Today, there are many drugs that mimic neurotransmitters to influence our thoughts, feelings, and behavior. These drugs can reduce or boost the activity of a neurotransmitter.
An agonist is a drug that has chemical properties similar to a particular neurotransmitter and thus mimics the effects of the neurotransmitter. Agonists binds to the dendrites and believing that the drug is the neurotransmitter, decides to excite the neuron. An example of an agonist is cocaine. Cocaine is an agonist for the neurotransmitter dopamine. Since dopamine produces a feeling of pleasure when released by neurons, cocaine creates a similar feeling. There are two types of agonists: direct binding and indirect binding. A direct binding agonist attaches directly to the receptor sites. An example of a direct binding agonist is apomorphine which binds to dopamine receptors. On the other hand, the indirect agonist enhances the amount of neurotransmitters affected but does not have a specific agonist activity at the receptor. It works by working through other means. An antagonist does the opposite job. An antagonist is a drug that reduces or stops the normal effects of a neurotransmitter. When the antagonist is ingested, it binds to the dendrites and stops communication among the neurons. Caffeine is also an antagonist for adenosine, which reduces the adenosine’s effects. Because adenosine typically acts as an inhibitor at the synapse, inhibiting an inhibitor leads to behavior excitation. The antagonists also have direct and indirect acting antagonists. The direct binds and blocks the neurotransmitter receptors. The indirect prevents the release of neurotransmitters. An example of an indirect antagonist is the the drug Reserpine. Buprenorphine is a partial agonist. It activates the opioid receptors but to a much lesser degree than a normal agonist. Buprenorphine also acts as an antagonist, which means that it blocks other opioids while allowing some to suppress the symptoms. There are some differences between the agonists and antagonists. Agonist drugs works at the time of relaxation of muscles, while antagonist drugs works during the phase of muscle contraction. Also, agonist is a substance, which combines with the cell receptor to produce some reaction that is typical for that substance. However, antagonist is a chemical, which opposes or reduces the action.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorHello. Welcome to all things psychology. Enjoy! Archives
December 2017
Categories
All
|