T2 - Drug Tolerance Flashcards
Other than physical dependence what is addiction also about?
Learning derived from experience of taking the drug:
- learning that withdrawal can be escaped by taking the drug
- learning that taking the drug gives you a high
Homeostasis
When an organism regulates its physiological state to keep within normal range
- Reduces changes imposed by the env
- Maintains relative stability
Solomon: Opponent Process
A process - response directly produced by external stimulus
B process: compensatory response to the A process
Drug use leads to:
Tolerance - drug becomes less affective
Withdrawal: response after cessation of drug usually with opposite physiological characteristics
What happens each time use takes drug during B state?
It worsens - leading to increased tolerance and worse withdrawal
How does the user learnt to escape withdrawal?
Using the drug more, short term fix
Effect of cues associated with drug effect
Can serve as CSs to turn on the B-process as a conditioned response
What happens when cues present but drug absent?
CSs associated with the drug produce B state (withdrawal syndrome), and drive to take drug.
What happens if cues absent when drug present?
Reduced tolerance, potentially dangerous because tolerance usually motivates user to increase the dosage
Siegel and Elsworth experiment
Cancer patient given regular morphine injections, with a gradual increase of dosage
Always in dimly lit bedroom
Fatal dosage delivered in brightly lit living room
Siegel et al
Rats given dosage, different context more died than same context
2 lines of thought of drug use
Negative reinforcement vs incentive motivation
Drugs inspire associated cues with powerful incentive value
- make cues salient
- cues become desirable in their own right (act as powerful secondary reinforcers)
- Cues elicit conditioned motivation state that engages reward seeking and boosts ongoing actions for drug.
Individual differences in sensitivity to conditioned incentive values of CSs
Related to addiction vulnerability
