PSYC 207 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Neuromuscular Junction, Basal Ganglia, Bupropion
Document Summary
Nicotine is a cholinergic agonist at nicotinic receptors (nachrs) Nicotinic receptors named after we knew about nicotine. Ionotropic receptors - collection of tertiary units of proteins mashed together. When you put different subunits together you get different physiological effects. Nic binds to receptor for such a long time that the channel closes, means acetylcholine cannot bind. Long terms effect you get functional antagonism effects, but with this you still get agonist effects at the same time bc the system adds receptors to the membrane (like adenosine) Acute tolerance: first cig is the strongest but the following ones aren"t so you"re more likely to want to keep smoking. More nicotinic acetylcholine receptors found at the neuromuscular junction. Also in the autonomic nervous system = appetite suppressant effect. Ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens (main target of dopamine in the basal ganglia) Nic receptors activated in the vta or na increase dopamine release in the na.
