drug addiction

Question 1

what is addiction

Answer 1

a psychic and sometimes physical state- tolerance may or may not be present

Question 2

tolerance def

Answer 2

the more you take it the less sensitive you become to it.
you need more to elicit the same effects
- alcohol
- heroin

Question 3

withdrawal def

Answer 3

negative physical symptoms after the use of a drug

Question 4

sensitization def

Answer 4

the opposite of tolerance.
you need less each time to elicit an effect
- cocaine
- amphetamine
due to winding of the neural systems.
-> leads to psychosis.
-> get sensitised to the pleasurable effects so you want to take more and more.

Question 5

drug administration

Answer 5

ingestion, 
injection (bypasses the digestive tract) 
- Subcutaneously SC- under the skin 
- IM intramuscularly
- IV 
inhalation 
Absorbtion through mucous membranes

Question 6

behavioural aspects of addiction- conditioned place preference

Answer 6

if a rat repeatedly receives a drug in a distinct environment it will spend most of its time there.

Question 7

intra- cranial self stimulation in rats

Answer 7

self stimulation either into an area of its brain or in general circulation
- parts of the brain in pleasure and reward

Question 8

self administration paradigm

Answer 8

• cocaine
• amphetamine
• nicotine and canabis (training)

Question 9

why do we take them

Answer 9

drugs high jack brains reward system - the dopamine system.

Dopamine is activated by most drugs of abuse,- rewards.

Question 10

the dopaminergic system

Answer 10

substantia nigra, striatum- nucleus acumbuns, basal ganglia, limbic system, ventral tegmental area.

Question 11

cocaine and amphetamine act on

Answer 11

dopamine- by blocking the reuptake transporter.

Question 12

caffeine

Answer 12

acts on adensaine

Question 13

cannabis

Answer 13

dopamine.

Question 14

alcohol

Answer 14

in small doses increases dopamine
but in large doses decreases dopamine.

acts on GABA- potentiates its action.

Question 15

nicotine

Answer 15

acetylcholine agonists - cholinergic PPN and brain. Attention.

releases dopamine by binding to receptors.

Question 16

philllips et al., (2003)

Answer 16

watch dopamine go up and down as the rat presses the lever for cocaine
also activated by a light - dopamine involved in learning and reward.

Question 17

sensitisation in DA systems

Answer 17

Repeated cocaine exposure facilitates LTP induction in VTA dopamine neurons

Question 18

genes?

Answer 18

Some evidence suggests that addiction could be highly heritable- but could just be environment
Asp40/ Asn40 two forms of opiod receptor.
Alcohol addiction can be treated by administering nelextrone but only in people with Asn40 receptor.