Hey all! This is just a quick, 20 min video, of the dreaded dopamine pathways that you MUST know for the ANCC PMHNP exam. The thought of these makes everyone shutter, but I promise they are not that bad! Take a listen to the video and I will give you some quick tips on what to remember and how to remember this material! This is a brief foundation for materials we are going to be building upon, such as the other videos in this series. This one is so very important though, you MUST know this stuff inside and out for the board exam, I promise you'll get at least a few questions in a few different sections regarding this stuff!
CHEAT SHEET:
In Schizophrenia:
1. Dopamine is INCREASED in the mesoLIMBIC area=positive s/s
2. Dopamine is DECREASED in the mesoCORTICAL area-negative s/s
-For nigrostriatal area, if you DECREASE Dopamine here you will get movement issues ie: TD, EPS
-For tuberofindibular area, if you DECREASE Dopamine here you will get increased Prolactin levels which can lead to gynecomastia , galactorrhea, decreased libido. TEST TIP: think "tube sock" when you see Tuberofindibular--tube sock=boob=prolactin=gynecomastia ..just my funny way of remembering that!
-Antipsychotics are D2 Antagonists meaning they BLOCK Dopamine (work on all 4 DA pathways by DECREASING DA--this is good for the mesoLIMBIC area because it decreases + s/s, but bad for all other areas as we get all the side effects from DECREASING the Dopamine in the rest of the 3 dopamine pathways: movement issues, increased prolactin, an increase in NEGATIVE s/s)
-Parkinson's medications are D2 AGONISTS meaning they INCREASE Dopamine (alleviating movement issues)
My way to remember Dopamine and functions: DAMM-PA (da-dopamine, mm-movement and memory, p-psychosis/pleasure, a-addiction)
I CANNOT WAIT TO HEAR ALL ABOUT THE GREEN CHECKS you guys get when you pass!!! Any questions/suggestions: pmhnpperfection@gmail.com. SEE YOU SOON!
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