NATS 1675 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Chronic Lung Disease, Reward System, Emotional And Behavioral Disorders
11 Nov 2016
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An addiction is a behavioural disorder, characterized by maladaptive pattern of behaviour that significantly interferes with normal healthy functioning. Areas of normal, healthy functioning: academic/occupational, social life, family life, personal care. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (dsm) criteria: Red circled part: structures in the brain associated with reward systems, stimulated with neurotransmitters like dopamine or serotonin. Recreational drugs such as cocaine overstimulates the reward system. The addicted brain is dysfunctional in its reward processing mechanism due to remarkable reliability on high level neurotransmitters. Neuroactive drugs affect regulation of synaptic activity, e. g. reduce or increase production of drugs. Long-term: (cid:455)(cid:374)apses (cid:862)(cid:449)or(cid:374) out(cid:863, decreased sensation, lack of pleasure to normal, everyday experiences, decreased awareness, decreased energy, need drug in order to feel good. Depends on dose: range from mild euphoria and relaxation to impaired memory, loss of consciousness and sexual dysfunction. Euphoria; relaxation; slowed reaction time; impaired learning and memory; psychosis; panic attacks; anxiety.
