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GI Web Glossary |
| There are 243 entries in the glossary. | Pages: «1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 » |
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| Term |
Definition |
| long-term memory circuit | The brain circuit, including the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, which enables the brain to lay down and store memories in the cortex. |
| | LSD | An hallucinogenic drug that acts on the serotonin receptor. |
| | maintenance treatment | Treatment for opiate addiction that involves giving the addict a synthetic opiate (methadone or LAAM) to prevent the withdrawal and craving that often provoke relapse. |
| | maladaptive behaviors | Behaviors acquired by drug users that hinder them from succeeding in the normal, non-drug-using world. |
| | Marijuana | A psychoactive drug made from the leaves of the cannabis plant. It is usually smoked but can also be eaten. |
| | Marinol | The trade name of dronabinol, a synthetic version of THC used as medicine. |
| | MDA | One of several hallucinogenic "designer drugs" with psychedelic properties that are manufactured by basement chemists. |
| | MDMA | (Ecstasy) A chemically modified amphetamine that has hallucinogenic as well as stimulant properties. |
| | Mescaline | A naturally occurring hallucinogenic drug that acts on the serotonin receptor. |
| | messenger ribonucleic acid | (mRNA) A molecule that carries the genetic code from DNA to the parts of the cell that use the code to make components of the cell. |
| | metabolic enzymes | Enzymes that break down or inactivate drugs in the body; also, enzymes that break down food and produce energy. |
| | metabolic tolerance | The body's increased ability to eliminate a drug, thereby making a given dose less effective. |
| | metabolism | The processes by which the body breaks things down or alters them so they can be eliminated; also, the processes by which the body extracts energy and nutrients from food. |
| | metabolites | The products that result when enzymes in the body break things down or alter them to produce energy or eliminate them. |
| | Methadone | A long-lasting synthetic opiate used to treat cancer pain and heroin addiction. |
| | Methamphetamine | A commonly abused, potent stimulant drug that is part of a larger family of amphetamines. |
| | microsomal ethanol oxidizing system | (MEOS) Liver enzymes that metabolize many drugs, including alcohol. |
| | mind | The container of the contents of consciousness, what we call the results of our processes of perception, thinking, and feeling. The mind is the manifestation of consciousness. |
| | Morphine | The most potent natural opiate compound produced by the opium poppy. |
| | motivation | The internally generated state (feeling) that stimulates us to act. The neural substrate for motivation is most likely found in the brain reward system. |
| | motor cortex | The part of the cerebral cortex that creates the commands that make the muscles move. |
| | motor neurons | The neurons that control our muscles. |
| | MPTP | A neurotoxin, found in a "designed" opiate called "China white," which kills the neurons that make dopamine, producing a set of symptoms that look like Parkinson's disease. |
| | myelin sheath | A covering made of a special fat that encloses a neuron's axon and allows it to transmit action potentials. |
| | Naloxone | A short-acting opiate antagonist that binds to opiate receptors and blocks them, preventing opiates from binding to these receptors. Naloxone is used to treat opiate overdoses. |
| Special Thanks:
Addiction Studies Program - Wake Forest University School of Medicine
False Messengers: How Addictive Drugs Change the Brain by David Friedman, PhD, and Sue Rusche, Harwood Academic Publishers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1999. [www.addictionstudies.org]
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