Lecture 43: Addiction Flashcards
About what portion of risk for addiction is genetic?
50%
Men are more likely to use which two drugs? What are women likely to use?
Marijuana and alcohol; nonmedical use of prescription drug
How are women vulnerable to drugs of abuse? Mediated by…
Women exhibit faster onset of SUDs and medical consequences; mediated by gonadal steroids
Three cardinal features of drug addiction (according to Dr. Nestler)
Loss of control over use, compulsive seeking/taking despite consequences, relapse even for years later
What does the DSM definition for substance use disorder include?
Physical tolerance and withdrawal
According to Dr. Nester, addiction is caused by drug-induced changes in (2)
Reward or reinforcement
Animal models of addiction have demonstrated these paradigms (4)
Conditioned place preference, drug self-administration (including overdose), relapse (cue/stress), intra-cranial self-stimulation
Most important SUD NT projection in brain
VTA –> NAc (mesolimbic)
Describe the effects of reward on VTA DA neurons: what activates them (3)? What inhibits them (1)?
Reward, expectation, and (especially) unexpected reward activates neurons; absence of expected reward inhibits neurons
T/F: Drugs of abuse activate same brain reward regions as natural rewards, only not as well
False! Drugs of abuse do it better
Three events caused by drug addiction
- Reduce response to natural rewards; 2. Sensitive response to drugs of abuse and cues; 3. Impaired cortical control over reward pathway
What is the the impaired cortical control over reward pathway called? What brain region is increased?
Hypofrontality; limbic regions
Stimulants act on what brain system via which set of proteins?
Monoamine system; monoamine transporter
Cocaine blocks…
Monoamine reuptake
Amphetamines increase…
Monoamine release
