7: Development of addiction

Question 1

What’s the definition of addiction?

Answer 1

A treatable brain disease characterised by compulsive behavior. The inability to (mentally) control your behavior when you know better.

Question 2

What is an outdated view of looking at addiction?

Answer 2

That it’s a choice and under full control of the person. That punishment is the best remedy.

Question 3

What the simplified view of addiction?

Answer 3

An imbalance between approach-oriented motivational systems and regulatory control system.

Question 4

What happens when your addicted?

Answer 4

After repeated use of a substance the brain gets sensitized + conditioned to the drug, the positive consequences and the cues.

Cues = friends, smell, place

Which can trigger automatic use through craving and approach bias.

Question 5

What brain networks are involved in the development of addiction?

Answer 5

Salience network
Executive control network
Reinforcement learning network

Question 6

What’s the salience network?

Answer 6

Emotion regulation/decision making

Question 7

What’s the executive control network?

Answer 7

Attention, working-memory, inhibition

Question 8

What’s the reinforcement learning network?

Answer 8

Associative learning from positive and negative outcomes & development of automatic behavior

Question 9

What are the 4 groups of criteria of the DSM?

Answer 9

Loss of control
Social problems
Pharmacological consequences > dependence
High risk use > danger

Question 10

What can you say about nature & nurture?

Answer 10

Both are important in the development of addiction

Question 11

What can you get addicted to?

Answer 11

Behavioral:
- Gambling and Internet Gaming acknowledged
Substances
- Cannabis addiction is real

Question 12

What can you say about harm of drug use?

Answer 12

It doesn’t equal the severity of addiction.

Alcohol is most harmful

Question 13

Why is adolescene important for addiction?

Answer 13

It marks the onset & escalation of drug use.

Question 14

What’s the paradox of risk and resilience?

Answer 14

There’s a huge risk in adolescence for addiction and substance related problems

Most substance related problems that started in adolescene, resolve on their own without any formal intervention

Question 15

What are risk factors?

Answer 15

• Hypersensitive salience network
• Hypersensitivity to social environment
• Facilitated brain plasticity and learning flexibility
• Suboptimal control in tempting situations
• Neurotoxicity during period of brain development

Question 16

Why is a hypersensitive salience network a risk factor?

Answer 16

There is a link to alcohol use & binge drinking.

Question 17

Why is hypersensitivity to social environment a risk factor?

Answer 17

It causes a reliance on peer relationships.

Drinking is even copied on a sip level.

Question 18

What can you say about heritability?

Answer 18

• Increases with age

While the influence of the family environment decreases and other environments increase.

Question 19

What is brain plasticity?

Answer 19

Dynamic biological capacity of the brain to change in response to the environment, suporting brain maturation as well as brain recovery after injury.

Involves the modulation of neuronal connection through a complex interaction between genes and environment, in which learning, memory, and the underlying genetic and cellular processes play an important role

Question 20

What happens in puberty with brain plasticity?

Answer 20

In puberty there is a shift in plasticity towards brain areas in learning & complex cognitive functions,
- Which makes them good learners! (more from positive feedback)

• More plasticity from hippocampus than adults

Question 21

What is behavioral control?

Answer 21

Goal-directed regulation of behavior
Control over emotions, impulses and reflective mental processes
Supports flexible moment-to-moment adaptation of behavior

Question 22

What two types of control are there?

Answer 22

Reactive control: control in the moment, in response to things happening right now
Proactive control: control in anctipation of future events, choosing between short vs long term

Question 23

Why is there suboptimal control in tempting situations?

Answer 23

Different sub-processes of control mature at different ages and there is a temporary imbalance in control during adolescence
= affective procession is high and proactive control is very low

Question 24

How does alcohol change the brain?

Answer 24

New paths are formed, which get more engrained each and every time

Drug and alcohol use is related to change in brain volume of areas important for behavior control and which are related to poor cognitive performance

Question 25

What causes resilience?

Answer 25

• Hypersensitivity to social environment
• Facilitated brain plasticity and learning flexibility
• Improving control in tempting situations

Question 26

What changes in hypersensitivity to social environment with age?

Answer 26

Social devaluation of substances
- because values change, getting kids, getting older, seeing friends less, working more
Highly depends on culture and context, which changes

Question 27

What is the Cousijn et al. 2018 study about?

Answer 27

A theory: social plasticity model.
Which combines:
- age limited substance use and related problems (grey line)
- social reinforcement of substances (red dotted line)
- social attunement
- behavioral control
- learning & plasticity

Question 28

Whats the conclusion of the study?

Answer 28

That resilience is a cause of social devaluation, high social attunement and behavioral control & learning

Question 29

What’s the research goal in research about addiction?

Answer 29

Get to know more about differences in impact of use & dependence on substances in adolescent and adult brains
Do more research on rats and compare them to humans, cause similar processes would be proof.