Chapter Two & Three - Behavioural Analysis of Drug Effects & Drug Adaptation Flashcards
1
Q
John B. Watson
A
- Thought to be the behaviouralism founder.
- Argued that to be a science, psychology should focus on behaviours and measurable phenomena.
2
Q
Three key events that established field of neuropharmacology?
A
- The growing success of therapeutic and commerical use of antipsychotic medications.
- Peter Dews demonstration of the Skinner Box to study drug effects.
- The application of physiology to understand behaviour from a mechanistic standpoint.
3
Q
Define:
Chlorpromazine
A
- Developed in 1952, among the first antipsychotic medicatiosn to be designed and effective as a treatment for psychosis.
- Enabled many psychiatric hospitals to downsize or close.
4
Q
Peter Dews Pigeon Studies?
A
- Studies the effects of drugs on pigeons pecking for grain reinforcement in a skinner box.
- Demonstrated that the same dose of the drug causes different effect on behaviour dependent on reinforcement design.
5
Q
Joseph Brady?
A
- Thought to be the father of behaviooural neuroscience.
- First person to utilize behavioural techniques and physiological techniques to correlate the two, such as tracking heart rate whilst undergoing a drug’s effects.
6
Q
Define:
Experimental Drug Research
A
- Allows to test hypothees and create causal claims by exploring relationships between independent and dependent variables.
7
Q
Define:
Experimental Control
A
What happens when the drug is administered vs. when it is not administered.
8
Q
Define:
Placebo Control
A
- Active drug vs. inert substance.
- For consistency in experimental design.
- Allows for assessment of placebo effect.
9
Q
Define:
Three Group Design:
A
- Experimental drug group.
- Placebo group.
- An established drug group [really just how effective the drug is].
10
Q
Define:
Placebo Effect
A
This is the effect seen that the expectancy of receicing a drug largely influences and is responsible for the consequential effect.
11
Q
Define:
Experimenter Bias
A
This is when experimenters allow their own expectations to change and effect the interpretation of the observations.
12
Q
Limitation to non-experimental drug research?
A
It only allows us to see what is correlated but canot tell us if one event causes the other [or vice versa].
13
Q
Common tasks & Effective proxies:
A
- Conditioned place preference task: drug reward.
- Locomotor activity/open field: common measure of anxiety.
- Self administration: drug reward.
- Two bottle preference/choice task: which substance is more reinforcing/rewarding.
14
Q
Define:
Subjective Effects
A
- What the drug makes you feel.
- Not a reliable metrc but often does inspire/guide more research.
15
Q
Define:
Rating Scales
A
- Provide a standarized measurement.
- ie. likert scales.
- ie. visual analog scale [VAS]
16
Q
Define:
Perception
A
- Researchers look at acuity of certain sense in response to drugs.
- Often done with vision and hearing.
17
Q
Define:
Motor Performance
A
Reaction time tasks.
18
Q
Define:
Attention
A
Mackworth Clock Test.
19
Q
Memory?
A
- Many kinds of memory can be impacted by drugs.
- LTM is commonly assessed with free recall or cued recall tasks.
- STM is commonly assess via N-Back tasts.
20
Q
What is the purpose of test of response inhibition?
A
This is to understand if a drug interferes with someone’s ability to inhibit an action.
21
Q
Define:
Tolerance
A
- Decreased effectiveness of a drug over time.
22
Q
Define:
Acute Tolerance
A
This is the tolerance that develops after a single administration of a drug, such as alcohol.
23
Q
Mechanisms of Tolerance?
A
- Pharmacokinetic Tolerance.
- Pharmacodynamic Tolerance.
- Behavioural Tolerance.
24
Q
Define:
Pharmacokinetic Tolerance
A
- Increased rate or ability of the body to metabolize a drug.
- Results in less molecules reaching their target receptors and therefore lowers the effect.
- Basically, the more it is metabolizes, the less molecules that go to the place they need to act on.
25
Q
Define:
Pharmacodynamic Tolerance
A
- The adjustment the body makes to compensant for the effects of a drug.
- Go to the specific cells and act on what they need to.
26
Q
Define:
Behavioural Tolerance
A
- Tolerance that is developed over time through experience with the drug.
- It is considered a ‘learned’ event.
27
Q
Define:
Withdrawal
A
- The body’s reaction to the loss of a drug.
- Symptoms occur.
- It can be halted almost instantly by giving the drug to the individual [this point is a requirement in order for it to be considered a withdrawal symptom].
28
Q
Define:
Dependance
A
- Varies depending on context.
- Often looked at as one of two things:
1. The presense of withdrawal symptoms when the drug is withheld.
2. When a person NEEDS to take a drug. - Dependence does NOT = addiction.
29
Q
Define:
Opponent Process Theory
A
- Solomon and Corbit 1974.
- Abused drugs stimulate a process that creates (a) a euphoric state, or (b) compensatory dysphoric state.
- During single administration, process A dominates first awnd is followed by B. Process A ends faster than B which in turn creates the highs and lows of drug use.
- Basically: Idea is that there are opposing processes in your body, the euphoric process gives you a subjective [euphoric] effect, you peak and then come back down, the response or opposing effect is you body trying to compensate.
30
Q
Define:
Sensitization
A
- The increase in behavioural effects following repeated administration of a drug [inverse of tolerance].
- Sensitization can occur even following a single dose.
31
Q
Factors that Influence Sensitization?
A
- Clear impact on the motivational/reward system in our brain.
- Hyperactivity in DA systems in the brain are responsible for sensitization.
- Thought to be strictly driven by the nucleau accumbens.
