CEP 404 - Quiz 2

Which of the following statements is true regarding addiction, including compulsive behaviors such as gambling?

Addiction is a disease analogous to an allergy.

The more rapidly a psychoactive drug reaches its central nervous system target, the less the reward and the lower the reinforcing effect.

False—The more rapidly a psychoactive drug reaches its target in the central nervous system, the greater its reinforcing effect.

There are several routes of administering drugs, and some reach the brain faster than others. Which of the following sequences correctly lists the routes of administration from fastest to slowest for getting drugs to the brain?

Inhaling (smoke), injecting (intravenous), mucous membrane absorption (nasal passage), oral ingestion.

Which statement is true regarding intravenous drug use?

Intravenous drug use is the most dangerous method because it bypasses the body's natural defenses.

Which of the following statements is true regarding the use of alcohol and other drugs by a woman who is pregnant?

The placenta is not an effective barrier, so if the mother uses, the baby uses.

The compulsive gambler's reward/control pathway in the brain becomes hijacked similar to the ways the brain becomes rewired from alcohol and other drug addiction.

True

The physical, mental, and emotional effects a person experiences from taking psychoactive drugs are caused by the modification or mimicking of the neurotransmitters' function.

True

To titrate a drug means to continuously regulate the amount of drug you are receiving.

True

When the human body is continually challenged by the use of drugs that alter the body's natural balance, a "new normal" is created, known as...

allostasis.

The most crucial neurotransmitter involved in behavioral addictions, drug use, and drug abuse is...

dopamine.

Passive transport occurs when water-soluble drugs such as cocaine cross the blood-brain barrier by hitching a ride on molecules that cross the blood-brain barrier.

False—Active transport occurs when water-soluble drugs travel across the blood-brain barrier by attaching themselves to a protein molecule.

Tolerance to the mental effects of drugs develops at the same rate as tolerance to the drug's physical effects.

False—For many drugs, tolerance to the drug's mental effects develops at a different rate than tolerance to its physical effects.

Active transport occurs when fat-soluble drugs pass from an area where there is a higher concentration of a drug to an area of lower concentration.

False—Passive transport occurs when fat-soluble drugs travel across the blood-brain barrier.

Contact absorption—drug-saturated patches applied to the skin—allow erratic amounts of drugs to be passively absorbed into to the body over an indefinite period of time.

False—Transdermal patches allow measured quantities of drug to be absorbed over a specified period of time.

Which of the following are examples of titrating the effects of a drug?

1. A cigarette smoker regulating his blood-nicotine level with the frequency of smoking and how often and how deeply he inhales tobacco smoke. 2. A cannabis (marijuana, hash) user who regulates the effects of the drug by how frequently and deeply she inhales cannabis smoke or vapors. 4. A person who is addicted to caffeine who regulates the amount of caffeine in her bloodstream by the frequency and the amount of caffeinated beverages she consumes (e.g., coffee, tea, and energy drinks).

Which of the following physical and chemical changes in the body are signs that indicate addiction to alcohol or other drug?

1. The user develops tolerance and needs more of the drug to feel an effect. 3. The user develops tissue dependence and needs to use the drug just to feel normal. 4. After not using the drug for a period of time, the person experiences withdrawal symptoms.

Which of the following methods are used to absorb drugs through the mucosal membrane?

1. rectal and vaginal suppositories 2. buccal (between the gums and cheek) 3. sublingual (under the tongue) 4. insufflation (snorting a drug into the nose)

The most rapid route of administering a drug to reach the brain is intravenously.

False—Although intravenous administration reaches the bloodstream fastest, inhalation reaches the brain fastest.

Dendritic spines ("memory bumps") grow in the synapse when the nerve is stimulated by sensory input.

False—Dendritic spines grow on the dendrites of nerve cells when the nerve is stimulated by sensory input.

A person's level of emotional and physical stress can increase the ability of psychoactive drugs to cross the blood-brain barrier.

True

Which of the following are functions of the old brain?

1. basic emotions (anger, fear, hunger, lust) 2. imprinting of survival memories 3. regulating respiration, heartbeat, and body temperature

Psychoactive drugs promote homeostatic conditions in the central nervous system.

False—Psychoactive drugs disrupt homeostasis. Stimulant drugs accelerate or stimulate the function of the CNS, whereas depressants slow it down. Continued use of psychoactive substances leads to a new balance called allostasis, as opposed to the natural balance of homeostasis.