Chapter 15 - Drug Use, Drug Addiction, and the Brain's Reward Circuits Flashcards
Pharmacological
Pertaining to the scientific study of drugs
Pyschoactive drugs
Drugs that influence subjective experience and behavior by acting on the nervous system
Drug metabolism
The conversion of a drug from its active form to a nonactive form
Drug tolerance
A state of decreased sensitivity to a drug that develops as a result of exposure to the drug
Cross tolerance
Tolerance to the effects of one drug that develops as the result of exposure to another drug that acts by the same mechanism
Drug sensitization
An increase in the sensitivity to a drug effect that develops as the result of exposure to the drug
Metabolic tolerance
Tolerance that results from a reduction in the amount of a drug getting to its sites of action
Functional tolerance
Drug tolerance that results from changes that reduce the reactivity of the sites of action to the drug
Withdrawal syndrome
The illness brought on by the elimination from the body of a drug on which the person is physically dependent
Physically dependent
Being in a state in which the discontinuation of drug taking will induce withdrawal reactions
Drug-addicted individuals
Those habitual drug users who continue to use a drug despite its adverse effects on their health and social life and despite their repeated efforts to stop using it
Contingent drug tolerance
Demonstrations that tolerance develops only to drug effects that are actually experienced (pg.409)
A state of decreased sensitivity to a drug that develops as a result of exposure to the drug
Before-and-after design
The experimental design used to demonstrate contingent drug tolerance; one group receives the drug before each of a series of behavioral tests and the other group receives the drug after each test
Conditioned drug tolerance
Tolerance effects that are maximally expressed only when a drug is administered in the same situation in which it has previously been administered
Conditioned compensatory responses
Hypothetical conditional physiological responses that are opposite to the effects of a drug that are thought to be elicited by stimuli that are regularly associated with experiencing the drug effects
Exteroceptive stimuli
Stimuli that arise from outside the body
Interoceptive stimuli
Stimuli that arise from inside the body
Nicotine
The major psychoactive ingredient of tobacco
Smoking
Inhaling the smoke from the burning of tobacco
Vaping
Inhaling a vapor that contains nicotine
Smoker’s syndrome
The chest pain, labored breathing, wheezing, coughing, and heightened susceptibility to infections of the respiratory tract commonly observed in tobacco smokers
Buerger’s disease
A condition in which the blood vessels, especially those supplying the legs, are constricted whenever tobacco is smoked. The disease can progress to gangrene and amputation.
Teratogen
A drug or other chemical that causes birth defects
Drug craving
An affective state in which there is a strong desire for a particular drug
Depressant
A drug that depresses neural activity
Delirium tremens (DTs)
The phase of alcohol withdrawal syndrome characterized by hallucinations, delusions, disorientation, agitation, confusion, hyperthermia, and tachycardia
Korsakoff’s syndrome
A neuropsychological disorder that is common in alcoholics and whose primary symptoms include memory loss, sensory and motor dysfunction, and, in its advanced stages, severe dementia
Cirrhosis
Scarring of the liver, which is a major cause of death among heavy alcohol users
Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
A syndrome produced by prenatal exposure to alcohol and characterized by brain damage, intellectual disability, poor coordination, poor muscle tone, low birth weight, retarded growth, and/or physical deformity
Cannabis
The common hemp plant, which is the source of marijuana
THC
Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive constituent of marijuana
Hashish
Dark corklike material extracted from the resin on the leaves and flowers of Cannabis
Narcotic
A legal term generally used to refer to opioids
Anandamide
The first endogenous endocannabinoid to be discovered and characterized
Stimulants
Drugs that produce general increases in neural and behavioral activity
Cocaine
A stimulant that exerts its effects by altering the activity of dopamine transporters
Crack
A potent, cheap, smokable form of cocaine
Cocaine sprees
Binges of cocaine use
Cocaine psychosis
Psychotic symptoms that are sometimes observed during cocaine sprees; similar in certain respects to schizophrenia
Amphetamine
A stimulant drug
Empathogens
Psychoactive drugs that produce feelings of empathy
Dopamine transporters
Molecules in the presynaptic membrane of dopaminergic neurons that attract dopamine molecules in the synaptic cleft and deposit them back inside the neuron
Opium
The sap that exudes from the seed pods of the opium poppy
Morphine
The major psychoactive ingredient in opium
Codeine
A relatively weak psychoactive ingredient of opium
Opioids
Morphine, codeine, heroin, and other chemicals with similar structures or effects
Analgesics
Drugs that reduce pain
Harrison Narcotics Act
The act passed in 1914 that made it illegal to sell or use opium, morphine, or cocaine in the United States
Heroin
A semisynthetic opioid
Physical-dependence theories of addiction
Theories holding that the main factor that motivates drug-addicted individuals to keep taking drugs is the prevention or termination of withdrawal symptoms
Positive-incentive theories of addiction
Theories holding that the primary factor in most cases of addiction is the craving for the positive-incentive (expected pleasure-producing) properties of the drug
Intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS)
The repeated performance of a response that delivers electrical stimulation to certain sites in the animal’s brain
Mesotelencephalic dopamine system
The ascending projections of dopamine-releasing neurons from the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area of the mesencephalon into various regions of the telencephalon
Substantia nigra
The midbrain nucleus whose neurons project via the nigrostriatal pathway to the striatum of the basal ganglia; it is part of the mesotelencephalic dopamine system
Ventral tegmental area
The midbrain nucleus of the mesotelencephalic dopamine system that is the major source of the mesoscorticolimbic pathway
Nucleus accumbens
Nucleus of the ventral striatum and a major terminal of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine pathway
Mesocorticolimbic pathway
The component of the mesotelencephalic dopamine system that has cell bodies in the ventral tegmental area that project to various cortical and limbic sites
Drug self-administration paradigm
A test of the addictive potential of drugs in which laboratory animals can inject drugs into themselves by pressing a lever
Conditioned place-reference-paradigm
A test that assesses a laboratory animal’s preference for an environment in which it has previously experienced drug effects relative to a control environment
Relapse
The return to one’s drug taking habit after a period of voluntary abstinence
Anhedonia
A general inability to experience pleasure
Positive-incentive value
The anticipated pleasure associated with a particular action, such as taking a drug
Hedonic value
The amount of pleasure that is actually experienced as the result of some action
Incentive-sensitization theory
Theory that addictions develop when drug use sensitizes the neural circuits mediating wanting of the drug—not necessarily liking of the drug
Drug priming
A single exposure to a formerly abused drug
Incubation of drug craving
The time-dependent increase in cue-induced drug craving and relapse
