Lecture 10- Addiction Flashcards
Give me examples of Psychotropic Substances?
1) Alcohol
2) Cannabinoids
3) Sedatives
4) Cocaine
5) caffeine
6) Tobacco
What are the effect of alcohol?
Increases
1) Sociability
2) Self-confidence
3) Mood
4) Relaxing
Decreases
1) distance to painful memories
What are the effects of cannabinoids?
increases
1) Creativity
2) Well being
3) Calmness
4) Mood
5) Relaxation
6) Empathy
What are the effect of tobacco?
Increases
1) Attention
2) Psychomotor performance
3) tolerance to stress
4) Mood
5) Relaxation
Decreases
1) Aggression
2) Nervousness
3) Fear
4) Depression
What drives Psychoactive drug consumption?
1) Genetics
2) Impulsivity
3) Mental disorders
4) bad-decisions making
5) Environment
What is the clinical definition of addiction?
A maladaptive pattern of substance use, leading to significant impairment or distress manifested by 3 or more symptoms within a 12 month period
1) Withdrawal symptoms
2) Tolerance
3) strong desire to take substance
What is the hierarchy of substance use disorders?
1) Substance dependence
2) Harmful substance use
3) Hazardous use
4) Low-risk use
5) Non-user
Name the theories of addiction?
opponent process theory of motivation
Incentive-sensitization model
What is the opponent process theory of motivation?
Two opposing processes
1) A effect of substance building tolerance, tolerance increases, so need more to feel the effect
2) B= withdrawal, this increases as addiction develops
3) Repeated use changes allostatic state
What does the Incentive-sensitization model suggest about addiction?
1) Wanting does not mean liking
2) wanting= process transforming perception by increasing attractiveness of substance
3) Liking decreases
4) Individuals becomes more hyper sensitise upon regular substance use
What is the circuit of addiction?
1) Rewards-associated behaviour relies on the interplay between reward, motivation, and money-related networks
2) Non-addicted brain control is sufficient to inhibit certain behaviour
3) Addicted-brain enhances the value of the drug in reward, memory, and motivation overcomes inhibitory control
What is the Mesocorticolimbic pathway?
main circuit for reward and addiction
What are the four main areas of the Mesocorticolimbic pathway?
1) Ventral tegmental area (VTA)- reward regulation
2) Nucleus accumbens: reward-action interface
3) Amygdala- emotional regulation
4) Prefrontal lobe- executive control
What impact does substance abuse have on hormones?
1) substances change excitatory (Dopamine) & inhibitory (GABA neurones) activity in the VTA
Name the three stages of the addiction cycle
1) Binge/ Intoxication
2) Withdrawal/ negative effect
3) Preoccupation/ anticipation
Describe what happens in stage one of the addiction style
Binge
1) positive reinforcement by substance
2) Reward mediated dopamine
3) Associative learning of context cues
Describe what happens during stage 2 of the addiction cycle
Withdrawal
1) Negative emotional state induces stress and anxiety
2) Decrease in endogenous opioids
3) Negative reinforcement- substance seeking to avoid withdrawal
Describe what happens during stage three of the addiction cycle
Preoccupation
1) high vulnerability to relapse after prolonged abstinence ‘
2) Drug associated cues can elicit cravings
3) Disrupted PFC function (loos of control)
What is the central neurotransmitter of addiction?
Dopamine
How does addiction emerge?
Mesocorticolimbic circuit for reward
How does substance use affect dopamine?
1) Causes slight increase in dopamine levels (measured with PET)
What is the difference in dopamine release between biological stimuli and substances?
1) substances elicit stronger and longer dopamine release than natural rewards
How is dopamine release measured?
availability of the dopamine receptors
lower availability = higher dopamine release
How does chronic use of substances affect dopamine release?
dopamine receptors do not decrease in receptors so dopamine release decreases
What is prediction error?
when individual is exposed to a stimulus but no reward occurs
DA neurones show inhibited activity
What is the importance of prediction error?
1) crucial for learning and adaptation of behaviour
2) substance boost dopamine regardless of anticipation
Describe the study for when addicts motivation when given a different award
1) ppts asked to indicate their motivation for a reward (Money vs Cigs)
2) occasional (OS) vs dependent smokers (DS)
OS shows more motivation for money while DS show no difference in motivation for either reward
What structural changes does chronic addiction cause to the brain?
1) Brain atrophy- reduction of brain volume in PFC, Hippocampus, amygdala, cerebellum, only partly visible
2) heavy drinkers are more at risk of brain shrinkage
What is delay discounting?
1) a gradual reduction in the subjective value of a reward as the delay to its delivery increase
2) choice between immediate vs larger delayed reward
What is goal-directed control?
deliberate regulation of behaviour
- resisting to stay out late
- linked to compulsivity
What does the incentive theory suggest about attentional bias?
1) drug related stimuli become salient
2) visual dot probe test found a slow reaction in smokers, as attention was drawn to the addiction related stimuli
How is approach bias shown in alcoholics?
1)alcohol-dependent subjects show stronger approach tendencies to alcohol cues
2) approach tendency correlates with cravings
What is olfactory aversive conditioning?
Unpleasant odours combined with cig odour vs clean air during sleep
