What makes you more vulnerable to addiction? (4 things)
- age under 25
- underlying conditions
- high pressure jobs
- high-stress environments
- decreases levels of dopamine & serotonin
- belongs to amphetamine class of drugs
MDMA/Ecstasy
- varies between different receptors
- an attraction to a receptor
affinity
- was a controversial study
- showed less brain activity in drug users and those recovering
cocaine w PET scan
- direct agonist to dopamine
- use causes permanent changes
cocaine
- powerful class of drugs
amphetamine
- led to participants committing suicide
- permanent decrease in serotonin levels
Ecstasy study
- process of forming neuronal tolerance
- plugs the receptor making it non-functional
“capping” a receptor
- decrease in # of available receptors
- must take more drug for the same effect
tolerance
- super high levels of activity
color white on the pet scans indicated
- is aversive
- goal pathway neurons fire
motivation
- pleasure neurotransmitter
dopamine
- involved in pleasure, learning, reward
- series of projections from the VTA to other areas of the brain
mesocoricolimbic dopamine pathway
- is stimulated by the VTA
- is the area where dopamine is released
nucleus accumbens
- is considered a “reward center”
- is connected to the hippocampus, cortex, nucleus accumbens
Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA)
The nicotine patch is 45% successful
false (25%)
- activate mesolimbic dopamine pathway/nucleus accumbens
- produce dependency
- produce neuronal tolerance
To be addictive something must:
- can cause changes in other body tissues
- drug is taken to minimize withdrawal symptoms
dependency
- Does not cause long-term changes in brain
- does not activate nucleus accumbens
Why isn’t nicotine addictive?
- partially antagonizes brain
second hand smoke exposure
- binds to nicotinic receptors
- released by cholinergic neurons
acetylcholine
The nucleus accumbens does neurogenesis
false
