PSY 627 COMPREHENSIVE STUDY
GUIDE 2026 FULL QUESTIONS AND
SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◍ How is alcohol metabolized.
Answer: Approx. 95% metabolized by the liver before its excreted as carbon
dioxide and water in urine, 5% is excreted by the lungs
◍ Pharmokinetics.
Answer: moving the drug through the central nervous system
◍ Blackout.
Answer: Total amnesia for events that occur during intoxication, common
for people with AUD but also occurs in about 25% of social drinkers
◍ Fatalities of acute alcohol.
Answer: In 50% of the population, a blood concentration of .45% is lethal -
leads to coma or death.
◍ Pharmcodynamics.
Answer: - the effects of drugs and the mechanism of their actions. Basically
what medications do and how. Relationship between drug concentration at
the site of action and the resulting effect.
◍ Wernike-Korsakoff Syndrome.
Answer: Is characterized by confusion and disorientation, tremors, poor
coordination and ataxia - affects memory and that there is a movement
component. Test will ask what type of memory. Anterograde (inability to
form new memories). Not temporary. Not little impairment
◍ Behavioral tolerance.
Answer: behavioral thing someone is used to doing, holding a drink and
, sipping it. Replace alcoholic drinks with non-alcohol to account for
behavioral tolerance
◍ Drug effects.
Answer: Therapeutic effects: the drug-receptor interaction that produces that
desired physiological and/or behavioral changesSide effects: all
non-therapeutic effects produced by the drug that range in severity from
mildly annoying to life-threateningSpecific drug effects: the desired
biochemical and physiological effects of a drug that occur when the drug
molecule interacts with its target siteNonspecific drug effects: the
physiological and behavioral effects of a drug that occur based on one's
unique physiology
◍ Which neurotransmitter does alcohol increase and how.
Answer: Increases GABA. "alcohol also modulates GABA function, both
directly via GABA-a receptors and indirectly by stimulating GABA release
◍ placebo effect.
Answer: when a person's mental or physical health appears to improve due
to taking a "placebo" or a dummy treatment.
◍ placebo.
Answer: a "sugar" pill that has no effect on physiological or psychiatric
functioning
◍ Binge drinking.
Answer: Defined as having 5 drinks in a row for men, 4 in a row for women
◍ Steps of detoxification.
Answer: Typically replace alcohol with very low dose of another substance,
benzodiazepines. Librium or Valium to prevent alcohol withdrawal,
seizures, and DTs
◍ Narcotic Analgesics: opioid drugs are narcotic analgesics.
Answer: Benefits They reduce pain without producing unconsciousness,
produce a sense of relaxation and sleep.The best painkillers known, also
produce sense of euphoria.
, ◍ When used medically, how are opiates administered?.
Answer: Medically: Morphine is given orally, by intravenous injection (IV),
or by epidural and intrathecal routes of administration
◍ Heroin is converted into what?..
Answer: Heroin was made by adding 2 acetyl groups to morphine, making it
more lipid soluble. When consumed, brain converts it to morphine
◍ nocebo effect.
Answer: the experience of negative treatment outcomes that can occur in
response to both active and non-active (moveable) treatments, medicines, or
procedures but it is not directly influenced by the treatment itself.
◍ bioavailability.
Answer: the extent and rate at which the active drug enters systematic
circulation, thereby accessing the site of action
◍ Intravenous (IV).
Answer: pertaining to within a vein, fastest way to get the drug to the brain
in about 2-3 seconds
◍ Pathways for transmission of pain..
Answer: Ascending pain pathway: sensory neurons activated by noxious
stimuli enter the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. Dorsal horn neurons travel
up the spinal cord on the contralateral side and ultimately reach various
nuclei in the thalamus. Early pain neurons end first in the primary
somatosensory cortex, before the information is transferred to the secondary
somatosensory cortex, where pain recognition occurs
◍ How does pain wear off.
Answer: Early pain: Immediate. You stub your toe, you feel it right then and
there. Because it's carried by myelinated neurons (FAST signals). Late pain:
Eventually, that immediate sensation of pain wears off. Late pain signals are
carried by unmyelinated neurons (slower) and late pain has a strong
emotional component
GUIDE 2026 FULL QUESTIONS AND
SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◍ How is alcohol metabolized.
