Addiction

Question 1

What is addiction?

Answer 1

A chronic disease characterized by drug seeking and use that is compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences.

Due to the brain changes cause it is considered a ‘relapsing’ disease, b.c. people relapse into addiction often.

Both classical and instrumental conditioning are relevant to addiction.

Question 2

Instrumental (operant) conditioning

Answer 2

A response followed by a reward is more likely to be repeaded. E.g. I press lever I get food.
Explains how patterns of behaviour are reinforced or trained.

Question 3

Habitual behaviour

Answer 3

A habit is a pattern of behaviour acquired by frequent repetition, it is often unconscious. It is a behaviour that we engage in, prompted by cues, and without a particular conscious desire to achieve the outcome that the behaviour will produce.

Question 4

Why can be drug taking seen as goal directed?

Answer 4

Operant learning explains it, the drug taking (behaviour) is reinforced by the effect of the drug (consequence/goal).

Drug seeking is, therefore, seen as intentional b.c. we are aware of the contingency (! the sequence and time between US and CS) and we take the drug in the anticipation of the outcome. The effects of drugs reward taking them.

Question 5

Conditioned compensatory responses

Answer 5

It is physiological; that is cues in the environment can prompt a physiological response that prepares the body for a drug. Conditioned compensatory responses map onto the body’s physiological homeostatic response.
A bit different than UR, it occurs in the anticipation of it.

It alwats mimics body’s beta resposne

Question 6

Extinction

Answer 6

A process of reducing the association between the behaviour (e.g. pressing the lever) and the outcome (e.g. getting food).
Pairing behaviour with no outcome

Question 7

Blocking

Answer 7

Blocked stimulus is not learned about. When CS1 is paired with US and association is learned, then we show CS1 + CS2 and US and then CS2 on its own, no US is expected bc the learning of CS2 - US association was blocked. –> When CS1 + CS2 were being show US there was no error or surpise that US followed becasue CS1 was alredy predicting it.

Question 8

Alpha response

Answer 8

Initial physiological response that is positive. The first peak. The euphoric and pleasurable part, makes you feel less pain and decreases frequency and depth of breathing.

Question 9

Beta response

Answer 9

Follows alpha process and aims to return to hedonic level of 0. The system ‘overshoots’ creating a negative hedonic state before returning to 0 (equilibrium).
The counteraction to get back to homeostasis, feeling ‘down’, increases pain sensitivity and increaesed the frequency and depth of breathing.
CR is always beta response

Question 10

Tolerance

Answer 10

The high that the person feels compared to the high they felt when first taking the drug is reduced.
The development of conditioned compensatory responses suggest development of tolerance (Siegel et al., 2000).

Question 11

Withdrawl

Answer 11

Present when the drug is removed when you have conditioned compensatory responses.

Question 12

Outcome devaluation

Answer 12

Reduce the value of the outcome.
Can be done by pairing with sth bad or giving so much of it the animals gets bored.

If devalued outcome is still seemed he behaviour is habitual.

Question 13

Pavlovian to Instrumental Transfer (PIT) (Colwill and Rescorla, 1988).

Answer 13

There are classical and instrumental conditionins acquires independently. CS is associated with a reward.

You have classical conditioning of CS being paired with US e.g. see light (CS) press lever which will give food (US)
But also it lears the associateion that lever gived food (instrumental conditioning).

In PIT, positively valued Pavlovian cues promote instrumental responses and approach (more frequent behaviour to get drug).

Pavlovian conditioned cues can thus bias instrumental behaviour towards drug seeking and intake in both drug abusers and animals trained to self-administer drugs.

Question 14

Schultz (1999)

3 function of rewards

Answer 14

1. Make us what to do more of make us feel good (e.g. eat food)
2. Rewards work as positive reinforcers. We are drawn to pleasure= dopamine
   We have reward-driven learning; on the discrepancy or “error” between the prediction of reward and its actual occurrence. [same as error driven learning]
3. Reward result in hedonia (subjective feeling of pleasure); hard to measure in rats

Question 15

Schultz (1999) Dopamine experiments rats

Answer 15

Showed that dopamine is essential for learning.

1. Surpise bc no anticipation of reward and it occured= spike in dopamine neurons.
2. Spike after CS but not reward.
3. Spike after CS and depression when reward should have occured.

ALSO

4. ‘blocked’ stimulus followed by no reward did not trigger depression in dopamine activity
5. Reward following the blocking stimulus casued dopmine spike again = reward was not expected.

Question 16

Schultz (1999)

3 function of rewards

Answer 16

1. Make us what to do more of make us feel good (e.g. eat food)
2. Rewards work as positive reinforcers. We are drawn to pleasure= dopamine
   We have reward-driven learning; on the discrepancy or “error” between the prediction of reward and its actual occurrence. [same as error driven learning]
3. Reward result in hedonia (subjective feeling of pleasure); hard to measure in rats

Question 17

Schultz (1999) Dopamine experiments rats

Answer 17

Showed that dopamine is essential for learning.

1. Surpise bc no anticipation of reward and it occured= spike in dopamine neurons.
2. Spike after CS but not reward.
3. Spike after CS and depression when reward should have occured.

ALSO

4. ‘blocked’ stimulus followed by no reward did not trigger depression in dopamine activity
5. Reward following the blocking stimulus casued dopmine spike again = reward was not expected.

Question 18

Why can be drug taking seen as goal directed?

Answer 18

Operant learning explains it, the drug taking (behaviour) is reinforced by the effect of the drug (consequence/goal).

Drug seeking is, therefore, seen as intentional b.c. we are aware of the contingency (! the sequence and time between US and CS) and we take the drug in the anticipation of the outcome. The effects of drugs reward taking them.

