurotransmitter or enhances the activity of the neurotransmitter's receptor is called an agonist, whereas a drug that inhibits the activity of the neurotransmitter at the synapse is called an antagonist. For example, cocaine can be considered an agonist at the synapse. Not all drugs are the same; that is, different drugs interact with receptors and influence synaptic activity in different ways. Some are more or less effective than others. A drug that generally struggles to bind to a receptor at first but that strongly activates the receptor if it manages to bind to the receptor can be described as follows: this drug has low affinity and high efficacy.
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Neurotransmitters are molecules that are released by nerve cells to other cells in our bodies, and are needed for muscle motion, thinking, feeling, and memory. Dopamine is a common neurotransmitter in the human brain. (a) Predict what kind of reaction dopamine is most likely to undergo in water: redox, acid-base, precipitation, or metathesis? Explain your reasoning. (b) Patients with Parkinson's disease suffer from a shortage of dopamine and may need to take it to reduce symptoms. An IV (intravenous fluid) bag is filled with a solution that contains 400.0 mg dopamine per 250.0 mL. of solution. What is the concentration of dopamine in the IV bag in units of molarity? (c) Experiments with rats show that if rats are dosed with 3.0 $\mathrm{mg} / \mathrm{kg}$ of cocaine (that is, 3.0 mg cocaine per kg of animal mass), the concentration of dopamine in their brains increases by 0.75$\mu M$ after 60 seconds. Calculate how many molecules of dopamine would be produced in a rat (average brain volume 5.00 $\mathrm{mm}^{3} )$ after 60 seconds of a 3.0 $\mathrm{mg} / \mathrm{kg}$ dose of cocaine.
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are a class of antidepressants that includes drugs such as Prozac, Celexa, Zoloft, Paxil, and Lexapro. These drugs function by inhibiting the movement of serotonin, a neurotransmitter, back into the presynaptic cell at a synapse. This movement is known as reuptake. Since these drugs affect only serotonin, and no other neurotransmitter, they are said to be selective. Use this information and your understanding of the nervous system to answer the following questions. Explain how a neurotransmitter functions in neuronal signaling once it is released.
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