neurochemical expo of nicotine addiction Flashcards
strength:produced real-life applications.
E – These applications include drug treatments for addiction. For example, the drug varenicline has been shown to be three times more effective in helping people quit than placebo treatments.
E – The effectiveness of drug treatments, like varenicline, for treating nicotine addiction demonstrate that the neurochemical explanation has been of practical use to society. This is because without an understanding of the neurochemistry of nicotine addiction, it would not have been possible to develop drug treatments, like varenicline, to treat the addiction.
L – Therefore, the effectiveness of drug treatments for nicotine addiction provides support the utility and validity of the neurochemical explanation for nicotine addiction.
strength:There is supporting research
E – McEvoy (1995) studied 10 schizophrenic smokers in a controlled setting and found they smoked more after being treated with the antipsychotic haloperidol, a dopamine antagonist that blocks dopamine receptors in the brain’s reward pathway (see diagram below).
E – This finding supports the neurochemical explanation because it aligns with how nicotine’s addictive effects rely on its ability to stimulate dopamine activity in the reward pathway. Since haloperidol leads to a reduction of dopamine activity in the reward pathway, schizophrenic smokers may feel a reduction in the level of reward from smoking and, like long-term smokers who develop tolerance, increase their nicotine intake to achieve the same effect. However, this evidence is limited due to issues with this study’s population validity. The study’s small sample of 10 patients with schizophrenia may not represent the broader population of smokers with schizophrenia or
nicotine users without this diagnosis. Thus, we should be cautious in generalizing these findings to all nicotine users.
L Therefore, this demonstrates the explanatory power of the neurochemical explanation for nicotine addiction. The fact that it can explain different types of smoking behaviour suggests it is a valid explanation.
