AP PSYCHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Psychoactive drugs can act as agonists or antagonists for a given neurotransmitter system. Agonists are chemicals that mimic a neurotransmitter at the receptor site and, thus, strengthen its effects. An antagonist, on the other hand, blocks or impedes the normal activity of a neurotransmitter at the receptor.

Detailed explanation-2: -Some drugs mimic neurotransmitters. Opioid drugs such as heroin and OxyContin, for example, chemically resemble the brain’s natural opioids sufficiently to engage and stimulate their specialized receptors.

Detailed explanation-3: -An agonist is a drug that activates certain receptors in the brain. Full agonist opioids activate the opioid receptors in the brain fully resulting in the full opioid effect. Examples of full agonists are heroin, oxycodone, methadone, hydrocodone, morphine, opium and others.

Detailed explanation-4: -Natural agonists are hormones or neurotransmitters. Artificial agonists are drugs that are made to resemble natural agonists. These drugs contain molecules that bind to specific receptors on cells and cause them to become active.

Detailed explanation-5: -An agonist is a chemical that amplifies the effect of a neurotransmitter by binding to the receptor sites of that neurotransmitter and activating them. This is opposite of an antagonist which binds to receptors and blocks them from firing.