WK 11 bb

Question 1

Substance abuse is a pattern of drug use in which

Answer 1

people rely on a drug chronically and excessively and not for therapeutic reasons

Question 2

addiction or dependance =

Answer 2

physically dependant on a drug in addition to abusing it

Question 3

Reinforcing stimuli have a greater effect if

Answer 3

it occurs immediately after the behaviour

Question 4

Positive Reinforcement: Neural Mechanisms

Answer 4

• triggers release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens (NAC)
• process of addiction begins in the mesolimbic dopaminergic system
• produce long term changes in other brain regions, starting with the ventral tegmental area (VTA)

Question 5

Function of dopamine pathway

Answer 5

• REward (motivation)
• Pleasure, euphoria
• Motor functioning (fine tuning)
• Compulsion
• Perseveration

Question 6

Function of seotonin pathway

Answer 6

• mood
• memory processing
• sleep
• cognition

Question 7

changes in VTA leads to

(positive reinforcement process from drugs)

does this happen immediately

what other areas does this affect

Answer 7

increased activation in a variety of regions that receive dopaminergic input from the VTA

Synaptic changes that are responsible for the
compulsive behaviours that characterise addiction occur only after continued use.

• Important changes occur in the dorsal striatum which is part of the basal ganglia
• The basal ganglia plays a critical role in instrumental conditioning

Question 8

• Withdrawal symptoms

Answer 8

– generally the opposite of the drug itself
– the body may have started to compensate for the
disturbed homeostatic mechanisms

Question 9

Negative Reinforcement and addiction

Answer 9

potentially maibtains addiction e.g. removes withdrawal symptoms

can start addiction, e.g. remove stressors

Question 10

Cravings can occur after a long period of abstinence.
* Potentially due to

Answer 10

ong-lasting brain changes
* Drug-related stimuli can elicit classically conditioned responses in substance abusers, both physiologically and subjectively - cravings

Question 11

Franken (2003) suggests craving and relapse are due to

Answer 11

‘attentional bias’ – cued by cognitive processes and increases in dopamine in response to drug
stimuli.
Drug stimuli as in things related to drug use. even weather can cause a dopamine increase, thus intensifying the cravings

Question 12

Prefrontal cortex has been implicated in drug abuse e.g.

Answer 12

prefrontal cortex activity decreases as drug use increases

Question 13

Either way, PFC plays an important rol in drug use through ____ ______ and ____ ________ (Goldstein & Volkow, 2011)

Answer 13

emotion regulation

inhibitory control

Question 14

_______ is the most commonly abused opiate
and abuse comes with high personal and
societal costs.

Answer 14

Heroin

Question 15

Systematic administration of opiates
stimulates _____ ______
causing which effects

Answer 15

opiate receptors

• analgesia [pain relief] (periaqueductal grey matter)
• Hypothermia (Preoptic area)
• Sedation (Mesencephalic reticular formation)
• Reinforcement (VTA and nucleus accumbens)

Question 16

Opiate related stimuli trigger the release of …

Answer 16

dopamine in the nucleus accumbens (NAC)

Question 17

process of action of Cocaine

Answer 17

Deactivates dopamine transporter proteins, blocking reuptake of dopamine

Question 18

how do Amphetamines work

Answer 18

also inhibit reuptake of dopamine but directly simulates the release of dopamine from terminal buttons as well

Question 19

cocaine Likely highly addictive – Bozath & Wise (1985) reported that rats that self-administered cocaine were

Answer 19

3 times more likely to die than rats who self-administered heroin

Question 20

• Smoking stimulates

Answer 20

nicotinic acetylcholine receptors

Question 21

Nicotine is associated with the release of … in the … resulting in …

Answer 21

dopamine in the
NAC, reinforcing the behaviour (Jasinka et al., 2014)

Question 22

• It has also been noted that damage to the ____ disrupts smoking addiction

Answer 22

insula

Question 23

• Potential effects of Alcohol

Answer 23

– Mild euphoria
– Anxiolytic: reduces the discomfort of anxiety
– Disinhibition
– Alcohol myopia (Steel & Josephs, 1990; MacDonald et
al., 1998)

Question 24

– Alcohol myopia

Answer 24

• tendency for people to respond to near and immediate cues while ignoring more remote cues and potential consequences

Question 25

alcohol Increases activity in the dopaminergic neurons of the ______ system

Answer 25

mesolimbic

Question 26

Two major sites of action alcohol

Answer 26

– Indirect antagonist at NMDA (glutamate) receptors – Indirect agonist at GABAA receptors (anxiolytic and sedative effects)

Question 27

why can alcohol withdrawals kill you

Answer 27

Increased sensitivity of NMDA receptors after suppressive effect of alcohol is removed can trigger seizures and convulsions

Question 28

The reinforcing effect of alcohol is not solely due to the dopaminergic system * Alcohol can also trigger the release of

Answer 28

endogenous opioids

Question 29

Korsakoff syndrome

Answer 29

* Often seen in alcoholics who are malnourished * Caused by a lack of vitamin B1 in the brain and exacerbated by the toxic effects of alcohol * Damage to areas of the thalamus and the mammillary bodies- structures important for encoding new memories.

Question 30

_________ receptors mediatemost of the psychotropic effects of THC

Answer 30

Cannabinoid Type 1 (CB1)

Question 31

THC also has a stimulating effect on

Answer 31

dopaminergic neurons

Question 32

CB1 receptors also have a probable role in

Answer 32

the reinforcing effects of other drugs as well as cannabis

Question 33

Kendler et al. (2003) investigated the specificity of genetic and environmental risk factors for use and abuse/dependence of 6 classes of illicit substances – Interviews of 1,196 male-male twin pairs FouND

Answer 33

Environment plays a stronger role in Drug use but genetics play a stronger role in determining whether the person becomes addicted

Question 34

It is estimated that __ - __% of the vulnerability to addiction can be attributed to genetic factors includes variability in which 2 areas

Answer 34

40-60% Includes both variability in metabolism of the drug and variability in the sensitivity to the reinforcing effects

Question 35

* Environmental factors also influence addiction e.g.

Answer 35

* drug availability, * low SES, * poor parental support, * stress

Question 36

Opiate addiction is most commonly treated with _________, an orally administered replacement drug * A newer drug, _______ blocks the effect of opiates and produces only a weak opiate effect.

Answer 36

methadone buprenorphine