32
Q
Define:
Nocebo Effect
A
- When negative expectations cause negative effects/outcomes.
33
Q
Define:
Novel Environments
A
- Drugs administered in new settings has been shown to increase locomotion and induce faster sensitization in rodents.
34
Q
Brain Imaging?
A
- Allows researchers to see relative changes in the brain in response to drug use/abuse.
1. Structural Imaging Techniques: - MRI
2. Functional Imaging Techniques: - FMRI
- PET
35
Q
MRI?
A
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
- A bunch of water in our body, basically putting people into a machine, polarized all the molecules, moves them, the machine measures how long it takes for the molecules to shift back into place.
36
Q
FMRI
A
- There is increased oxygen in brain regions that are more active.
- Measures the relative amount of oxygenated to deoxygenated blood.
- BOLD is the measurement used.
- More active = more oxygenated blood, less active = ratio is smaller.
37
Q
PET
A
- Measures the concentration of a radioactive tracer inserted to the bloodstream, roughly 30 minutes before the test.
- It is a direct measure of brain metabolism bu an indirect measure of brain function.
38
Q
FMRI & PET
A
- Both measure metabolic activity that is then correlated with neuronal activity.
- Work on the assumption that th ebrain regions that are active require more blood flow and oxygen.
- Brain is always active, making these difficult.
- It is hard to correlate function to what is actually going onn with these scans.
39
Q
What was the Fillmore and Vogel-Sprott Experiment?
A
- 3 groups of participants were given a cup of coffee before being tested on a psychomotor peformance task.
- Group 1 = told it would inhance, group 2 = slow, group 3 = told nothing.
- Were all actually given decafe, and each group’s performance matched what they were told.
- Placebo effect.
40
Q
Define:
Balanced Placebo Design
A
- Developed in mid 1970s.
- Gold standard for research with humans in which participants’ expectations could influence the results.
- Four groups:
1. Placebo, not aware.
2. Placebo, is aware.
3. Drug, aware.
4. Drug, not aware.
41
Q
Define:
Nonexperimental Research
A
- Looks for a correlational relationship between two measured events.
42
Q
Define:
Uncondition Behaviour
A
- Spontaneou Motor Activity [SMA].
43
Q
Define:
Analgesia
A
- The ability of a drug to block pain.
44
Q
Define:
Paw Lick Latency Test
A
- Rats are placed on a metal surface that is heated.
- First they do not react, but after a few seconds raise one of their hind paws to their mouth as though they were licking it.
45
Q
Define:
Classical Conditioning
A
- A learning process that occurs when two stimulu are repeatedly paired.
- Uncoditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, conditioned response.
46
Q
Define:
Operant Conditioning
A
- A method of learning that involves rewards and punishment to modify behavior.
- ie. Skinner Box.
47
Q
Define:
Avoidance-Escape Task
A
- Occurence of a behaviour that terminiates the aversive stimulus, avoidning it.
- ie. two compartments, one shocks, rat learnes to go to the other after being shocked in the first.
48
Q
Drugs as Disciminative Stimuli
A
- Dissociation / state-dependent learning.
- Events experienced in a drugged state might not have the ability to control behaviour when in a nondrugged state, and vice versa.
49
Q
Define:
Abuse Liability
A
- The reinforcing property of a drug that is an indiction of its potential for abuse.
50
Q
Define:
Drug Discrimination Paradigm
A
- It has been demonstrated that most drugs that act on the CNS have discriminative stimulus properties.
51
Q
Define:
Active vs. Inactive Drugs
A
- Active: drug reinforcer.
- Inactive: nondrug or saline.
52
Q
Define:
Progressive Ratio Schedule of Reinforcement
A
- The subject is required to work for a drug infusion on an FR schedule that becomes increasinly more demaning.
53
Q
What is Drug State Discrimination?
A
- Usually, the individual undergoes multiple instances of exposure to a drug and a placebo, either through a pill or injection. In each trial, they are informed they are receiving either condition A or B, then exposed to unidentified instances of each condition and asked to identify whether it is A or B.
54
Q
Define:
Absolute Threshold
A
- Refers to the lowest value of a stimulus that can be detected by a sense organ. It is a measure of the absolute sensititivty of the sense organ.
55
Q
Define:
Difference Threshold
A
- Measures of the ability of a sense organ to detect a change in level or locus of stimulation.
- If threshold increase = intensity of stimulus increased. A lowering = sense has become more sensitive.
56
Q
Simple vs. Complex Reaction Time Tests?
A
- Simple: the participant must make a response after a noise/light is activated.
- Complex: there are several possible responses and several different signals associated with each.
- They are both used to measure motor performance.
57
Q
Define:
Mithridatism
A
- An effect named after King Mithridates, now known as tolerance.
58
Q
Define:
Homeostasis
A
- The tendency of the human body to seek balance, equilibrium, and stability.
- Tolerance is a result of this.
59
Q
Define:
Cross Dependence
A
- Withdrawal can be halted almost instantly by giving the drug that has been stopped, or by giving another drug of the same family.
60
Q
Define:
Cross Sensitization
A
- Hyper-reponsiveness to one psychostimulant after pre-exposure to a different psychostimulant.
- ie. morphine = increased behavioural actionwith cocaine.
61
Q
What is the Nigrostriatal Dopamine Pathway?
A
- A component of the brain’s motivational circuitry.
- Hyperactivty here may be responsible for the sensitization of sterotypic behaviors that emerge with excessive. long-term drug administration.
62
Q
Define:
Expectation Mechanism
A
- A top-down pain relieving pathway from the cortex to a pain control center in the blower brain that is capable of blocking pain.
