Deck 11: Psychomotor Stimulants:

Question 1

Which statement does not describe cocaine?

A) It is a psychomotor stimulant.
B) It is an alkaloid that comes from the leaves of a bush.
C) Coca chewing is no longer practiced in South America.
D) It has been used in religious and ceremonial rituals.

Answer 1

Coca chewing is no longer practiced in South America.

Question 2

Which statement regarding cocaine's status in the late 1800s is false?

A) Freud wrote an essay, Über Coca, warning people about the dangers of cocaine.
B) Cocaine was being used as a treatment for morphine addiction and teething pain.
C) Cocaine was an ingredient of beverages like Vin Mariani and Coca Cola.
D) Cocaine abuse was becoming widespread throughout the population.

Answer 2

Freud wrote an essay, Über Coca, warning people about the dangers of cocaine.

Question 3

Which statement about cocaine administration and absorption is false?

A) The cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine can be detected for only a few hours after the last dose of drug.
B) Rapid absorption occurs with intravenous and smoked forms of cocaine.
C) Cocaethylene is a metabolite of cocaine and alcohol that exerts an effect similar to cocaine, but that lasts for a longer time.
D) Smoking crack cocaine is addictive because the brain receives a large surge of drug, even though its effects don't last very long.

Answer 3

The cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine can be detected for only a few hours after the last dose of drug.

Question 4

Cocaine acts in the nervous system by blocking _______ and _______ channels.

A) monoamine transporters; voltage-gated potassium
B) monoamine release; voltage-gated calcium
C) monoamine transporters; voltage-gated sodium
D) monoamine synthesis; voltage-gated calcium

Question 5

Which of the following is not an effect of low to moderate doses of cocaine?

A) Amplification of both euphoria and dysphoria
B) Mild anorexia
C) Insomnia
D) Incoherent speech

Question 6

Chronic, high dose use of psychostimulants can lead to all of the following effects except

A) irritability and anxiety.
B) increased sexual interest.
C) delusions.
D) violence.

Question 7

Which of the following is a sympathomimetic effect of cocaine?

A) Vasoconstriction
B) Decreased heart rate
C) Hypothermia
D) Hypotension

Question 8

A serious effect of heavy cocaine use, that might even be fatal, is

A) stroke.
B) heart failure.
C) intracranial hemorrhage.
D) All of the above

Question 9

Lack of cocaine self-administration by mutant mice expressing a cocaine-insensitive dopamine transporter tells us that

A) dopamine is not important for cocaine's reinforcing effects.
B) blockade of the dopamine transporter plays a key role in the reinforcing action of cocaine.
C) the mutant dopamine transporter is unable to take up dopamine from the synaptic cleft.
D) these mutant mice are able to experience cocaine reward but not cocaine reinforcement.

Question 10

Which statement about high cocaine responding (HCR) and low cocaine responding (LCR) rats is true?

A) HCR and LCR rats differ in their responses to cocaine despite being genetically identical.
B) LCR rats express more dopamine transporters in the nucleus accumbens and dorsal striatum than HCR rats.
C) HCR rats show greater levels of extracellular dopamine than LCR rats, under drug-free conditions.
D) When the animals are given a moderate dose of cocaine, extracellular dopamine levels increase more in the LCR rats than in the HCR rats.

Question 11

Which of the following statements about early cocaine use is false?

A) Cocaine use typically begins as early as age 10.
B) Most users experiment with legal drugs such as alcohol before using cocaine.
C) Cocaine is often used as a way to reduce anxiety or depression.
D) The most common route for beginning users is intranasal administration.

Question 12

Which of the following is not an important factor in maintaining cocaine use?

A) Powerful stimulation effects of the drug
B) Lack of a withdrawal syndrome
C) Social reinforcement from friends
D) Switch to smoking or IV routes of administration

Question 13

Cocaine _______ and _______ in the dorsal striatum can be produced in cocaine-dependent individuals by exposure to videos of cocaine-related cues.

A) "high"; increased D₁ receptor binding
B) tolerance; release of glutamate
C) craving; release of dopamine
D) relapse; increased D₁ receptor binding

Question 14

Long-access (6 hours per day) cocaine self-administration by rats has been shown to cause

A) behavioral tolerance to the drug.
B) reduced stimulation-evoked dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens.
C) up-regulation of postsynaptic dopamine receptors.
D) Both a and b

Question 15

Brain imaging studies of cocaine-abusing or -dependent individuals have found

A) reduced methylphenidate-induced dopamine release in the dorsal striatum compared to controls (non cocaine-using individuals).
B) damage to the striatum caused by repeated cocaine exposure.
C) increased baseline D₂ receptor binding.
D) Both a and c

Question 16

Which statement about cocaine abuse/dependence and cognitive function is true?

A) Despite their compulsive drug use, people diagnosed with cocaine abuse or dependence do not show significant abnormalities on standard tests of cognitive function.
B) Any cognitive deficits observed in cocaine abusing/dependent individuals must have been caused by their drug use, since numerous longitudinal studies have demonstrated that these individuals had normal cognitive function prior to the onset of drug use.
C) Some abnormalities in cognitive function have been related to reduced gray matter volume of specific brain areas, based on MRI studies.
D) Loss of white matter is the most important effect of cocaine that results in cognitive deficits.

