Neurophysiology of addiction

Family history of alcohol dependence and gray matter abnormalities in non-alcoholic adults

by Zsuzsika Sjoerds

published in 'World Journal of Biological Psychiatry', 2012

Objectives. Alcohol-use disorders in adolescents are associated with gray matter (GM) abnormalities suggesting... more Objectives. Alcohol-use disorders in adolescents are associated with gray matter (GM) abnormalities suggesting neurotoxicity by alcohol. However, recently similar GM abnormalities were found in non-drinking children with a family history (FH) of alcohol dependence (AD). The question thus rises whether these abnormalities represent a transient delay in brain maturation or a persistent risk factor for developing neuropsychiatric disorders, rather than a (neurotoxic) consequence of AD. This study investigated whether a FH of AD in non-drinking adults is associated with abnormal GM-volumes similar to those observed in drinking and non-drinking adolescents with a FH of AD. Methods. GM-images were analyzed using Voxel-Based Morphometry in non-alcoholics with (FH+; N = 36) and without (FH-; N = 107) familial AD. Additionally we controlled for possible confounders: diagnosis of depression/anxiety, childhood trauma and familial depression/anxiety. Results. Smaller GM-volumes were shown in the right parahippocampal gyrus in FH+ compared with FH-. Results were unaffected by confounders. Conclusions. We demonstrated an effect of familial AD in non-alcoholic adults on GM volume in the parahippocampal gyrus, similar to drinking and non-drinking FH+ adolescents. These findings suggest that GM abnormalities in the parahippocampal gyrus represent a persistent biological susceptibility for AD or related psychopathology and not neurotoxicity of alcohol or delayed brain maturation.

Chronic morphine exposure impairs short-term synaptic depression of geniculo-cortical visual pathway in vivo

by Haiyang Wei

Diminished error processing in smokers during smoking cue exposure

by Maartje Luijten

Deficits in Inhibitory Control in Smokers During a Go/NoGo Task: An Investigation Using Event-Related Brain Potentials

by Maartje Luijten

Smoking experience modulates the cortical integration of vision and haptics

by Yavor Yalachkov

published in Neuroimage

Sensory and motor aspects of addiction

by Yavor Yalachkov

published in Behavioural Brain Research

Brain regions related to tool use and action knowledge reflect nicotine dependence

by Yavor Yalachkov

published in Journal of Neuroscience

Perception and action in nicotine addiction: fMRI and behavioral studies of sensorimotor and multisensory processes in smokers and non-smokers

by Yavor Yalachkov

PhD thesis

Involvement of action-related brain regions in nicotine addiction

by Yavor Yalachkov

published in Journal of Neurophysiology

Associational and Nonassociational Mechanisms In Locomotor Sensitization to the Dopamine Agonist Quinpirole

by Haim Einat

Addiction within a Thomistic Philosophical Anthropology: A Conceptual Analysis

by Daniel D. De Haan

Draft Only. (N.b. I have substantially revised some key concepts employed within this paper; an updated version is coming soon)

A version of this paper was presented at, 2011 CUA Graduate Philosophy Conference, on “Addiction, Vice, and the Possibility of Moral Reform,” at The Catholic University of American, Washington D.C., March 17-18, 2011.

See the diagrams attached at the end.


Addiction within a Thomistic Philosophical Anthropology: A Conceptual Analysis by Daniel D. De Haan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at stthom.academia.edu.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://stthom.academia.edu/DanielHaan/Papers/572576/Addiction_within_a_Thomistic_Philosophical_Anthropology_A_Conceptual_Analysis.

In this paper I analyze the phenomenon of addiction from the perspective of a Thomistic philosophical anthropology.... more In this paper I analyze the phenomenon of addiction from the perspective of a Thomistic philosophical anthropology. Many insights from Karol Wotjyła's Thomistic Personalism have been integrated into my analysis. I present an alternative analysis of addiction to the disease theory and weak-willed theories of addiction by placing the etiological center of addiction principally in our vital appetites. Addiction, I argue, is an acquired vital appetite. This is supported by the contemporary neurological research which is showing that both substance and behavior addictions co-opt - through neural and synaptic plasticity - the natural rewards centers of our brain. These are the neurophysiological substrates for our vital appetites. These appetites are able to activate our somatic or viseral affections which brings into our conscious awareness the drive or need to fulfill some urge which will satiate these visercal factors. Thomas Aquinas' notion of the cogitative power is brought into to account for the spontaneous apprehensions and evaluations of these viseral factors and the satisfying conditions which are teleologically associated with their cessation.

This paper focuses primarily on theoretical concerns and only suggests how this theoretical schema could be applied.

