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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 |
| psychological dependence | When drugs become so central to a user's life that the user believes he must use them. |
| | psychosis | Severe mental illnesses characterized by loss of contact with reality. Schizophrenia and severe depression are psychoses. |
| | psychosocial therapy | Therapy designed to help addicts by using a combination of individual psychotherapy and group (social) therapy approaches to rehabilitate or provide the interpersonal and intrapersonal skills needed to live without drugs. |
| | receptor | A large molecule that recognizes specific chemicals (normally neurotransmitters, hormones, and similar endogenous substances) and transmits the message carried by the chemical into the cell on which the receptor resides. |
| | rehabilitate | Helping a person recover from drug addiction. Rehabilitation teaches the addict new behaviors to live life without drugs. |
| | relapse | In general, to fall back to a former condition. Here, resuming the use of a drug one has tried to stop using. Relapse is a common occurrence in many chronic disorders that require behavioral adjustments to treat effectively. |
| | respiratory center | A small set of nuclei in the brain stem that regulate the speed and depth of breathing ultimately by controlling the muscles that move our chest and diaphragm. |
| | reuptake | The process by which neurotransmitters are removed from the synapse by being "pumped" back into the axon terminals that first released them. |
| | reuptake pump | The large molecule that actually transports neurotransmitter molecules back into the axon terminals that released them. |
| | reward | The process that reinforces behavior. It is mediated at least in part by the release of dopamine into the nucleus accumbens. Human subjects report that reward is associated with feelings of pleasure. |
| | route of administration | The way a drug is put into the body. Eating, drinking, inhaling, injecting, snorting, smoking, and absorbing a drug through mucous membranes all are routes of administration used to consume drugs of abuse. |
| | SAMHSA | Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - SAMHSA works to improve the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, alcohol and drug addiction treatment, and mental health services. www.samhsa.gov |
| | Seconal | A depressant drug of the barbiturate family that induces sleep. |
| | second messenger | A molecule produced inside neurons as a step in the process of communication between cells. The second messenger lets other parts of the cell know that a specific receptor has been activated, thereby completing the message carried by the neurotransmitter that bound to the receptor. Some receptors (e.g., dopamine, opiate) use second messengers. Others (e.g., nicotine, GABA) do not. |
| | secondary reinforcers | Formerly neutral stimuli that acquire the ability to produce reward through the learned association with a primary reinforcer. Money and praise are secondary reinforcers. |
| | sensitization | An increased response to a drug caused by repeated administration. Sensitization is most commonly seen in some responses to stimulants. |
| | serotonin | A neurotransmitter involved in many functions, including mood, appetite, and sensory perception. |
| | short-term effects | The acute effects of a drug. The effects felt during and shortly after the time a person is under the influence of (intoxicated by) a drug. |
| | short-term memory | Also called "working memory," short-term memory enables us to use information from our senses and from our memory and hold that information in our consciousness long enough to think about it. |
| | somatosensory cortex | A brain region that processes information coming from the muscles, joints, and skin. |
| | stimulants | A class of drugs that elevates mood, increases feelings of well-being, and increases energy and alertness. These drugs also produce euphoria and are powerfully rewarding. Stimulants include cocaine, methamphetamine, and methylphenidate (Ritalin). |
| | stimulus | Any object or action that penetrates awareness or excites an animal to respond. |
| | stroke | The blockade or rupture of a blood vessel in the brain. This prevents oxygen from reaching neurons and may result in their death. |
| | synapse | The site where neurons communicate with each other. A synapse is a small gap that physically separates neurons. Axon terminals of a neuron sending a message (the presynaptic neuron) release neurotransmitters into the synapse. The neurotransmitters diffuse to the other side (the postsynaptic side) where they bind to receptors on the postsynaptic neurons, thereby relaying the message. |
| | synthesize | To make a chemical from constitutional parts. Exact copies of drugs found in nature or created in the laboratory are synthesized in laboratories from simpler chemicals. Many substances are also synthesized in cells (e.g., large proteins such as receptors, or smaller ones such as neurotransmitters). |
| 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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