Addiction - Biological

Question 1

Weaknesses of the biological approach to addiction?

Answer 1

Reductionist

Question 2

Reductionism in biological approach to addiction?

Answer 2

Comings et al

Question 3

Comings et al?

Answer 3

Found A1 variant of the DRD2 gene in 55% of people with autism, 50% of pathological gamblers, 48% of smokers, 42% of alcoholics and 25% of controls

Question 4

Strengths of biological approach to addiction?

Answer 4

Individual differences

Question 5

Individual differences in biological approach to addiction?

Answer 5

Can explain why some people develop addictions yet others who have the same environment/experiences don’t (diathesis stress model)

Question 6

Biological explanation of gambling initiation?

Answer 6

Pathological gambling runs in families, combination of genetics and environment

Question 7

Researcher on biological explanation of gambling initiation?

Answer 7

Black et al

Question 8

Black et al?

Answer 8

1st degree relatives of addicts more likely to suffer with a gambling addiction than distant ones

Question 9

Biological explanation of gambling maintenance?

Answer 9

Underactive pituitary-adrenal response to stimuli

Question 10

Researcher on biological explanation of gambling maintenance?

Answer 10

Paris et al

Question 11

Paris et al?

Answer 11

Pathological gamblers had no salivary cortisol (associated with pituitary-adrenal system) increase after videos of gambling or neutral stimuli

Question 12

Zuckerman?

Answer 12

High sensation seeking = low sense of risk and positive anticipation of arousal

Question 13

Biological explanation of gambling relapse?

Answer 13

Boredom avoidance - needs intense stimulation/excitment

Question 14

Researcher on biological explanation of relapse?

Answer 14

Blaszcynski et al

Question 15

Weaknesses of biological explanations of gambling?

Answer 15

Limited applications

Oversimplified

Question 16

Limited applications of biological explanations of gambling?

Answer 16

Why are some types more addictive?

Question 17

Research on limited applications of biological explanations of gambling?

Answer 17

Green and Zimmerman

Question 18

Green and Zimmerman?

Answer 18

Men and women who got hooked on video gambling became compulsive in about 1 year, while other forms, e.g. horses or sports, tended to take 3 1/2+ years

Question 19

Oversimplification in biological explanations of gambling?

Answer 19

Bonnaire et al

Question 20

Bonnaire et al?

Answer 20

2 clinically distinct subgroups: ‘active’ who gamble for arousal and ‘passive’ who want to avoid unpleasant emotional states

Question 21

Biological approach to smoking initiation (genetics)?

Answer 21

Family and twin studies estimate heritability to be 39-80%

Question 22

Research on biological approach to smoking initiation (genetics)?

Answer 22

Vink et al

Question 23

Vink et al (initiation)?

Answer 23

44% genetic and 56% environmental, 1572 Dutch twin pairs

Question 24

Research on biological approach to smoking maintenance (genetics)?

Answer 24

Vink et al

Question 25

Vink et al (maintenance)?

Answer 25

Dependence to smoking is 75%

Question 26

Biological approach to maintenance of smoking addiction? (2)

Answer 26

Pre-natal exposure

Question 27

Research on pre-natal exposure?

Answer 27

Bulka et al

Question 28

Bulka et al?

Answer 28

Smoking during pregnancy (20+ a day) doubled the risk of their child’s addiction

Question 29

Biological approach to smoking relapse (genetics)?

Answer 29

Xian et al

Question 30

Xian et al?

Answer 30

54% of risk for quit failure in smoking due to heritability

Question 31

Biological approach to smoking initiation (role of nicotine)?

Answer 31

Nicotine activates nAchRs in the brain, which release dopamine to stimulate the brain’s reward circuit

Question 32

Biological approach to smoking maintenance (role of nicotine)?

Answer 32

Chronic exposure leads to down regulation, where they no longer smoke for the positive experience but to avoid negative ones - drug levels required to trigger the brain reward system increase

Question 33

Biological approach to smoking relapse (role of nicotine)?

Answer 33

The brain still receives difficult-to-resist signals of imminent reward and the drug assumes more importance, so the frontal cortex becomes less effective in making decisions and judging consequences of actions

Question 34

Strengths of biological approach to smoking?

Answer 34

Supporting research

Treatment implications

Question 35

Weaknesses of biological approach to smoking?

Answer 35

Ignores environmental factors

Question 36

Treatment implications of biological approach to smoking?

Answer 36

Therapists can choose the most appropriate therapy

Question 37

Research on treatment implications of biological approach to smoking?

Answer 37

Lerman et al

Question 38

Lerman et al?

Answer 38

Asp40 gene more likely to quit than Asn40

Question 39

Supporting research for biological approach to smoking?

Answer 39

Thorgerisson et al

Question 40

Thorgerisson et al?

Answer 40

Identified a specific gene variant on chromosome 15 that influenced number of cigarettes smoked per day, dependence, and risk of developing smoking related diseases - those who smoked 10+ a day were more likely to have it

Question 41

Ignorance of environmental factors in biological approach to smoking?

Answer 41

Vink et al

Question 42

Vink et al (eval)?

Answer 42

Initiation to smoking 56% due to environment

Question 43

Support for heritability in smoking addiction?

Answer 43

Karcher and Finn

Question 44

Karcher and Finn?

Answer 44

1.88x more likely to smoke if parents did