Sample Answer for Foundational Neuroscience NURS 6630 Included After Question
Foundational Neuroscience
As a psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioner, it is essential for you to have a strong background in foundational neuroscience. In order to diagnose and treat patients, you must not only understand the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders but also how medications for these disorders impact the central nervous system. These concepts of foundational neuroscience can be challenging to understand. Therefore, this Discussion is designed to encourage you to think through these concepts, develop a rationale for your thinking, and deepen your understanding by interacting with your colleagues.
For this Discussion, review the Learning Resources and reflect on the concepts of foundational neuroscience as they might apply to your role as the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner in prescribing medications for patients.
Resources
Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.
Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.
WEEKLY RESOURCES
By Day 3 of Week 2
Post a response to each of the following:
- Explain the agonist-to-antagonist spectrum of action of psychopharmacologic agents, including how partial and inverse agonist functionality may impact the efficacy of psychopharmacologic treatments.
- Compare and contrast the actions of g couple proteins and ion gated channels.
- Explain how the role of epigenetics may contribute to pharmacologic action.
- Explain how this information may impact the way you prescribe medications to patients. Include a specific example of a situation or case with a patient in which the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner must be aware of the medication’s action.
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.
By Day 6 of Week 2
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days in one of the following ways:
- If your colleagues’ posts influenced your understanding of these concepts, be sure to share how and why. Include additional insights you gained.
- If you think your colleagues might have misunderstood these concepts, offer your alternative perspective and be sure to provide an explanation for them. Include resources to support your perspective.
Note: For this Discussion, you are required to complete your initial post before you will be able to view and respond to your colleagues’ postings. Begin by clicking on the Reply button to complete your initial post. Remember, once you click on Post Reply, you cannot delete or edit your own posts and you cannot post anonymously. Please check your post carefully before clicking on Post Reply!
A Sample Answer For the Assignment: Foundational Neuroscience NURS 6630
Title: Foundational Neuroscience NURS 6630
- Different drugs have different effects on receptors. An agonist binds to a receptor and produces a full effect, mimicking the neurotransmitter that usually binds to that receptor. An antagonist binds to receptors and blocks activation from other agonist producing no effect. Examples of a agonist is hydrocodone and a antagonist is Narcan. A partial agonist binds to a receptor and produces a partial effect not a full effect for example tramadol vs hydrocodone. An inverse agonist binds to a receptor and produces the opposite effects as the agonist for example antihistamines. These concepts are very important regarding the efficacy of psychopharmacology treatments, knowing these concepts the mental health nurse practitioner can prescribe medication appropriately and provide better explanation to patients regarding medications.
- Both g proteins and ion gate channels are postsynaptic receptors located on the dendrites, however G proteins can be located elsewhere on the neurons and can activate ion-gate channels. G proteins have a slower effect than ion gate channels. Ion gate channels can open or close in response to membrane changes
- Epigenetics may contribute to pharmacologic action by the way a person’s body reacts to a certain drug. Also, it can help mental health providers treat and understand certain mental health issues. “Current mental health epigenetic research supports the adverse psychosocial experiences are associated with mental heath disorders such as schizophrenia, anxiety, depression and addiction. There are also positive epigenetics associations with counseling interventions, including cognitive behavioral therapy mindfulness diet and exercise” (David E. Jones, Feb 26, 2021).
- All the mechanisms mentioned earlier will impact the way I prescribe medications in mental health. For example, for example a patient that develops addiction to opiate drugs may benefit from a partial agonist in efforts to ween of opiates. Also having knowledge of ones epigenetics can guide me into providing positive treatment options like counseling interventions and medications for patients with mental health issues in an effort to increase the efficacy of psychopharmacology treatments.
References
David E. Jones, J. S. (Feb 26, 2021). Mental Health Epigenetics: A Primer With Implications for Counselors. The Professional Counselor, Volume 11 – Issue 1.