Evidence for Habitual and Goal-Directed Behavior Following Devaluation of Cocaine: A Multifaceted Interpretation of Relapse

by David Barker

Dose-dependent differences in short ultrasonic vocalizations emitted by rats during cocaine self-administration

by David Barker

Rationale 
The motivational impetuses underlying self-administration of cocaine and other drugs of abuse... more Rationale 
The motivational impetuses underlying self-administration of cocaine and other drugs of abuse are not fully understood. One emerging factor is affect. Both positive and negative affective states have been hypothesized to influence drug seeking and drug taking. In parallel, it has been posited that the ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) of Rattus norvegicus provide insight into the animals’ affective reactions. Furthermore, it has been shown that mesolimbic dopamine (DA) plays a key role in cocaine self-administration and in USV production. Thus, affective processing as measured by rodent USVs likely coincides with cocaine self-administration, but to date has not been studied.
Objective 
The present study examined USVs in both the negative affective (18–32.99 kHz) and positive affective (38–80 kHz) ranges of rats during self-administration of a low (0.355 mg/kg/infusion) or high (0.71 mg/kg/infusion) dose of cocaine.
Results 
USVs in both ranges were observed in both dose groups. Vocalizations of the low-dose animals occurred primarily in the 22-kHz range (18–32.99 kHz), but exhibited shorter durations (10–500 ms) than those traditionally observed for 22-kHz calls in aversive situations. In contrast, USVs of the high-dose group were primarily observed in the 50-kHz frequency range (38–80 kHz), typically associated with appetitive outcomes.
Conclusions 
These results provide evidence for the presence of USVs during cocaine self-administration. The observed dose-dependent difference in USVs provides novel support for the view that affect is one potential motivational factor influencing human drug use and relapse behaviors. Rodent USVs may provide a powerful tool for understanding the role of affect in addiction.

Evidence for learned skill during cocaine self-administration in rats.

by David Barker

RATIONALE:
It has been proposed that cocaine abuse results in skilled or "automatic" drug-taking... more RATIONALE:
It has been proposed that cocaine abuse results in skilled or "automatic" drug-taking behaviors. Brain regions important for skill learning are implicated in cocaine self-administration. However, the development of skill during self-administration has not been investigated.

OBJECTIVES:
The present experiment investigated the development of skilled self-administration over extended drug use by employing a novel operant vertical head movement under discriminative stimulus (S(D)) control. In addition, the capacity of the head movement to serve as an operant was tested by manipulating drug levels above or below satiety drug levels via frequent noncontingent microinfusions (0.2 s) of cocaine.

RESULTS:
Animals acquired the vertical head movement operant, which increased in number over days. Task learning was demonstrated by reduced reaction time in response to the S(D), increased propensity to self-administer upon S(D) presentation, and escalated drug consumption over days. Skill learning was demonstrated by (1) an increase over days in the velocity of operant movements, as a function of shorter duration but not altered distance, and (2) an increase over days in the probability of initiating the operant at the optimal starting position. Evidence that responding was specific to self-administration was revealed during periods of experimenter-manipulated drug level: maintaining drug levels above satiety decreased responding while maintaining drug levels below satiety increased responding.

CONCLUSIONS:
Under the specific set of circumstances tested herein, cocaine self-administration became skilled over extended drug use. The vertical head movement can be used as an operant comparable to lever pressing with the additional benefit of quantifying skill learning.

Rapid phasic activity of ventral pallidal neurons during cocaine self-administration.

by David Barker

Little is known regarding the involvement of the ventral pallidum (VP) in cocaine-seeking behavior, in contrast with... more Little is known regarding the involvement of the ventral pallidum (VP) in cocaine-seeking behavior, in contrast with considerable documentation of the involvement of its major afferent, the nucleus accumbens, over the past thirty years utilizing electrophysiology, lesion, inactivation, molecular, imaging, and other approaches. The VP is neuroanatomically positioned to integrate signals projected from the nucleus accumbens, basolateral amygdala, and ventral tegmental area. In turn, VP projects to thalamoprefrontal, subthalamic, and mesencephalic dopamine regions having widespread influence across mesolimbic, mesocortical, and nigrostriatal systems. Prior lesion studies have implicated VP in cocaine-seeking behavior, but the electrophysiological mechanisms underlying this behavior in the VP have not been investigated. In the present investigation, following 2 weeks of training over which animals increased drug intake, VP phasic activity comprised rapid-phasic increases or decreases in firing rate during the seconds prior to and/or following cocaine-reinforced responses, similar to those found in accumbens. As a population, the direction (increasing or decreasing) and magnitude of firing rate changes were normally distributed suggesting that ventral striatopallidal processing is heterogeneous. Since changes in firing rate around the cocaine-reinforced lever press occurred in animals that escalated drug intake prior to neuronal recordings, a marker of "addiction-like behavior" in the rat, the present experiment provides novel support for a role of VP in drug-seeking behavior. This is especially important given that pallidothalamic and pallidomesencephalic VP projections are positioned to alter dopaminoceptive targets such as the medial prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, and dorsal striatum, all of which have roles in cocaine self-administration.

Anesthesia for patients on buprenorphine

by Ethan Bryson

Bryson EO, Lipson S, Gevirtz C.
Anesthesiology Clinics of North America, December 2010