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SK298 - Brain, the mind & mental health > Week 11 - Biology of addictions > Flashcards

Week 11 - Biology of addictions Flashcards

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1
Q

Are dopamine and GABA excitatory or inhibitory neurotransmitters?

A

GABA is inhibitory
Dopamine can function as either excitatory or inhibitory, depending on what type of receptor it binds to

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2
Q

The mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways are important in controlling what type of behaviour?

A

Motivated behaviour

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3
Q

What are the three routes of injection?

A
  • subcutaneous
  • intramuscular
  • intravenous
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4
Q

The quicker a drug reaches the brain, the ……. ?

A

Greater its potential for inducing euphoria

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5
Q

The way the body metabolises or excretes drugs may have impacts on what?

A

Their rewarding and addictive properties

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6
Q

If someone is not able to fully metabolise alcohol (due to a genetic variant), what is the toxic chemical which starts to accumulate in the body?

A

Acetaldehyde

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7
Q

How does methylphenidate alter dopamine neurotransmission?

A

It blocks the dopamine transporter, preventing reuptake, meaning that dopamine stays in the synapse longer which increases its chance of binding to receptors

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8
Q

Which type of receptors is nicotine thought to bind to?

A

Cholinergic receptors

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9
Q

What, in the brain, does nicotine mimic the effect of?

A

Acetylcholine

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10
Q

When nicotine mimics the effect of acetylcholine, what is the resulting effect?

A

It triggers an action potential in the dopaminergic neuron, which causes the release of dopamine

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11
Q

Does nicotine act as an agonist or antagonist at cholinergic receptors?

A

Agonist

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12
Q

What is the name of the receptors which heroin binds to?

A

mu-type opiod receptors

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13
Q

What do mu-type opiod receptors usually do?

A

Mediate the effects of the endogenous opiods known as enkephalins and endorphins

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14
Q

If the GABAergic neuron is not firing, what is not happening?

A

The dopaminergic neuron is not being inhibited

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15
Q

Is heroin an agonist or antagonist?

A

Agonist

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16
Q

Acetylcholine binding to cholinergic receptors on the dopaminergic neuron can have what effect on the dopaminergic neuron?

A

Excitatory

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17
Q

What is the resulting effect of acetylcholine bounding to cholinergic receptors on dopaminergic neurons?

A

Dopaminergic neurons are excited, which causes dopamine to be released in the nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex

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18
Q

The GABAergic inhibition of the dopaminergic neuron can block what effect?

A

Dopamine being released into the nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex

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19
Q

What does heroin bind to?

A

mu-type opiod receptors on a GABAergic neuron

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20
Q

What is prevented from being released if heroin binds to mu-type opiod receptors on a GABAergic neuron?

A

It prevents the GABAergic neuron from releasign GABA

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21
Q

If there is less binding of GABA to receptors on the dopaminergic neuron, what does that mean?

A

That the dopaminergic neuron will be more easily activated and and excited when acetylcholine binds to cholinergic receptors

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22
Q

Which neurotransmitter is thought to play a role in the propensity to gamble?

A

Dopamine

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23
Q

What is the current primary method for measuring molecules in the conscious human brain?

A

Through positron emission tomography (PET) scans

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24
Q

Which two areas of the brain generally have high density of dopamine receptors?

