Study this Stimulants mnemonic and other mnemonics with Pixorize.
Stimulants are a class of psychoactive drugs that increase nervous system activity for the mcat you need to know some of the most common stimulants here’s a handy visual mnemonic to help you remember these drugs and their functions if you’ve ever seen breaking bad you’ll recognize this house and this famous pair of drug dealers unlike other drug dealers these guys
Offer a wide range of stimulants with all these stimulants around it’s no wonder that these guys are getting a little high on their supply just look at walter there in his bloodshot eyes guy looks like he hasn’t slept in days as you can tell walter is a bit over stimulated and this increase in alertness in being awake for days should make you think of an increase
In central nervous system activity because that’s what stimulants do they stimulate your brain stimulants work in many different ways to produce increased alertness and awareness as well as physiological changes like agitation sweating and increased heart rate now let’s see which drug got walt all amped up anyways yeah just look at that cup of coffee in his hand
You probably already know that coffee contains caffeine which is a stimulant drug and just like walt here you’ve probably used caffeine to stay awake alert and focused you can never be too alert in the drug business right and since caffeine is a stimulant drug people can experience withdrawal after quitting caffeine if you’ve ever tried to quit caffeine after
Drinking it regularly you may have experienced these symptoms of withdrawal yourself headaches lethargy depression and even weight gain basically your body gets used to a new normal on stimulants so once you come off everything slows down and you get lethargic makes sense right next let’s take a look at that bag in walt’s hand yep he’s got his most successful
Product blue meth this isn’t like the regular meth you find anywhere this is the good stuff and you guessed it meth is a stimulant drug methamphetamine works in multiple ways to increase neurotransmitter release which can stimulate sympathetic-like nervous activity this manifests clinically as increased heart rate pupillary dilation agitation and increased
Sweating some of the neurotransmitters released by meth are epinephrine and norepinephrine which explains why the physical signs of meth intoxication look so much like the fight-or-flight response meth also stimulates the release of some key neurotransmitters associated with mood and emotion regulation like serotonin dopamine and norepinephrine the release of
These neurotransmitters can lead to feelings of euphoria and like caffeine withdrawal withdrawal from methamphetamine is like the opposite of stimulation presenting as irritability insomnia seizures and depression again your body gets used to a new normal on meth so once it wears off everything kind of slows down and goes in the opposite direction next let’s pan
Back to look at walt’s associate yep that’s him smoking the cigarette there he’s a bit more traditional relying on nicotine to get his energy nicotine is an agonist at what else nicotinic receptors nicotinic receptors normally respond to acetylcholine and their activation leads to opening of ion channels depolarization of neurons and propagation of downstream
Nervous signals nicotine binds to and activates these nicotinic receptors so you can imagine how it can lead to an increase in cns activity as a stimulant it makes sense that nicotine can disrupt sleep causing insomnia and also appetite suppression just remember our guy smoking a cigarette here to peg nicotine is a stimulant for test day nicotine isn’t all that
This guy is using as you can see he’s getting ready to down a couple of really fat lines of cocaine say what you want but cocaine is definitely stimulating like many other stimulants cocaine causes increased heart rate pupil dilation and decreased appetite cocaine exerts its effects by blocking the re-uptake of neurotransmitters this makes neurotransmitters like
Dopamine norepinephrine and serotonin spend more time in the synapse giving them a greater amount of time to exert their effects apart from the generic stimulant effects cocaine notably is associated with repetitive or stereotyped behaviors you know things like repetitively disassembling his bike or digging through the trash weird right importantly withdrawal
From cocaine is severe and mood depression often results in suicidal thoughts so i guess it’s about time we let our stimulant dealing friends here to get back to work in general stimulants increase the activity of our brain resulting in increased awareness alertness and psychomotor agitation classic signs include insomnia or restlessness increased heart rate
Dilated pupils and decreased appetite they can also elevate mood resulting in euphoria the major stimulant drugs to know for the mcat are caffeine methamphetamine nicotine and cocaine remember that though these drugs cause stimulating effects during intoxication they also come with a withdrawal period after use with effects opposite of their stimulating effects
Lethargy irritability headache and depression now let’s let these guys get back to work i’ll see you in the next one thanks for watching for more videos like this one subscribe to our channel and check out our newest lessons for more resources on this topic including fact lists and interactive review images click the image next to the more here arrow i’ll see you next time
Transcribed from video
Stimulants Mnemonic for MCAT By Pixorize