Question

What are all the ways drugs mimic or impact nuerotransmitter action?

Answer 1

Certain drugs primarily affect one neurotransmitter or class of neurotransmitters. For example, heroin produces effects that are similar to those produced by the neurotransmitters endorphin and enkephalin.it may also be that drugs disrupt more than one type of neurotransmitter. Cocaine, for instance, attaches to structures that regulate dopamine along with norepinephrine and glutamate systems. In addition, drugs that disrupts one neurotransmitter can have secondary impacts on others. This is because a neurotransmitter can stimulate or inhibit neurons that produce different neurotransmitters. Nicotine, an an example, activating acetylcholine but also indirectly induces higher levels of glutamate.
Drugs can also alter neurotransmission. Some drugs mimic neurotransmitters and are able to engage and stimulate the specialized receptors of the neurotransmitter. Marijuana, for instance, mimics cannabinoid neurotransmitters. Drugs can also interact with molecular components of the sending and receiving process other than receptors. For example, when cocaine attaches to the dopamine transporter and occupies it, dopamine cannot re-enter the neuron. Finally, other drugs work to alter neurotransmission by increasing or decreasing the quantity of receptors stimulated. Benzodiazepines enhance receiving neurons’ responses when the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA attaches to their receptors.
The