PSYC 181 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Knockout Mouse, Dopamine Transporter, Sympathetic Nervous System
Document Summary
Actions of cocaine: the faster the drug occupies the receptor, the more effect it has (more high, the faster it is, the more reinforcing it will be. Intravenous is faster than snorted, which is faster than smoked. Outstrips the synthesis and the person crashes for 1-2 days and starts over: cocaine and amphetamine act on the same transporter, but amphetamine has a greater effect. Sympathetic nervous system: psychomotor and rewarding effects. Role of dopamine (da: evidence that da mediates the psychomotor stimulant and rewarding effects of psychostimulants. Measure amount of dopamine in the brain while the animal is behaving. Measure relative behavioral potency from drugs that bind the dopamine transporter. The da transporter knockout mouse created to have no dopamine transporters but all the other ones. Can modify transporter so they no longer bind to the drugs. If you do this to norepinephrine or serotonin transporters, nothing will change (cocaine will still work)