A Sample Answer 2 For the Assignment: Foundational Neuroscience NURS 6630
Title: Foundational Neuroscience NURS 6630
I agree with you that different drugs have unique effects on receptors. Some effects may be detrimental to the users. Therefore, healthcare professionals should examine the effect of their medical substances on receptors before prescription. An agonist binds to a receptor and produces a full effect, mimicking the neurotransmitter that usually binds to that receptor (Michelini et al., 2021). The receptor’s behaviors can also be displayed the way people’s bodies react to various medical prescriptions. G proteins have a slower effect than ion gate channels. Ion gate channels can open or close in response to membrane changes. These changes are important in the treatment and recovery processes. Patient with mental disorders require elaborate treatment process. The procedure may involve use of different medication that have direct impact of the receptors (Arbuckle et al., 2020). However, healthcare professionals ensure that their medication have positive impact on the users’ receptors. All the mechanisms that influences receptor’s behaviors are important in treating patients of mental complications.
References
Arbuckle, M. R., Travis, M. J., Eisen, J., Wang, A., Walker, A. E., Cooper, J. J., … & Ross, D. A. (2020). Transforming psychiatry from the classroom to the clinic: Lessons from the national neuroscience curriculum initiative. Academic Psychiatry, 44(1), 29-36.
Michelini, G., Palumbo, I. M., DeYoung, C. G., Latzman, R. D., & Kotov, R. (2021). Linking RDoC and HiTOP: A new interface for advancing psychiatric nosology and neuroscience. Clinical Psychology Review, 86, 102025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2021.102025
A Sample Answer 3 For the Assignment: Foundational Neuroscience NURS 6630
Title: Foundational Neuroscience NURS 6630
Hello Tinesha, you have a great discussion post this week. I like how you have explained what agonist, partial agonist and antagonist are in a simple and easy to understand manner. Just to add on your submission of the same, it true that an agonist binds to a receptor and produces a full effect, mimicking the neurotransmitter that usually binds to that receptor as they activate specific receptors of the brain thus effecting the complete effect of the drug (Camprodon & Roffman, 2016). On the other hand, I also acknowledge that antagonist binds to receptors and blocks activation from other agonist producing no effect since they are defined as drugs whose degree of receptor activation is reduced compared to full agonists (Camprodon & Roffman, 2016).
To elaborate on the issue ofIon-Gated Channels versus the G-protein coupled receptor, it is true that both the G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and the Ion-Gated Channels (IGCs) are two forms of post-synaptic receptors. Ion-Gated Channels (IGCs) are ligand-gated channels with two domains. One domain is used to bind neurotransmitters on the extracellular side while the other domain acts as the ion channel (Camprodon & Roffman, 2016). On the other hand, the G-protein coupled receptors also known as metabotropic receptors acts through the second messenger systems (Camprodon & Roffman, 2016). And since it relies on a variety of metabolic steps it is much slower compared to IGCs.
Reference
Camprodon, J. A., & Roffman, J. L. (2016). Psychiatric neuroscience: Incorporating pathophysiology into clinical case formulation. In T. A. Stern, M. Favo, T. E. Wilens, & J. F. Rosenbaum. (Eds.), Massachusetts General Hospital psychopharmacology and neurotherapeutics (pp. 1–19). Elsevier.
A Sample Answer 4 For the Assignment: Foundational Neuroscience NURS 6630
Title: Foundational Neuroscience NURS 6630
Great summary here. Can you share why we would combine a partial agonist such as Buprenorphine with an antagonist such as Naloxone into a single medication such as Suboxone? As you are probably aware, oral naloxone has nearly 0% bioavailability when given orally. If none of the drug is absorbed, why use it in the combination?
This was a great question, I had to do some research but I’m glad I did because I learned something new
“When buprenorphine/naloxone is taken sublingually as prescribed, the naloxone exerts no clinically significant effect, leaving the opioid agonist effects of buprenorphine to predominate. However, when buprenorphine/naloxone is parenterally administered in patients physically dependent on full agonist opioids, the opioid antagonism of naloxone causes withdrawal effects, thus reducing the abuse potential of the drug combination”(Orman JS, 2009). These drugs are given in combination to reduce the misuse of buprenorphine.
Reference
Orman JS, Keating GM. Spotlight on buprenorphine/naloxone in the treatment of opioid dependence. CNS Drugs. 2009 Oct;23(10):899-902. doi: 10.2165/11203740-000000000-00000. PMID: 19739698.