Question 17

Which statement about pharmacotherapy for cocaine dependence is false?

A) Over 100 blinded placebo-controlled clinical trials have already been conducted to test medications against cocaine dependence.
B) The FDA has approved several effective medications that have been shown to help people overcome their cocaine dependence.
C) Many drugs that have been tested as potential therapeutic agents for cocaine dependence target some aspect of the dopamine system.
D) Dopamine is not the only neurotransmitter system that has been targeted in the search for cocaine medications.

Question 18

Vaccines against cocaine

A) have not been effective in producing significant reductions in cocaine-induced behavior in animal studies.
B) have not been tested in humans.
C) could act by creating antibodies that bind the cocaine molecules, reducing the amount of drug that crosses the blood-brain barrier.
D) may create antibodies that break down in the blood stream, causing long-term toxic side effects.

Question 19

Ephedra

A) is a safe and top-selling herbal remedy, also known as "ma huang."
B) was banned by the FDA after many adverse reactions were reported.
C) has no effect on appetite or weight, in spite of advertisers' claims.
D) has dangerous effects on the parasympathetic nervous system.

Question 20

In which situation has amphetamine not been used medically and/or legally?

A) Medication in early inhalers
B) Means of staying awake on duty, by military personnel
C) Treatment for ADHD
D) Treatment of insomnia

Question 21

How is amphetamine different from methamphetamine?

A) Amphetamine is metabolized quickly, whereas methamphetamine is degraded slowly.
B) Methamphetamine users frequently go on binges or "runs" of IV use; this is rare with amphetamine users.
C) A form of methamphetamine can be taken by smoking.
D) Methamphetamine is much more expensive to make than amphetamine.

Question 22

Based on information from worldwide drug seizures, which class of abused drugs has increased the most from 1998 to 2014?

A) Cannabis
B) Cocaine, including crack cocaine and cocaine base
C) Heroin and other opiate drugs
D) Amphetamine-type stimulants

Question 23

High-dose methamphetamine exposure has been linked to all of the following except

A) cell death of noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus.
B) reduced striatal dopamine levels in chronic users of the drug.
C) decreased staining tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive fibers in the dorsal striatum of mice.
D) reduced dopamine transporter binding in both experimental animals and in human methamphetamine users.

Question 24

Chronic methamphetamine use has been associated with all of the following except

A) psychosis and flashbacks.
B) enhanced cognition.
C) increased risk of stroke and myocardial infarction.
D) premature aging.

Question 25

All of the following are symptoms of ADHD except

A) high anxiety level.
B) impulsivity.
C) disruptive and unruly behavior.
D) hyperkinesis.

Question 26

Which statement concerning the drugs used to treat ADHD is true?

A) Side effects of these medications have not been of great concern to physicians.
B) Low doses of these medications increase activity and arousal in children but not adults.
C) Most of these drugs affect dopamine, with the exception of new drug Strattera that works by affecting norepinephrine.
D) These drugs are safe to you because they have no abuse potential.

Question 27

Which of the following is not a drug used to treat ADHD?

A) Ritalin
B) Ephedrine
C) Vyvanse
D) Strattera

Question 28

Which statement regarding mephedrone is false?

A) It has been banned by the DEA.
B) Despite its ability to produce a "high" in human users, it lacks rewarding and reinforcing properties in experimental animals.
C) It acts like amphetamine by releasing dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin from their respective nerve terminals.
D) Two of the routes by which it is taken are snorting and oral ingestion.

Question 29

Cocaine is considered to be a sympathomimetic drug. What does that mean, and what are some of the sympathomimetic effects of this compound?

Question 30

What have knockout studies and research with receptor agonists/antagonists contributed to the understanding of the role of dopamine in the behavioral and reinforcing effects of psychostimulants?

Question 31

Research has shown that some laboratory rats respond strongly to a moderate dose of cocaine (high responders; HCR), whereas other rats respond more weakly (low responders; LCR). What is the underlying neurochemical basis for this difference?

Question 32

List several reasons why people initiate cocaine use, and then identify several reasons why these same individuals may not continue to experiment with cocaine to the point of abuse.

Question 33

What factors contribute to an individual becoming a cocaine abuser? Describe the pattern of use that occurs during cocaine binges, and the abstinence syndrome that follows.

Question 34

What have brain imaging studies in humans and related animal model studies told us about the neurochemical mechanisms of cocaine craving?

Question 35

What changes occur in the rat dopamine system under conditions of cocaine tolerance produced by long-access cocaine self-administration? Are brain imaging studies of cocaine abusing or dependent individuals consistent with the rat results?

Question 36

List several members of the amphetamine family of drugs. What do they have in common structurally? Identify two such compounds that occur in nature. How have amphetamines been used to treat diseases and enhance daily functioning, prior to being restricted by the government?

Question 37

List a few drugs used in the treatment of ADHD that act selectively on the noradrenergic system. For each drug, indicate its mechanism of action on that system. Based on these mechanisms, would you expect the noradrenergic-related medications to differ from traditional psychostimulant medications in their degree of abuse potential?