Drug and Addiction

Question 1

What happens if there is no reuptake?

Answer 1

You have a lingering effect of that neurotransmitter in the synapse
Depending in the neurotransmitter, this could have various effects

Question 2

What is a drug?

Answer 2

Chemical or mixture of chemicals that alters physiological functions, structure and behaviour

Question 3

What are psychoactive drugs?

Answer 3

give rise to feelings of euphoria and altered perceptions

Question 4

What are the 4 categories of psychoactive drugs?

Answer 4

Depressants
Stimulants
Opiates
Hallucinogens

Question 5

What are depressants?

Answer 5

Slow activity in the central and peripheral NS

Question 6

What are stimulants?

Answer 6

Speed activity in the central and peripheral NS

Question 7

What are opiates?

Answer 7

Powerful painkillers that also provide feelings of extreme well-being , pleasure and calm

Question 8

What are hallucinogens?

Answer 8

Alter perceptions to the point of creating hallucinations

Question 9

What is euphoria?

Answer 9

An enhanced sense of pleasure, excitement and well-being

Question 10

What are antagonists?

Answer 10

Drugs that bind to the same receptors as naturally occuring brain chemicals to block their action

Question 11

What are agonists?

Answer 11

Drugs that bind to receptors to mimic the effects of the neurotransmitters that naturally bind to it

Question 12

What are inverse agonists?

Answer 12

Drugs that bind to neurotransmitter receptors but have the opposite effect of the neurotransmitter

Question 13

What are reuptake inhibitors?

Answer 13

Drugs that inhibit the reuptake of a neurotransmitter by the neuron that released it

Question 14

What is drug abuse?

Answer 14

Use of drugs in ways that cause physical and/or physiological harm to themselves or to others who are affected by their behaviour

Question 15

What is drug tolerance?

Answer 15

the phenomenon by which a person needs to take increasingly large amounts of a drug to have the same effect

Question 16

What are the 3 types of tolerance?

Answer 16

Dispositional, behavioural, and functional

Question 17

What is dispositional tolerance?

Answer 17

Occurs when the body becomes progressively better at breaking down and eliminating a drug

Question 18

What is behavioural tolerance?

Answer 18

Occurs when a person has learned to compensate for drug effects

Question 19

What is functional tolerance?

Answer 19

When neurons become progressively adjusted to the effects of a drug (also known as the cell-adaptation theory)

Question 20

What are withdrawal symptoms?

Answer 20

Occurs with the cessation of drug use once the nervous system has adjusted to the drug’s presence, may include nausea, headaches, weakness and anxiety

Question 21

What is the 1st phase of the circuit of addiction?

Answer 21

Positive reinforcement: pleasureable outcomes makes it more likely that the activity will be repeated (getting high on the drug)

Question 22

What is the 2nd phase of the circuit of addiction?

Answer 22

Negative reinforcement: Withdrawal effect, when a behaviour removes unwanted outcome, it increases the probability to be repeated

Question 23

What is the 3rd stage of the circuit of addiction?

Answer 23

Preoccupation: constant state of seeking for drug and intense cravings

Question 24

What is the insensive salience theory?

Answer 24

Theory that suggests that “wanting” and “liking” are at the core of drug addiction instead of the activation of dopamine pathways

Question 25

What is "wanting"?

Answer 25

Drug-seeking behaviours and strong cravings in addicted people when they are exposed to environmental cues signaling drug consumption Associated with the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system

Question 26

What is "liking"?

Answer 26

Pleasureable sensations experienced when taking the drug | Associated with "hedonic hotspots" in the brain

Question 27

What is the relationship between "wanting" and "linking"?

Answer 27

As wanting grows, liking decreases

Question 28

What is the conditioned place-preference (CDP) paradigm?

Answer 28

Animal injected with saline in one room and with drug in another, then given the choice of rooms; will prefer the drug room over the saline room

Question 29

What is the self-administration paradigm?

Answer 29

Animals are taught how to administer themselves a drug

Question 30

What kind of drug is nicotine? How does it act on the brain?

Answer 30

It is a stimulant Binds to nicotinic receptors for acetylcholine - exist on dopamine receptors part of the reward circuit; therefore activating the circuit

Question 31

What kind of drug is alcohol? What is another name given to it?

Answer 31

It is a depressant, also called sedative hypnotic

Question 32

How does alcohol work in the brain?

Answer 32

Binds to its own receptor on CI- channels which increase the release of GABA (inhibitory) and blocks GABA on dopamine neurons (producing euphoria)

Question 33

Name other drugs that mimic the effect of alcohol on the brain (which are called hypnotics)

Answer 33

Benzodiazepines (treat anxiety), Non-Benzodiazepines (sleep medications), barbiturates (insomnia)

Question 34

What are the effects (overall) of marijuana

Answer 34

both depressant and excitatory effects, and hallucinogenic effects in high doses

Question 35

How does marijuana binds to receptors?

Answer 35

Binds to CB1 (cannabinoids receptors) and inhibit GABAergic neurons through retrograde signaling (because it stops the inhibitory effects of GABA on dopamine receptors)

Question 36

What are opioids?

Answer 36

Any drug that binds with opiate receptors | opium, morphine, codeine, heroin

Question 37

What are the effects of opioids?

Answer 37

Inhibit GABAergic neurons thus increasing rewarding effects of dopamine

Question 38

What kind of drug is cocaine?

Answer 38

Reuptake inhibitor (prevents neurons to take back dopamine, therefore more dopamine is available to bind on post synaptic neurons - making a rewarding effect)

Question 39

What causes the increase in locomotor activity (speedy effects) observed in cocaine users?

Answer 39

Increased levels of norepinephrine

Question 40

What is retrograde signaling?

Answer 40

The proces by which the activity of a neuron is regulated by chemical messenger released by its postsynaptic target neuron