A Sample Answer 5 For the Assignment: Foundational Neuroscience NURS 6630
Title: Foundational Neuroscience NURS 6630
The agonist, partial agonist and antagonists’ spectrum of action
Agonist is defined as a drug that activates specific receptors of the brain thus effecting the complete effect of the drug (Camprodon & Roffman, 2016). Agonists can either be full or partial agonists. Partial agonists are drugs whose degree of receptor activation is reduced compared to full agonists. An antagonist is defined as a drug whose effect blocks the receptors so that they are not able to bind to the intended purpose (Camprodon & Roffman, 2016). For instance, both heroine and Naloxone are opioids with different outcomes; Heroin is an agonist while Naloxone is an antagonist. An example of a partial agonist is Buprenorphine.
In terms of psychopharmacologic treatment, antagonists are used to counteract the overdose of agonistic drugs. For instance, Heroin is an addictive substance and incase of intoxication or overdose a drug like Naloxone can be used as an antagonist to reversed the binding and block receptors from binding with excess and free-floating Heroin (Camprodon & Roffman, 2016). To treat heroin addiction, pharmacological treatment of heroin addiction involves the use of partial agonists like Buprenorphine which only allows partial binding to opioid receptors thus reducing the withdrawal of symptoms and drug cravings (Camprodon & Roffman, 2016).
Ion-Gated Channels versus the G-protein coupled receptors
Both the G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and the Ion-Gated Channels (IGCs) are two forms of post-synaptic receptors. Ion-Gated Channels (IGCs) are ligand-gated channels with two domains. One domain is used to bind neurotransmitters on the extracellular side while the other domain acts as the ion channel (Camprodon & Roffman, 2016). On the other hand, the G-protein coupled receptors also known as metabotropic receptors acts through the second messenger systems (Camprodon & Roffman, 2016). And since it relies on a variety of metabolic steps it is much slower compared to IGCs. They are activated when a neurotransmitter binds to them, making the G-proteins to separate from the receptor and pairs with the effector proteins or interact directly with the ion channels to control the ion channels via intracellular messengers (Camprodon & Roffman, 2016).
The role of epigenetics in aiding pharmacological action
Epigenetic are defined as factors beyond the genetic with the ability to regulate whether genes are turned on or off. Epigenetic modifications (gene functions) occur without changing the DNA or RNA code (Camprodon & Roffman, 2016). And this functional gene can be inherited from one generation to the other. Therefore, epigenetics can determine the pharmacological function of a drug (how medication work) and what disease a particular lineage develops. For instance, if a particular medicine works on a specific gene, but that gene has an altered function, then the drug’s efficacy could possibly be altered also. Take for example an individual with an altered dopamine structure and receptor binding. Due to this, this individual may have some degree of natural tolerance or some higher affinity towards drug addiction. In some cases, epigenetics can be used to explain why some drugs/medications works for one person but fails on another person having the same illness.
The way this information might impact the way I prescribe medication
Information obtained from this week’s discussion was that it is significant to gather a thorough family and medical history before prescribing the preferred prescription. Where I work, the patient’s medical history is highly considered. In addition to that, the clinic takes into consideration the genetic testing for individuals where multiple psychotropic drugs had failed to treat their symptoms. This is in line with the popular statement that some genes may affect medication efficacy is passed from generation to the next (epigenetics). The clinical officers understand that if a particular type of medication heals the same condition for the patient’s close relatives, then it might as well help the patient in overcoming the same condition.
References
Camprodon, J. A., & Roffman, J. L. (2016). Psychiatric neuroscience: Incorporating pathophysiology into clinical case formulation. In T. A. Stern, M. Favo, T. E. Wilens, & J. F. Rosenbaum. (Eds.), Massachusetts General Hospital psychopharmacology and neurotherapeutics (pp. 1–19). Elsevier.
The naloxone and buprenorphine were great examples of antagonist and partial agonist. You did a great job explaining the difference between G-proteins and ion-gated channels. I understand now why G-proteins are slower. Your explanation on epigenetics explains perfectly why some meds work for some people and not others, and how genetics can play a role in medication efficacy.
keep up the good work