- A plot of the drug's effect versus the dose 
- Used to assess important drug characteristics 
- One of the main tools for understanding pharmacodynamics 

Dose Response Curve 

As a result of drug tolerance, some users of amphetamine would take large doses to experience a "high". From this, these users would develop symptoms of paranoia (auditory hallucinations, bizarre motor behavior, etc), which closely resembled schizophrenic symptoms.

Not only that, but amphetamine worsens symptoms of schizophrenia. Amphetamine is found to promote the release of dopamine and prolong the action of the released transmitter by blocking reuptake.

Drug Abuse as Support of the Dopamine Hypothesis of Antipsychotic Drugs

- Greater drug doses tend to produce greater effects
- This relationship is shown in dose-response curves

Rutgers University

- Binding affinity (where it binds to) and intrinsic activity (what it does) determines the action of a drug
- Drugs may bind strongly or weakly to receptors or not bind to any receptors at all 
- Drug molecules that affects more than one kind of receptor have more than one action in the body 
- Drugs exhibit dose response relationships 

Drug Action 

Breedlove, S. & Watson, N. (2017). Behavioral neuroscience, eighth edition. Oxford University Press.

Behavioral Neuroscience 8th Edition

- Also called affinity 
- The attraction between a drug/ligand to a receptor 
- Drugs can have a high or low binding affinity for receptors

Binding Affinity 

- Also called efficacy 
- The extent of a drug/ligand to activate a response after binding to a receptor 
- Agonists have high intrinsic activity 
- Antagonists have low intrinsic activity 
- Partial agonists have a middle response 

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