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Flashcards in Addiction Deck (18)
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1
Q

What is the ICD-10 criteria of dependence?

A
A strong desire to take the substance
Difficulties in controlling substance use
A physiological withdrawal state
Tolerance
Neglect of alternative pleasures
Persistence despite evidence of harm
2
Q

What is a widely used test for alcohol dependence?

A
CAGE:
Cut-down
Annoyed
Guilty
Eye-opener
3
Q

Describe dopaminergic activity in the mesolimbic pathway

A

A motivating signal
Incentivises behaviour
Is involved in normal pleasurable experiences

4
Q

What suggests a tolerance to reward develops?

A

fMRI study of gambling addicts vs non-addicts

Non-addicts had increased blood flow to striatum upon winning, addicts did not

5
Q

What decreased dopamine D2 receptor functionality?

A

Addiction

6
Q

Why does tolerance occur and why does it persist?

A

Due to repeated dopamine release, dopamine receptors down regulate.
Threshold for rewards during abstinence is thus increased
Normal pleasurable experiences don`t evoke adequate reward response
These changes persist despite prolonged abstinence from substance abuse

7
Q

What does the orbito-frontal cortex do?

A

Provides internal representations of the saliency of events and assigns values to them
Key creator of motivation to act

8
Q

What do addicts show increased activation of when presented with drug cues?

A

OFC

9
Q

What is the role of the PFC?

A

Helps intention good behaviour
Modulates the powerful effects of the reward pathway
Sets goals, focuses attention
Makes sound decisions
Keeps emotions and impulses under control to achieve long term goals

10
Q

Do frontal lobe areas that mediate executive functioning mature earlier or later than limbic systems?

A

Later

11
Q

Describe frontal lobe maturation

A

Progresses in a back-to-front direction, beginning in the primary motor cortex and spreading anteriorly over the superior and inferior frontal gyri, with the prefrontal cortex developing last

12
Q

What signal do addictive drugs provide?

A

Potent signal that disrupts normal dopamine related learning in the PFC

13
Q

What are the effects of dopamine release?

A

Ability to update information within the PFC
Ability to select new goals
The ability to avoid compulsive repetition of a behaviour

14
Q

What are the hippocampus, striatum and amygdala critical in?

A

Acquisition, consolidation and expression of drug stimulus learning

15
Q

What is the most heritable complex psychiatric condition?

A

Addiction

16
Q

What does acute stress trigger in the neural reward pathway?

A

Dopamine release

17
Q

What can a rapid increase of dopamine cause?

A

Drug seeking in dependent individuals

18
Q

What does chronic stress lead to in the neural reward pathway?

A

Dampening of dopaminergic activity through down regulation of D receptors
Reduces sensitivity to normal rewards