Neurobiology of Addiction

Question 1

What is the ICD-10 criteria of dependence?

Answer 1

A strong desire to take the substance

Difficulties in controlling substance use

a physiological withdrawal state

tolerance

neglect of alternative pleasures

persistence despite evidence of harm

Question 2

What does dopaminergic activity in the mesolithic pathway lead to?

Answer 2

motivation
incentivises behaviour

involved in normal pleasurable experiences

Question 3

What effects do dopamine antagonists have on the mesolimbic pathway?

Answer 3

blocks it

Question 4

A tolerance to reward develops in behavioural addictions e.g. gambling - T/F?

Answer 4

True

Question 5

What causes a tolerance to reward?

Answer 5

repeated dopamine release - dopamine receptors down-regulate

threshold for rewards is thus increased

normal pleasurable experiences don’t evoke adequate reward response

Question 6

What is the orbit-frontal cortex involved in in addiction?

Answer 6

motivation to act

increased activation when presented with drug cues

Question 7

How does the pre-frontal cortex function in addiction?

Answer 7

modulated the powerful effects of the reward pathway

makes sound decisions

keeps emotional impulses under control

Question 8

What effects do addictive drugs have on the pre-frontal cortex?

Answer 8

effects ability to set new goals

effects ability to avoid compulsive repetition of behaviour

Question 9

How does age of rug experimentation correlate with length of drug relationship?

Answer 9

younger the experimentation age, the longer the relationship

Question 10

What kind of learning is the striatum involved in?

Answer 10

habit learning

Question 11

Which neurotransmitter is released in the neural reward pathway in response to acute stress?

Answer 11

dopamine

Question 12

What happens to our reward pathway with overstimulation?

Answer 12

desensitisation

Question 13

which part of the brain is dysfunctional in addicted people?

Answer 13

pre-frontal cortex