L1 - BASIC CONCEPTS

Question 1

List the six drug of abuse classes.

Answer 1

CNS Depressants
CNS Stimulants (Psychostimulants)
Opiates
Cannabinoids
Hallucinogens
Inhalants

Question 2

In what drug class does fit cocaine?

Answer 2

CNS Stimulants (Psychostimulants)

Question 3

In what drug class does fit MDMA?

Answer 3

Hallucinogens

Question 4

What are the three most consumed substances of abused worldwide?

Answer 4

1. Alcohol
2. Tobacco (nicotine)
3. Cannabis

Question 5

What are the four types of cost of substance abuse?

Answer 5

Medical (death and illness)
Social (homelessness and violence)
Economic (loss of productivity)
Legal (prosecution)

Question 6

What is the keyword in the definition of addiction that differentiates it from dependance?

Answer 6

COMPULSIVE desire

Question 7

What are the three components of the Addiction Cycle?

Answer 7

Intoxication -> Withdrawal ->Anticipation

Question 8

True or false: addiction does not change brain anatomy or chemistry.

Answer 8

False.

Question 9

What is the neurobiology criteria to classify a drug as addictive?

Answer 9

Increase in dopamine release in rewarding brain regions.

Question 10

What is a capture rate?

Answer 10

Risk for becoming addicted.

Question 11

In the rewarding brain regions, to what neuroadaptation does lead chronic use of an addictive drug? How does this modification affect the experience of pleasure?

Answer 11

D2 receptors are downregulated, so dopamine effects are minimized. This results in a loss of pleasure.

Question 12

Regarding substances of abuse, what are the dopamine cells of a patient diagnosed with a substance use disorder firing to?

Answer 12

Anticipation of drug-associated reward.

Question 13

True or false: the physical withdrawal is the same for any substance of abuse.

Answer 13

False: drug specific.

Question 14

True or false: over the timeline of withdrawal, syndromes tend to shift from being physical to psychological.

Answer 14

True.

Question 15

What area of the brain is responsible for mediating withdrawal responses?

Answer 15

The extended amygdala.

Question 16

What is the primordial factor for relapse?

Answer 16

Withdrawal syndrome.

Question 17

After how much time after the last “fix” is the opiate physical withdrawal at the peak?

Answer 17

72 hours.

Question 18

To what cognitive impairment does lead chronic substance use that makes it even harder to resist drug-related “cues”?

Answer 18

Hypofunctioning of the PFC, making it hard to manage the cravings (loss of inhibitory control).

Question 19

What is the drug-seeking phase (anticipation) often triggering by?

Answer 19

Drug-related “cues”.

Question 20

In relation to abnormalities in the PFC regions due to chronic substance use, what does IRISA stand for? What does this model support?

Answer 20

Impairments in Response Inhibition and Salience Attribution. This model proposes that impairments of the PFC due to substance use gives rise to an incentive salience for drugs (hypersensitivity to drug-related cues and less value assigned to other types of reward) + poor response inhibition.

Question 21

What is drug dependence defined by?

Answer 21

The psychological and physical symptoms caused by the physiological changes in response to drug abuse.

Question 22

When did SUD appear as a diagnostic in the DSM?

Answer 22

In the last version, the DSM-5 released in 2013.

Question 23

True or false: in the DSM criteria for SUD, quantity of drug consumed is a criterion.

Answer 23

False.

Question 24

What new criteria appeared in the DSM-5 for SUD?

Answer 24

Craving.

Question 25

What is the most prevalent SUD?

Answer 25

Alcohol.

Question 26

In Canada, how has the prevalence for SUD been varying over the last years?

Answer 26

Constantly increasing.

Question 27

List 5 risk factors for substance use.

Answer 27

Genetics (and family history)
Age (adolescents have their brain wired for experimenting as seeking risks)
Personality traits
Environment
Comorbidity

Question 28

During adolescence, what major consequence can chronic substance use lead to?

Answer 28

Delay in brain development (can be recovered by abstinence).