Question 19

Olmstead et al., 2001 study

Rats, drug-taking is goal-drected

Answer 19

Cocaine seeking by rats as a goal directed behaviour.

1. Rats traind a chain of steps needed to get the reward.
2. Press ‘seeking lever’ to get acess to ‘taking level’.
3. Press ‘taking lever’ to get intravenous cocaine.
4. Extinction of the association of ‘taking level’ and drugs. Rats can press it without seeking level BUT it doesn’t give them cocaine.
5. Seeking response tested. Rats get access to S lever again (it takes them to T lever).
6. After extinction there is a reduction in seeking behaviour. They didn’t want to press it when they knew taking lever is not giving them drugs.
   ==> Shows that drug-seeking is goal directed behaviour

Question 20

Issue with gola directed explanation of drug taking?

Answer 20

After some time drugs start having detrimental effects on a person, so why do people keep taking them of the goal is not so good?

Can be because of dopamine.
Can be becasue of conditioned compensatory responses

Question 21

Dopmaine reason for drug taking

Answer 21

Surges of dopamine in the reward circuit cause the reinforcement of pleasurable but unhealthy behaviours like taking drugs, leading people to repeat the behaviour again and again.

The more drugs you take you brain looses ability of reward circuit to respond to them–> the high is not as good when compared to the first time taking the drug (tolerance) = need more drugs to get the same high and less ablity to get pleasure from other things

Question 22

Schultz (1999) Dopamine experiments rats

Answer 22

Showed that dopamine is essential for learning.

1. Surpise bc no anticipation of reward and it occured= spike in dopamine neurons.
2. Spike after CS but not reward.
3. Spike after CS and depression when reward should have occured.

ALSO

4. ‘blocked’ stimulus followed by no reward did not trigger depression in dopamine activity
5. Reward following the blocking stimulus casued dopmine spike again = reward was not expected.

Question 23

S-O-R learning by Balleine et al.

Answer 23

Opposite suggestion that what Hull says (we see S, it evoked R, not care about O ! O is not incluced in Hulls model, so how can it tell us anything about it?)

-In S-O-R the S predicts the drug outcome O and this elicits R that produse O.
S–> O
I want O so I do R.

BUT the value of O does not play a role, becasue its a habit

Question 24

Habit theory for drug taking

Answer 24

Argues that drug seeking is elicited automatically by drug associated stimuli, without engaging an expectation of the consequences of this behaviour.

Question 25

Hull’s veiw on drug taking

Answer 25

According to Hull we learn the association between (S) environmental stimulus which predicts drug and (R) the morotoric response sequence which gives assess to the drug.

So when we see S this elicits behaviour R with an insensitivity to the outcome.

Question 26

S-O-R learning by Balleine et al.

Answer 26

Opposite suggestion that what Hull says (we see S, it evoked R, not care about O ! O is not incluced in Hulls model, so how can it tell us anything about it?)

-In S-O-R the S predicts the drug outcome O and this elicits R that produse O.
S–> O
I want O so I do R.

BUT the value of O does not play a role, becasue its a habit

Question 27

Exposure is not enough

Answer 27

Not all people who take illicit drugs get addicted to them (Belin et al., 2016).
Perhaps it’s due to individual differences (Hogarth).

Anthony et al., (1994) stat from 8000 interviewed people- 16% had treid cocaine, only 3% was addicted.

Question 28

Possible individual differences

Answer 28

1. Differences in reward systems
2. Incentive Sensitization: wanting
3. Stimulus control: incentive salience of the stimuli (sign and goal tracking)

Question 29

Differences in reward systems as an explanation for why only some people become addicted

Answer 29

Volkow et al. (2009)

• Difference in the dopmaine response
• People who described methylphenidate drug as pleasant < lower levels of D2 DA dopamine receptors vs ppl who said it was not pleasant.
• Other studies show higher levels of D2 DA receptors significantly reduced alcohol intake in animals previously trained to self-administer alcohol. (potentially protecting agains alcoholism by modulating frontal circuits involved in inhibition)

Question 30

People with ADHD are at higher risk of substance abuse disorder

Answer 30

• Depressed dopamine activity in specific brain regions of adults with ADHD compared to controls
• Depressed DA phenotype was associated with higher scores on self-reports of methylphenidate liking

Question 31

Incentive sensitisation

Answer 31

Is a process through which we might “learn” the value of an outcome.
Outcome might not have a fixed value, its value can be defined by previous experiences.

As the value of the outcome changes, the rate of learning with that outcome should change- RW model.

Question 32

Premack principle

Answer 32

An animal will do one behaviour to get the opportunity to engage in a preferred behaviour. Learning is reinforced when the instrumental act allows access to a preferred behaviour.

A water depreived rat will drink more than it runs.
A water not depreived rat runs more than it drinks.

Question 33

Incentive salience

Answer 33

Through conditioning, different components of the task becoming a ‘wanted’ stimulus

Some researchers argue that acquisition of incentive salience might contribute to drug addiction, making the drug-associated stimuli more salient.

Question 34

Zener (1937!!)

Answer 34

Individual differences in classical conditioning with dogs (same as Pavlov)

• Observed that after training, some dogs responded with an initial glance at the bell, followed by a fixed interest in the food bowl, while other dogs approached the bell. –> Sign tracking (interest in bell)
• –> Goal tracking (interest in food)

Replicated on rats (Flagel et al., 2009) and humans (Garofalo & di Pellegrino, 2015).

Question 35

Sign vs goal trackers

Answer 35

Sign-trackers have been suggested to be more susceptible to addiction than goal-trackers because they are more likely to be motivated to seek drugs in the presence of drug-related stimuli (Robinson, Yager, Cogan & Saunders, 2014).

BUT
it is not 1-0 thing, a person doesn’t have to be just a sign or goal tracker