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The motivational component of withdrawal in opiate addiction: role of associative learning and aversive memory in opiate addiction from a behavioral, anatomical and functional perspective.

A major challenge in current drug addiction research is not only to understand the immediate effects of drugs of abuse on brain operations, but also to define at the behavioral and neural levels how cognitive, emotional and motivational processes interact with drug use in order to lead to this psychopathological state which defines addiction. It is now clear that factors other than the direct effects of drugs of abuse are able to powerfully affect drug-seeking and drug-taking behaviors. In former opiate addicts, re-exposure to environmental situations previously paired with withdrawal is able to induce strong craving episodes. It has been proposed that these conditioned stimuli could be strongly involved in precipitating relapse in drug-taking behavior by re-activating the neurobiological circuits which are engaged in an unconditioned way by the withdrawal state itself, leading to a powerful aversive state relieved by drug consumption renewal. In the present review, we provide evidence from a neuropsychopharmacological viewpoint that environmental situations previously paired with the opiate withdrawal syndrome might be able to maintain drug-seeking motivation. Using behavioral models which allow assessment of the aversive and motivational properties of opiate withdrawal both in the unconditioned and conditioned situations, we have recently investigated using extensive mapping the neurobiological correlates which underlie acute withdrawal and the trace of its memory in the brain in terms of localization and neuronal population involved, with an anatomical and functional approach. Thus, on the basis of our results, and together with a number of data in the literature, we provide a functional model for the formation and retrieval of opiate withdrawal memories.

Animals↗

Behavioral Aspects of Frontal Lobe Epilepsy.

There is growing interest in disorders of behavior, personality, and mood associated with focal epilepsies, though the neuropsychological and behavioral or psychiatric aspects of epilepsy have usually been treated separately. The causes of behavioral disorders in patients with focal epilepsies are multifactorial, though the positive effects of seizure control on behavior suggest that state dependency is a major contributing factor. Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy manifest depression, anxiety, neuroticism, and social limitations, as well as impaired memory. By contrast, studies of cognitive function in patients with frontal lobe epilepsy show executive dysfunctions in response selection/initiation and inhibition, as well as cognitive impairment, hyperactivity, conscientiousness, obsession, and addictive behaviors.

Journal Article↗

Heroin use in the barrio: solving the problem of relapse or keeping the tecato gusano asleep.

The Chicano heroin addict or " tecato " belongs to a subculture that profoundly influences addict behavior and personality. Life-history interviews with a subsample of 18 Southern California ex- tecatos who were abstinent from 2.3 to 24.5 years revealed that tecatos employ the metaphor of an indestructable junkie worm or " tecato gusano " living in their vicera to explain heroin relapse, and abstinence in a manner essentially consistent with learning theories of opioid addiction. The study showed that ex- tecatos use a variety of coping mechanisms for maintaining abstinence and for avoiding "dangerous situations" which could trigger heroin craving and relapse. The research also revealed that being an ex- tecato does not necessarily imply living a crime free or nondeviant lifestyle, and that the process of working out of addiction involves two complementary social adjustment processes termed (a) extrication (from the tecato subculture) and (b) accommodation (to square society). Suggestions for utilizing these findings for treatment intervention purposes are offered.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Behavioral treatment of alcohol and drug abuse. What do we know and where shall we go?

Over the last 20 years there has been a substantial increase in the use of alcohol and drugs in industrialized nations and a concomitant shift in the emphasis of treatment for alcohol and drugs. Rather than seeking treatment for alcohol alone or a single class of drug, many individuals are seeking treatment for alcohol and/or a number of drugs. While theoreticians have been exploring the similarities in the addictive behaviors, clinical researchers are only just beginning to do so. Unfortunately, most treatment research has focused almost exclusively on alcohol abusers or drug abusers, with little research conducted to date with alcohol and drug abusers. Behavioral interventions developed for alcohol abuse are now being tested with drug abusers, and vice versa. The purpose of this chapter is fourfold: (1) to briefly discuss the similarities in the assessment of alcohol and drug abuse; (2) to describe behavioral interventions that have been supported by research and briefly review this treatment outcome research; (3) to discuss the theoretical similarities in behavioral interventions for alcohol and drug abuse; and (4) to make recommendations for future advancements in treatment and research.

Alcoholism↗

Why psychologists should treat alcohol and drug problems.

Because of the prevalence of substance abuse in general clinical populations, it is important for psychologists to have knowledge and skill in this area. Psychologists also have special expertise to offer in the assessment and treatment of alcohol/drug problems. Current evidence indicates that (a) alcohol/drug problems generally obey ordinary behavioral principles and processes, (b) substance abuse frequently occurs within a broader cluster of psychological problems, (c) the treatment approaches most strongly supported by outcome research are fundamentally psychological in nature, (d) cognitive-behavioral principles are of demonstrable value in motivating change in alcohol/drug use, and (e) clinical skills and styles (e.g., empathy) commonly included in the training of psychologists are important determinants of favorable treatment outcomes with substance use disorders. These factors in the context of changing health care indicate that psychologists should play an increasing role in assessing and treating addictive behaviors.

