Drugs acting on CNS
Motor area (controls motor movement of opposite side of the body)
Higher centers Sensory area (memorize & transmit sensations to thalamus, motor areas, …etc)
Psychic area (memorize sensations, controls mood, intelligence…etc)
III- Hindbrain:
Cerebral cortex Cerebellum
Pons
Medulla oblongata (See below)
Motor area
Sensory area
Sexual center.
Medulla
Spinal cord
I- Forebrain: II- Midbrain Respiratory center. IV- Spinal cord
Cerebral cortex (See above) (Motor area) Vasomotor center.
Basal ganglia
Diencephalon Vagal center.
Thalamus (Pain center) Vomiting center.
Hypothalamus (Heat regulating c., Cardiac c.,…) Chemoreceptor trigger zone (CTZ)
Cough center.
, General mode of action
• It’s a balancing act among excitatory vs inhibitory
neurotransmitters within CNS.
, Therapeutic targets in cns
In other words: sites of CNS drug actions:
• Synthesis.
• Storage.
• Release.
• Receptors.
• Reuptake.
• Degradation.
• Ion channels.
• 2nd messengers.
, Examples
In basal ganglia:
Normal
DA ACh
DA
ACh
Pharmacological intervention:
Administration of Levo -DOPA, the precursor of Dopamine synthesis.
Motor area (controls motor movement of opposite side of the body)
Higher centers Sensory area (memorize & transmit sensations to thalamus, motor areas, …etc)
Psychic area (memorize sensations, controls mood, intelligence…etc)
III- Hindbrain:
Cerebral cortex Cerebellum
Pons
Medulla oblongata (See below)
Motor area
Sensory area
Sexual center.
Medulla
Spinal cord
I- Forebrain: II- Midbrain Respiratory center. IV- Spinal cord
Cerebral cortex (See above) (Motor area) Vasomotor center.
Basal ganglia
Diencephalon Vagal center.
Thalamus (Pain center) Vomiting center.
Hypothalamus (Heat regulating c., Cardiac c.,…) Chemoreceptor trigger zone (CTZ)
Cough center.
, General mode of action
• It’s a balancing act among excitatory vs inhibitory
neurotransmitters within CNS.
, Therapeutic targets in cns
In other words: sites of CNS drug actions:
• Synthesis.
• Storage.
• Release.
• Receptors.
• Reuptake.
• Degradation.
• Ion channels.
• 2nd messengers.
, Examples
In basal ganglia:
Normal
DA ACh
DA
ACh
Pharmacological intervention:
Administration of Levo -DOPA, the precursor of Dopamine synthesis.