Answer: Approx. 95% metabolized by the liver before its excreted as carbon
dioxide and water in urine, 5% is excreted by the lungs
◍ Pharmokinetics.
Answer: moving the drug through the central nervous system
◍ Blackout.
Answer: Total amnesia for events that occur during intoxication, common
for people with AUD but also occurs in about 25% of social drinkers
◍ Fatalities of acute alcohol.
Answer: In 50% of the population, a blood concentration of .45% is lethal -
leads to coma or death.
◍ Pharmcodynamics.
Answer: - the effects of drugs and the mechanism of their actions. Basically
what medications do and how. Relationship between drug concentration at
the site of action and the resulting effect.
◍ Wernike-Korsakoff Syndrome.
Answer: Is characterized by confusion and disorientation, tremors, poor
coordination and ataxia - affects memory and that there is a movement
component. Test will ask what type of memory. Anterograde (inability to
form new memories). Not temporary. Not little impairment
◍ Behavioral tolerance.
Answer: behavioral thing someone is used to doing, holding a drink and
, sipping it. Replace alcoholic drinks with non-alcohol to account for
behavioral tolerance
◍ Drug effects.
Answer: Therapeutic effects: the drug-receptor interaction that produces that
desired physiological and/or behavioral changesSide effects: all
non-therapeutic effects produced by the drug that range in severity from
mildly annoying to life-threateningSpecific drug effects: the desired
biochemical and physiological effects of a drug that occur when the drug
molecule interacts with its target siteNonspecific drug effects: the
physiological and behavioral effects of a drug that occur based on one's
unique physiology
◍ Which neurotransmitter does alcohol increase and how.
Answer: Increases GABA. "alcohol also modulates GABA function, both
directly via GABA-a receptors and indirectly by stimulating GABA release
◍ placebo effect.
Answer: when a person's mental or physical health appears to improve due
to taking a "placebo" or a dummy treatment.
◍ placebo.
Answer: a "sugar" pill that has no effect on physiological or psychiatric
functioning
◍ Binge drinking.
Answer: Defined as having 5 drinks in a row for men, 4 in a row for women
◍ Steps of detoxification.
Answer: Typically replace alcohol with very low dose of another substance,
benzodiazepines. Librium or Valium to prevent alcohol withdrawal,
seizures, and DTs
◍ Narcotic Analgesics: opioid drugs are narcotic analgesics.
Answer: Benefits They reduce pain without producing unconsciousness,
produce a sense of relaxation and sleep.The best painkillers known, also
produce sense of euphoria.
, ◍ When used medically, how are opiates administered?.
Answer: Medically: Morphine is given orally, by intravenous injection (IV),
or by epidural and intrathecal routes of administration
◍ Heroin is converted into what?..
Answer: Heroin was made by adding 2 acetyl groups to morphine, making it
more lipid soluble. When consumed, brain converts it to morphine
◍ nocebo effect.
Answer: the experience of negative treatment outcomes that can occur in
response to both active and non-active (moveable) treatments, medicines, or
procedures but it is not directly influenced by the treatment itself.
◍ bioavailability.
Answer: the extent and rate at which the active drug enters systematic
circulation, thereby accessing the site of action
◍ Intravenous (IV).
Answer: pertaining to within a vein, fastest way to get the drug to the brain
in about 2-3 seconds
◍ Pathways for transmission of pain..
Answer: Ascending pain pathway: sensory neurons activated by noxious
stimuli enter the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. Dorsal horn neurons travel
up the spinal cord on the contralateral side and ultimately reach various
nuclei in the thalamus. Early pain neurons end first in the primary
somatosensory cortex, before the information is transferred to the secondary
somatosensory cortex, where pain recognition occurs
◍ How does pain wear off.
Answer: Early pain: Immediate. You stub your toe, you feel it right then and
there. Because it's carried by myelinated neurons (FAST signals). Late pain:
Eventually, that immediate sensation of pain wears off. Late pain signals are
carried by unmyelinated neurons (slower) and late pain has a strong
emotional component
