NEUR 3306 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Methamphetamine, Stimulant, Grey Matter
19 Jun 2016
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Document Summary
First we will look at cocaine, which is a psychomotor stimulant and is dervived from the cocoa plant. It is known as either an indirect or direct sympathomimetic drug. A direct sympathomimetic drug means that it affects da, 5-ht, ne directly so by increasing the amounts of nt due to the effects it has on the receptors. An indirect sympathomimetic drug is one that effects the production of nt indirectly, so through the other neurons activate or deactivate the release of catecholamine. Free basing is defined when the base is extracted, so for example smoking cocaine can be dissolved in water and an alkaline solution where the base is extracted. It is known for cocaine addicts to become alcoholics because when taken cocaine and alcohol together, alcohol takes the edge off meaning that you don"t experience the intensive high but it does have a longer effecting period.
