PSYC 462 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Memory Consolidation, Disulfiram, Opioid Antagonist
Document Summary
Psyc 462 lecture 16 on alcohol and nicotine. Acetaldehyde mainly responsible for most of the ills of alcohol. Cause of death due to alcohol intoxication is respiratory depression. Will cause brain damage: korsakoff"s syndrome - permanent brain degeneration, anterograde amnesia associated with korsakoff"s. Patients make use of confabulation to cover up their amnesia. Alcohol also messes with 2nd messenger systems and the ligand-gated channels. Pharmacodynamic tolerance: when this tolerance is developed, the gaba receptors are not going to open much when gaba is released. Convulsions are part of the withdrawal symptoms as a result. Alcohol on nmda receptors: the effect of alcohol is reduced excitation. However, nmda is involved in memory consolidation: with repeated exposure to alcohol, nmda up-regulates due to prior depressant action. Along with this effect, new receptors are being inserted and there is a rebound increase in glutamate release: this effect on nmda receptors are responsible for the physical symptoms associated with withdrawal.
