Most SUD symptoms involve compulsivity. Which three symptoms do not?
Tolerance, withdrawals, craving
How many symptoms does one need to report in order to be considered ‘severe’ as a SUD patient?
6 symptoms or more
What is the main characteristic of psychedelics?
Altered consciousness and perception of the world
Out of all the historical models of addiction, which one is the dominant model now?
Brain Disease Model
What is the main premise of the disease model of addiction (1940-1960)?
Addicts have fundamentally different biological and psychological characteristics; moderation is impossible for them. Abstinence is only option.
What is the main premise of the symptomatic model of addiction (1930-1950)?
Addiction is a symptom of neurotic characters or personality disorders. Warrants insight-focused psychotherapy.
What is the main premise of the pharmacological model of addiction (1930-1950)?
It’s all the substance’s fault. Led to prohibition movements.
A big percentage of addicts who undergo treatment relapse. What are three common triggers for relapse?
- Pre-existing mental health or emotional challenges
- Return of a cue associated with substance use
- Stressful events/circumstances
What two phenomena are at the core of compulsivity, according to the Brain Disease Model?
Hyperreactive reward system and cognitive dysfunction.
What does Leshner say in his 1997 paper about current policies against substance abuse?
They are outadted and focused on the incorrect idea that the worse the withdrawals, the more severe the addiction is.
What are arguments in favor of the Brain Disease Model?
- Substances affect dopamine pathways.
- SUD is linked to altered function and gray matter volume in top-down control regions.
- Brain changes are persistent and long-term.
- Stigmatization and blame on the addict are reduced.
What are arguments against the Brain Disease Model?
- Some brain functions do recover.
- Neuroimaging studies are just correlational.
- Genetic predisposition is not enough to explain compulsion.
- Stigmatization is not reduced through this model according to some studies, it even increases.
- Strong will plays a role in addiction recovery, contrary to recovery from physical disease.
- Addicts are not helpless victims, their choices affect their addiction’s development and recovery.
Does the homeostatic account suggest that low D2 receptor density is a cause or a consequence of substance abuse?
A consequence; it implies the brain downregulates dopamine activity as a response to the chronic hyperactivity of dopamine caused by drug abuse.
What is the main premise of the Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS) account?
Those with chronic dopamine deficiency have lower reward sensitivity. They might reach for stimuli such as drugs to achieve dopamine release, making them more vulnerable to addiction.
What is a common finding in cue reactivity studies about drug-related cues?
There’s an increased activation of the NAcc when shown cue-related images, as opposed to neutral images.
What is a common finding in single cell recording studies involving cues that predict the administration of rewards?
Drug rewards lead to a higher dopamine release. Their predictive cues lead to a dopamine release even in absence of the reward, and this effect is greater for drug rewards than for food rewards.
What does the temporal difference account entail?
As the dopamine response to the CS for a drug reward is stronger, drug-related cues continue to be reinforced to pathological levels
The incentive salience of drug stimuli can be recognized in four ways. What are these ways?
As a motivational magnet, a reinforcer, through reinstatement and through wanting (willingness to work)
There are three types of reinstatement of the drug-seeking response. What are they?
Prime-induced reinstatement. Cue-induced reinstatement. Stress-induced reinstatement.
What finding evidences the role of the mesolimbic pathway in reinstatement?
Manipulation of the VTA and NAcc can prevent reinstatement.
