Addiction Key Terms

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Binge

Back 1

A period of time (minutes to days) in which the individual repeatedly takes large amounts of a drug or in eating disorders, has a period of voracious eating.

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Breakpoint

Back 2

The point in a progressive ratio schedule of responding when the animal no longer responds to get a reward.

Front 3

Cue

Back 3

An environmental or interval sensory experience that is associated with the drug's effect.

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Fixed Ratio

Back 4

A fixed number of responses necessary for the responding animal to get a reward (e.g., FR2 = 2 responses to get a reward).

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Ice

Back 5

Pure preparation of methamphetamine that can be smoked or injected.

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Progressive Ratio

Back 6

A progressively increasing number of responses by the animal necessary to receive a reward (e.g., a reward after 2 then 4 then 8, etc).

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Run

Back 7

Repeated injection of a drug as often as every 2 hrs for a prolonged period of time.

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Rush

Back 8

Repeated injection of a drug as often as every 2 hrs for a prolonged period of time.

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Sensitization

Back 9

An increased behavioral or physiologic response in which the same stimulus or drug given later produces a greater response than the original stimulus or drug.

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Speed

Back 10

Street name for methamphetamine. Users referred to as “speed freaks.”

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Tolerance

Back 11

The decreasing effect of the same dose of a drug over time.

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Acquired Tolerance

Back 12

Reduced sensitivity to a drug as a result of prior exposure.

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Pharmacokinetic

Back 13

Relating to drug absorption, distribution or metabolism

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Pharmacodynamic

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Relating to response to drugs at the cellular, tissue, organ or whole body level.

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Behaviorial Tolerance or Conditioned Tolerance

Back 15

Depends on learning and conditioning to reduce drug response.

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Cross Tolerance

Back 16

When tolerance to a drug being used also produces tolerance to other drugs -- usually in the same class.

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Innate Tolerance

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Genetically determined lack of sensitivity on first exposure to drug.

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Metabolic Tolerance

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Induced capacity to metabolize a drug.

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Reverse Tolerance

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Increased sensitivity to a drug with repeated use.

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Withdrawal

Back 20

Increased symptom expression upon cessation of drug intake. Can involve many different systems (autonomic, sensory, motor, etc) and may be manifested as an increase (sleepy) or decrease (insomnia) in various systems depending on the drug used.

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Allostasis

Back 21

A new homeostatic (maintained) equilibrium that lies outside the normal range and is characterized by long-lasting adaptational mechanisms that are activated in response to a stressor.

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Point Prevalence

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The proportion of individuals who have disease condition at a specific point in time or within a defined time frame (e.g., 1 year).

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Heterogenity

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A model of genetic determination in which different alleles lead to the same phenotype in different individuals, but an individual allele can suffice to produce the phenotype.

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Heritability

Back 24

An estimate of the genetic component of liability -- the proportion of phenotypic variation in a population that is attributable to genetic variation among individuals.

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Haplotype

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A combination of alleles at different loci on the same chromosome.

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Phenocopy

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An instance where a phenotype of environmental origin mimics a phenotype of genetic origin.

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Genocopy

Back 27

An instance where a phenotype of genetic origin mimics a phenotype of different genetic origin.

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Penetrance

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The probability of expressing a phenotype that is determined by a genotype.

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Quantitative Trait Locus

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A genetic locus that is identified through the statistical analysis of complex traits. These traits are typically affected by more that one gene and by the environment.

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Amygdala

Back 30

Nucleus in the anterior temporal lobe involved in fear conditioning and the expression of fear.

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Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

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ANS includes both the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.

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Conditioned Fear

Back 32

A form of fear that has been conditioned to a particular stimulus or set of stimuli.

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Hippocampus

Back 33

A structure in ventral temporal lobe involved in coding immediate memory.

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Neurotropins

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A number of large molecules secreted in brain that are important in development and plasticity such as brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) or nerve growth factor (NGF).

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Resilience

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A strong ability to deal with the effects of stressors -- opposite of vulnerability.

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Stress

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The distortion of homeostasis produced in the organism by a stressor.

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Stressful Life Events

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Events like death of family member, loss of job, car accident that are stressors to that individual.

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Stressor

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Any physical (blood loss) or psychological event (loss of job) that can after homeostasis in an individual.

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Uncontrollable Stress

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When there is nothing the organism can do to avoid the stressor.