Deck 8: Drug Abuse and Addiction

Question 1

According to the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 137 million Americans _______ and more than 63 million Americans _______.

A) smoked marijuana; drank alcohol
B) drank alcohol; used tobacco
C) drank alcohol; used cocaine or heroin
D) used tobacco; used one or more illicit drugs

Answer 1

drank alcohol; used tobacco

Question 2

Which drug is not found in nature?

A) Nicotine
B) THC
C) Amphetamine
D) Cocaine

Answer 2

Amphetamine

Question 3

Which of the following is not necessarily a part of the cycle of pathological drug use that can lead to addiction?

A) Preoccupation with drug and anticipation of use
B) Periods of intoxication and/or bingeing on the drug
C) Periods of relatively prolonged abstinence from the drug
D) Periods of withdrawal and negative affect

Answer 3

Periods of relatively prolonged abstinence from the drug

Question 4

Malcolm et al. (2016) showed that regional brain activation after viewing methamphetamine stimuli (versus neutral visual stimuli) was

A) greater in the hippocampus and periaqueductal gray in people diagnosed with methamphetamine dependence, relative to controls.
B) greater in the ventral striatum and medial frontal cortex in people diagnosed with methamphetamine dependence, relative to controls.
C) reduced in the ventral striatum and medial frontal cortex in people diagnosed with methamphetamine dependence, relative to controls.
D) reduced in the hippocampus and periaqueductal gray in people diagnosed with methamphetamine dependence, relative to controls.

Question 5

Which statement about addiction and genetics is true?

A) If both parents are alcoholics/drug addicts, their offspring will also be alcoholics/drug addicts, but if only one parent is affected, any offspring has a 50% chance of developing a problem.
B) The addiction gene has been identified.
C) A large number of genes influence susceptibility to addiction.
D) If drug or alcohol problem do not run in a family, other family members will not develop a problem either.

Question 6

Genome-wide associated studies (GWAS) look at the potential role of genetics in drug addiction by

A) focusing on the potential involvement of genes that are selected based on the biochemical mechanism or mechanisms that underlie addiction.
B) looking for chromosomal regions that tend to associate with addiction, and for mutations.
C) investigating the entire genome in search of alleles that associate with addiction.
D) All of the above

Question 7

The concept of incentive-sensitization distinguishes between _______ and _______.

A) drug seeking; drug taking
B) drug liking; drug wanting
C) drug liking; drug taking
D) craving; drug seeking

Question 8

Which of the following does not fit with the addiction-related neuroadaptations proposed by Koob and LeMoal?

A) As drug users become dependent, less dopamine is released in the nucleus accumbens.
B) Early recreational drug use is accompanied by increased dopamine and opioid activity.
C) Increased norepinephrine and CRF play a role in recreational drug use.
D) CRF levels in the amygdala increase as drug users become dependent.

Question 9

According to the opponent-process model of addiction, drug dependence causes _______ to be shifted downward, through a process of _______.

A) the hedonic set-point; sensitization
B) the hedonic set-point; allostasis
C) allostasis; tolerance
D) allosatsis; sensitization

Question 10

The transcription factor $\Delta$ FosB

A) is rapidly induced after administration of many drugs of abuse.
B) accumulates in cells of the amygdala.
C) up-regulates expression of all genes it affects.
D) exhibits tolerance with repeated drug exposures.

Question 11

Which statement about mice genetically engineered to overexpress $\Delta$ FosB in the dorsal striatum and nucleus accumbens relative to wild-type mice is false?

A) They develop a conditioned place preference for cocaine and morphine at lower doses.
B) They show an increased locomotor response to cocaine.
C) They show a greater reduction in anxiety in response to alcohol.
D) They do not develop physical dependence, withdrawal, or tolerance to morphine.

Question 12

Which of the following best represents the involvement of epigenetics in the progression to addiction?

A) Environmental stimuli $\rightarrow$ acute drug exposure $\rightarrow$ repeated drug exposure/addiction $\rightarrow$ modified gene expression $\rightarrow$ epigenetic changes
B) Environmental stimuli $\rightarrow$ acute drug exposure $\rightarrow$ epigenetic changes $\rightarrow$ modified gene expression $\rightarrow$ repeated drug exposure/addiction
C) Environmental stimuli $\rightarrow$ modified gene expression $\rightarrow$ acute drug exposure $\rightarrow$ repeated drug exposure/addiction $\rightarrow$ epigenetic changes
D) Acute drug exposure $\rightarrow$ environmental stimuli $\rightarrow$ modified gene expression $\rightarrow$ epigenetic changes $\rightarrow$ repeated drug exposure/addiction

Question 13

Describe the three pathways linking personality to addiction.

Question 14

Explain how the hedonic response to drug use changes during different stages of the addiction cycle. Be sure to include a description of the concept of allostasis.

Question 15

What are some of the benefits and criticisms of the disease model of addiction?