L12 - Biological basis of reward and addiction

Question 1

What are the common addictive drugs?

Answer 1

Amphetamine
cocaine
morphine
heroin
nicotine
LSD
phencyclidine
cannabis
ecstasy
alcohol

Question 2

Why are many drugs addictive?

Answer 2

increase levels of dopamine in the synapse

Question 3

what are the 3 categories of effects of addictive drugs?

Answer 3

Stimulants: Increase alertness and energy (e.g., amphetamine, cocaine).

Depressants: Decrease arousal and anxiety (e.g., morphine, heroin, alcohol).

Hallucinogens: Alter perception and cognition (e.g., LSD, phencyclidine).

Question 4

What’s the role of dopamine?

Answer 4

All addictive drugs increase dopamine release in the nucleus

dopamine release is increased during natural rewards e.g., food + water

Question 5

What’s electrical self-stimulation?

Answer 5

animals will wrk to receive electrical stimulation. of the mesolimbic pathway, indicating its role i reward

Question 6

What are the 4 stages of addiciton?

Answer 6

Initiation: First drug use, usually driven by pleasure.

Maintenance: Compulsive drug use driven by a need, not necessarily pleasure.

Abstinence: Absence of drug use, though the drive may persist.

Relapse: Reinstatement of drug use driven by craving.

Question 7

What are the 2 concepts of addiction?

Answer 7

Hedonic Impact (the ‘hit’): Initial pleasure from drug use, often decreases with tolerance.

Compulsion: Drug-seeking behavior increases, often to the detriment of other vital behaviors.

Question 8

what’s tolerance?

Answer 8

Decreased effect of a drug over repeated use, requiring higher doses

Question 9

what’s sensitisation?

Answer 9

Increased effect of a drug over repeated use, especially on motivational aspects.

Question 10

What are the 2 components of the incentive sensitisation model?

Answer 10

Hedonic Impact (‘Liking’): Pleasure from the drug, which diminishes over time.

Motivation (‘Wanting’): Compulsion to take the drug, which increases over time.

Question 11

What are the 2 pharmacological treatments for addiction

Answer 11

Detoxification: Gradually reducing the drug dose.

Agonist Therapy: Using similar but less harmful drugs (e.g., methadone for heroin, nicotine patches).

Antagonist Therapy: Drugs that prevent or change the effect of the addictive substance (e.g., disulfiram for alcohol, naloxone for opioids).

Question 12

Key points

Answer 12

Pharmacological treatments alone are rarely effective.

Motivation to abstain is crucial for the success of any treatment.

Dopamine systems are critically involved in addiction, especially the mesolimbic pathway.