A
  • Nucleus accumbens
  • Prefrontal cortex
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25
Why can biological results from a PET scan be challenging to interpret?
As the drug user is not being observed in their usual drug-taking location
26
What is the name of the technique which is used in order for us to be able to study animals in PET scanners?
Microdialysis
27
How does microdialysis in animals work?
During it,a small probe is inserted into the animal’s brain and samples of extracellular fluid are taken during behaviour, which are later studied using specialist lab equipment
28
What is meant by the term transients?
Changes in dopamine neurotransmission
29
What is the name for a receptor which functions by way of mediating the flow of ions in or out of the neuron?
Ionotropic receptors
30
What are ionotropic receptors?
A type of receptors that are directly linked to a channel in the cell membrane which is how ions flow in or out the cell
31
Are ionotropic receptors slow or fast acting?
Fast acting, because they are linked directly to the ion channels
32
Receptors which do not work on an ionotropic basis are known as what?
Metabotropic receptors
33
What are metabotropic receptors?
A type of receptor that is linked to a set of reactions and signalling proteins within the cell
34
What is meant by the term subtypes?
It is the name for different receptors which can be for the same neurotransmitter
35
What are the two subtypes of dopaminergic receptors known as?
- D1 - D2
36
What is meant by the term metabotropic?
A type of membrane that initiates a number of metabolic steps to modulate cell activity
37
Where are D1 subtypes located?
On the postsynaptic membrane
38
Are D1 subtypes inhibitory or excitatory?
Excitatory
39
Are D2 receptors inhibitory or excitatory?
Inhibitory
40
Where can D2 receptors be found?
On either the pre- or postsynaptic membrane
41
What are the two types of receptors that the nervous sytem utilises?
- Ionotropic - Metabotropic
42
Are dopaminergic receptors ionotropic or metabotropic?
Metabotropic
43
What are G proteins?
Proteins which either stimulate or inhibit a series of further proteins
44
When dopamine binds to a D1 receptor, is the protein called kinase A (PKA) stimulated or inhibited?
Activated
45
When dopamine binds to a D2 receptor, is the protein called kinase A (PKA) stimulated or inhibited?
Inhibited
46
Protein kinase A (PKA) is stimulated or inhibited by the D1 receptor?
Stimulated
47
Protein kinase A (PKA) is stimulated or inhibited by the D2 receptor?
Inhibited
48
What effect can PKA (protein kinase a) have on the cell membrane?
It can alter the shape and structure of the cell membrane
49
When PKA (protein kinase a) affects a cell membrane, what are the results of that change?
Ions may be able to flow more easily through the channel, or cause the channel to remain ‘open’ for longer
50
What are transcription factors?
A family of proteins that can bind to regulatory sites on a gene, thereby promoting transcription of DNA to mRNA
51
If PKA (protein kinase a) travels to the cell membrane, what can it activate?
Transcription factors
52
Activation of D1 receptors has what effect to PKA (protein kinase a)?
It activates it
53
If dopamine binds to D2 receptors, what effect does that have to PKA (protein kinase a)?
It inhibits it
54
When PKA (protein kinase a) is activated and travels into the cell nucleus, what is the name of the transcription factor which it activates?
CREB
55
What does the transcription factor known as CREB do?
It activates the transcription of a gene known as the *FosB* gene
56
What is the function of the *FosB* gene?
It produces a protein called deltaFosB
57
If D1 receptors are activated, leading to elevated levels of deltaFosB in neurons, what behaviour does this affect?
It is thought to control various aspects of addiction
58
What can the protein deltaFosB be an indicator or biomarker for?
Addiction
59
What is meant by the term sensitisation?
A state in which the same amount of reward causes a greater effect over timeq
60
What is incentive sensitation?
A theory regarding drug addiction that posits that the thing that drives people is the desire for the reward, rather than its pleasurable experience
61
What is one psychosocial factor which can have an impact on (and enhance) incentive sensitisation?
Stressful experiences
62
Since stress can enhance incentive sensitisation, how would you predict impact it to impact deltaFosB production?
Repeated exposure to stressful events increases deltaFosB production
63
What happens in a Skinner box?
Inside the box there is a lever, next to a tray that food pellets are dispensed into. It is designed to see if an animal learns the association between learning to press the lever to gain food
64
What is behavioural economics?
The psychological study of decision-making from an economical perspective
65
What is an example of behavioural economics in human behaviour?
Someone who has never used heroin may be much less likely than a regular user to pay a large sum of money for heroin
66
If a rat were to be pressing a lever in order to obtain a reward, would that be an example of operant conditioning or Pavlovian (classical) conditioning?
Operant conditioning because the rat is performing an action instrumental in receiving a reward
67
What is meant by the term classical conditioning?
Association between an involuntary response and a stimulus
68
What is meant by the term operant conditioning?
Association between a voluntary behaviour and a consequence
69
If there are stimuli present which in an environment which do not pair with an unconditional stimulus, how do we refer to them?
As a CS minus (CS-)
70
Why is it important to consider the impact of Pavlovian (classical) conditioning on addictive behaviours?
The development of addiction does not occur in isolation
71
If there are stimuli present which in an environment which do pair with an unconditional stimulus, how do we refer to them?
A conditioned stimulus (CS+), or reward-paired cue
72
What inadvertant effect may occur if there are stimuli present which are not immediately associated with an addiction?
They may become a conditioned stimulus (CS+)
73
Cues which aquire the potential to drive behaviour and induce relapse are referred to how?
Motivational magnets or incentive stimuli
74
What is meant by the term incentive stimuli?
Cues that can evoke an emotional state such that they have the potential to drive behaviour
75
What term is used to describe stimuli that evoke motivational states?
Incentive stimuli
76
What is an example of a potential CS+ in the context of addiction to nicotine?
If someone smokes in a social setting they may start to feel the need for a cigarette each time they are in that situation
77
Pavlovian conditioning elicits which type of response?
A conditioned response
78
What does the abbreviation ‘CS+’ mean?
Conditioned stimulus (positive)
79
What is meant by the term goal tracker?
An individual who interacts mainly with aspects of reward delivery
80
What is meant by the term sign tracker?
An individual who interacts mainly with the cues relating to a reward
81
Are sign trackers or goal trackers more likely to exhibit addiction-related behaviours?
Sign trackers
82
When initially receiving a reward, dopamine releasing neurons in which area of the brain become active?
The ventral tegmental area
83
After repeatedly being exposed to a reward, dopamine is released from which area of the brain?
The nucleus accumbens
84
The cue-associated dopamine release which occurs when dopamine is elicited from the NAc rather than the VTA acts as a signal to do what?
Pursue reward
85
After repeated exposure to a reward, the dopaminergic neuron no longer responds to the reward itself. This is demonstration of what kind of learning?
Reward-related learning
86
The shift in the timing of release of dopamine from reward to reward prediction is thought to be a biological mechanism of what?
Addiction
87
What is thought to be one biological mechanism of addiction?
The shift in the timing of release of dopamine from reward to reward prediction

SK298 - Brain, the mind & mental health (19 decks)

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