Week 4 Flashcards

1
Q

Is there a single, universally accepted definition of addiction?

A

no

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2
Q

What did Eric Nestler define drug addiction as?

A

The compulsive seeking and administration fo a drug despite consequences

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3
Q

What did Volkow, Koob and McLellan describe addiction as

A

the most severe, chronic stage of substance use disorder, loss of self control

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4
Q

What does the national institute for drug abuse define addiction as?

A

chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterised by compulsive drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences.

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5
Q

Who came up with the perspective that addiction was a brain disease?

A

Alan Leshnew, director of NIDA

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6
Q

Instead of addiction, what do these types of disorder come under in the DSM-5?

A
  1. substance use disorders

2. substance induced disorders

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7
Q

What are substance use disorders according to the DSM-5?

A

a cluster of cognitive, behavioural and physiological symptoms and continued use of substance.

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8
Q

What are substance induced disorders according to the DSM - 5?

A

substance intoxication, withdrawal and other substance/medication induced mental disorders.

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9
Q

How many symptoms indicate either a mild, moderate or severe substance use disorder?

A
  1. 2-3
  2. 4-5
  3. 6 or more
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10
Q

What is tolerance in addiction?

A

Need for increased amounts of substance to achieve desired effect

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11
Q

How does the addiction cycle usually begin?

A

Positive reinforcement models suggest that the pleasurable effects of using a drug reinforce initial drug use.
Negative reinforcement explains that initial drug use is due to escaping emotional distress.

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12
Q

Over time, the rewarding effects of drug use are reduced and compulsive drug taking behaviour results from a need to achieve a state of homeostatis i.e., for the individual to feel normal or to alleviate pain. What type of reinforcement is involved here?

A

Negative reinforcement.

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13
Q

Addiction shares features of both ____ and ____ disorders.

A

impulsive and compulsive

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14
Q

What did George Koob propose in regard to addiction?

A

There is a shift from impulsive to a compulsive disorder as there is a shift from positive to negative reinforcement driving drug seeking behaviour.

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15
Q

The concept of reward pathways is controversial. Why is this?

A

Has the brain really evolved to express dedicated neural systems specifically devoted to encoding reward or pleasure? Maybe the brain has systems that subserve motivated behaviour, which drugs compromise.

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16
Q

Dopamine is released when we experience what?

A

Food, sex, drugs.

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17
Q

When exactly is dopamine released?

A

BEFORE a pleasurable activity.

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18
Q

What other pathways which research has implicated in addiction?

A

the mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways.

19
Q

Studies demonstrated that rats quickly learned to press a lever fo self administer intravenous injections of cocaine and other addictive drugs and would do so despite:

A

Grave consequences.

e.g., would sacrifice drink or food, abandon their newborn pups.

20
Q

Lesioning the dopamine system at the level of the nucleus accumbens does what regarding the acquisition of cocaine?

A

prevents it - suggesting that dopamine mediates, at least in part, the reinforcing effects of these two drugs.

21
Q

Drug addiction is often characterised by anhedonia. What does this mean?

A

Failure to experience rewarding stimuli.

22
Q

What has other research potentially implicated in drug addiction?

A
  • serotonergic system
  • GABA
  • glutamate
23
Q

Exposure to addictive drugs changes the brain, both structurally and functionally. Addiction leads to enduring changes in:

A
  • synaptic plasticity
  • dendritic size and spines
  • changes in white and gray matter
  • up/down regulation of receptors
  • changes in intracellular signalling pathways
24
Q

Which two receptors have been shown to be involved in long term potentiation?

A

NMDA and AMPA

25
Q

Cocaine exposure has been found to result in ____ long term potentiation in the ventral tegmental area, lasting for days to months after cessation of treatment.

A

increased

26
Q

What is drug sensitisaion?

A

enhanced response of the drug that is observed following repeated exposure (reversed tolerance)

27
Q

Sensitisation ___ excitability of dopamine neurons.

A

enhances

28
Q

What effect did amphetamine have on dendrites?

A

Increased the size and number of spines

29
Q

What did Juan’s research indicate regarding which area of the brain becomes hyper excitable following chronic amphetamine exposure?

A

nucleus accumbens

30
Q

What was found in the shape of the dendrites in a study with rats self administering cocaine, located in the prefrontal cortex?

A

They were misshapen, with large, bulbous structures at their tips.

31
Q

What has been found in gray matter in substance use disorders?

A

Gray matter volume reductions. Drug craving is negatively associated with gray matter volume in multiple brain regions.

32
Q

White matter refers to tracks of myelinated axons. What has been found in those individuals with substance use?

A

loss of cerebral white matter

33
Q

What is substance use related to in regard to dopamine receptors?

A

decreased density of postsynaptic dopamine receptors.

34
Q

Reduction in what receptor function is an important feature in addiction?

A

Dopamine D2 receptor

35
Q

Repeated drug exposure makes neurons adapt over time. These cellular changes are believed to be responsible for:

A
  • tolerance
  • addiction
  • withdrawal
36
Q

An increase in phosphorylated CREB correlates with what?

A

diminished sensitivity to drug induced reward.

37
Q

Contrary to CREB, over-expression of ΔFosB

A

increases sensitivity to the rewarding and reinforcing effects of stimulants

38
Q

Dopamine antagonist does what?

A

binds and blocks the D2 receptor

39
Q

What competes with dopamine for binding in the brain?

A

raclopride. Therefore, high dopamine lads to low raclopride binding and vice versa.

40
Q

Cocaine abusers showed ___ dopamine increases and reported reduced rewarding effects of methylphenidate

A

decreased

41
Q

What does decreased dopamine in the brain lead to?

A
  • depressive like symptoms (hypodoraminergia)
  • anhedonia
  • decreased activation of prefrontal cortex
42
Q

Decreased dopamine has been shown to be associated with:

A

increased preference for drugs

43
Q

One study showed that impulsive rats (who had less dopamine):

A

struggled to inhibit getting the drug