ch. 3 - expectation, sensitization, and tolerance (done)

• What is learning?

• Changes in behaviours and those result from experience 

• How do psychologists define learning?

• “Any relatively permanent change in functioning that results from experience”

• Habituation and sensitization are examples of what type of learning?

• Non-associative learning 

• The aplysia californica (sea slug) was used in experiments to show what type of learning?

• Non-associative learning

• Repeated exposure to a drug may impact how our body continues to respond to that drug which is known as?

• Tolerance

• Who was Mithridates?

• Guy who exposed himself to tiny doses of poison to keep himself safe 

• Tolerance can be seen as either a (increase/decrease) in drug effect with repeated administration of same dose, or  an (increase/decrease) in the dose required to produce an effect as intense as one produced by earlier doses

• Decrease, increase

• What are the four types of tolerance?

• Acute, pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, behavioural 

• If the dose response curve moves to the right, is tolerance increased or decreased?

• Increased - need higher dose to get same effect

• It is better to think of tolerance developing to the __ of a drug rather than to the drug itself

• effects

• Which type of tolerance is early to show up, can happen fast and over one dose

• Acute tolerance

• Another way of describing acute tolerance is that the body is trying to figure out how to get rid of a drug to get back into __

• Homeostasis

• Increase in rate or ability of a body to metabolize a drug is what type of tolerance?

• Pharmacokinetic

• What is the result of pharmacokinetic tolerance?

• fewer drug molecules reaching site of action

• The actions of those drugs on our nervous system is known as which tolerance?

• Pharmacodynamic 

• In pharmacodynamic tolerance, there could be either a change in __ of receptor sites within a neuron for a drug or change how drug is able to __ to those receptors 

• Number, bind

• What are two types of regulation of pharmacodynamic tolerance?

• Upregulation, downregulation 

• Upregulation happens when the drug blocks receptor sites which makes neurons (decrease/increase) the number of receptor sites

•  Increase 

• Downregulation happens when the drug stimulates receptor sites which makes neurons reduce receptor __ or the __ of receptors.

• Affinity, number

• Antidepressants don’t start working for a couple weeks because __ is happening

• Downregulation 

• What happens quickly to functionally deal with the effects of the drug, when it's noticeable? 

• Compensatory 

• True or false: you do not need to be aware of functional disturbances for compensatory processes to happen

• False - noticing and being bothered necessary

• Being a ‘functional alcoholic’ is an example of what type of tolerance?

• Behavioural 

• What is a general rule for tolerance?

• It goes away if you stop taking it 

• When the drug effect increases as you take additional doses of the drug is an example of?

• Sensitization 

• What’s another word for sensitization?

• “Reverse tolerance”

• Which three drugs are said to, at low doses, have a sensitizing motor action effect (aka rat move more after second dose exposure)?

• Amphetamines, cocaine, opioids

• Look up sensitization in textbook “ shown in two ways” and cross-sensitization 

• Sensitization is more __ than tolerance and is __ to get rid of -> Lasting as long as a __ after exposure in rats (⅓ of their lifetime) 

• Persistent, harder, year

• Physiological changes that occur when drug usage is stopped or dose decreased is known as?

• Withdrawal 

• How do you get rid of withdrawal?

• Reintroduce the drug

• Or drug that is very similar to that drug

• Withdrawal from heroin, medically managed by __ or suboxone (buprenorphine?)  

Methadone

• What produces withdrawal syndrome characterized by CNS hyper-excitability (anxiety, tremors, seizures, sweating, nausea, and vomiting)  

• CNS depressant - alcohol, opiates, barbiturates

•  What produces withdrawal syndrome characterized by CNS hypo-excitability (depression, lethargy)

• CNS stimulants - amphetamine and cocaine

• When the body has learned to expect drug presence (homeostasis), this is referred to as?

• Physical dependence   

• When Drug A stops withdrawal symptoms caused by Drug B this is known as?

• Cross dependence 

• What is Solomon and Corbit (1974) opponent process theory?

• A process (initial pleasurable state) followed by later B process (compensatory unpleasant state)  

• Process B can be understood as a?

• Compensatory unpleasant state

• In terms of opponent-process theory, how does it explain withdrawal?

• After many uses, B process comes on when A process does, and when A process is over, there is a big dip where your body is trying to get back to homeostasis 

• Term for a compensatory response after a single administration

hangover

• Term for a compensatory response after many repeated administrations

• Withdrawal 

• When pairing a tone (CS) with a drug (UCS), is process A or B being conditioning?

• B - compensatory response 

• In the presence of a drug, the effect of CR will be from?

• A + B process

• In the absence of a drug, the effect of CR will be from?

• B process 

• Benedetti et al., (1995) conducted a study where they injected patients with a placebo or pain relief drug, and either told them they were getting the drug or made them unaware of their treatment. What were the results?

• Pain relieving drugs (like proglumide) do work better than placebo injections, but both have measurable reductions in pain.  

  • UNLESS a patient is unaware of receiving either drug, then neither is reported as effective

• True or false: Drugs have a greater activating effect when given in a novel environment  

true

• True or false: Drug sensitization is slower and weaker when the drug is administered in a novel environment

• False - faster and stronger 

• Tolerance for a drug is somewhat dependent on the __ we are in

• Context

• True or false: Operant conditioning almost never happens without classical conditioning happening somehow 

• True 

• In the study conducted by Siegel (1982), 3 groups of rats were assigned to be given heroin, one was the same room repeat injections, one was different room repeat injections, and the last was a control. After a bit, they chose a day to give rats a dangerously high dose of heroin. What happened?

• Twice as many rats died when put in a different room compared to the rats put in the same room

• Classical conditioning of withdrawals can explain drug cravings. This is because withdrawal is intensified in the presence of…?

• stimuli that usually signal drug is coming (B process alone)  

• Exposure to environmental cues while drug abstinent can trigger __ symptoms  

• Withdrawal 

• How do you get rid of conditioning effects that trigger withdrawal?

• Repeated extinction learning (CS paired with no drug)