Alcohol-Related Disorders↗

Eating Behavior, Physical Symptoms and Psychological Factors Associated with Weight Reduction Following the Scopinaro Operation as Modified by Gazet.

Sixteen morbidly obese patients (12 females, four males) underwent the Scopinaro operation according to Gazet. Profound weight loss occurred, along with marked improvements in eating patterns, mood and psychosocial functioning which were reported retrospectively 1 year and repeated 2 years after surgery. Continued binge eating, comfort eating and 'eating sensibly/making up in private' were associated with reduced weight loss, suggesting that a therapeutic cognitive behavioral program to correct eating problems in association with the Scopinaro operation may increase weight loss. Some physical symptoms were related to increased (burping) or decreased (hunger, thirst) intake of food, but the patterns of preoperative symptoms did not predict postoperative physical symptoms or weight loss. Subjects were divided into two subgroups with (n = 8) or without (n = 8) a history of self-damaging and addictive behaviors. The aberrant behavior subgroup had more disturbed eating patterns preoperatively (higher BITE severity scores) but similar BITE scores postoperatively. Mean BMIs were similar before and after surgery. This suggested that patients with these aberrant behaviors should not be denied surgery. Half of the female patients reported early sexual abuse, and were lighter than the non-abused group. This merits further investigation.

Journal Article↗

Assessment of smoking behavior.

The nature of smoking risk is first reviewed and a classification of procedures for assessing smoking behavior is presented. Areas requiring assessment include not only the traditionally measured smoking rate, but also the substance used and topography of consumption. Each of these areas may be assessed through a variety of self-report, observational, or indirect techniques. These techniques as well as some of their advantages and disadvantages are presented. Recently published (1975 to mid-1978) data-based smoking research appearing in four journals (Addictive Behaviors, Behavior Therapy, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, and Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology) is then reviewed with respect to measurement reliability and the use of multiple measures. Results show a strong tendency to assess only the risk area of smoking rate and a low frequency of appropriate measurement reliability checks, especially during baseline and treatment phases. Some of the implications of these results are discussed.

Humans↗

Behavior modification following a diagnosis of hepatitis C infection.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the extent of postdiagnosis counseling and to characterize behavior before and after diagnosis of hepatitis C infection. METHODS: We interviewed 133 persons diagnosed with hepatitis C in Wyoming from 1999 to 2001. RESULTS: Approximately two thirds of cases received counseling at the time of diagnosis. Older and symptomatic patients were more likely to receive counseling. Counseling was significantly associated with increases in condom use, wound covering, and hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccination, but not with changes in addictive behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Counseling was an effective strategy for promoting several desirable behavior changes among persons with hepatitis C infection.

Adult↗

Characteristics of adolescents at risk for compulsive overeating on a brief screening test.

As part of a large survey of addictive behavior in high school students, 43% of a sample of 278 (26% of the males, 57% of the females) scored above the cutoff point set by Overeaters Anonymous on their scale for assessing compulsive overeating. While this at-risk group did not report poorer general adjustment, health, or school achievement than did the students not at risk, they did significantly more often perceive their life quality and relationship with the person closest to them as less positive. The at-risk subsample indicated the defensive effectiveness of overeating in their significantly more frequent report of dissociative experiences while eating, and less severe ratings of insecurity, worrying, and daydreaming. One of the most salient findings was the at-risk students' more frequent report of addictive problems in their parents (overeating, alcohol and drug use, and gambling).

Adolescent↗

Introduction to the special issue: human linkage studies for behavioral traits.

In the post Genome era, the aim of behavior genetics has shifted from estimating the relative contributions of genes and environmental factors to (co-)variation in human complex traits, to localization of genes and identification of functional genetic variants. This special issue reflects this transition and presents fifteen papers that report on genome-wide linkage scans for complex traits in humans and on methodological tools and innovations. Six papers focus on cognition and report overlapping linkage peaks on chromosomes 6p and 14p. Papers on addictive behavior, i.e. smoking and alcohol dependence and its endophenotypes, find moderate LOD scores on chromosomes 6p, 5q, 4p and 7q, respectively. Three papers concentrate on emotionality, depression and loneliness and examine chromosomes 2q and 12q. The papers in this issue represent a summary of the first large scale linkage enterprises of human behavioral traits.

Genetic Linkage↗

Leptin receptor signaling in midbrain dopamine neurons regulates feeding.

The leptin hormone is critical for normal food intake and metabolism. While leptin receptor (Lepr) function has been well studied in the hypothalamus, the functional relevance of Lepr expression in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) has not been investigated. The VTA contains dopamine neurons that are important in modulating motivated behavior, addiction, and reward. Here, we show that VTA dopamine neurons express Lepr mRNA and respond to leptin with activation of an intracellular JAK-STAT pathway and a reduction in firing rate. Direct administration of leptin to the VTA caused decreased food intake while long-term RNAi-mediated knockdown of Lepr in the VTA led to increased food intake, locomotor activity, and sensitivity to highly palatable food. These data support a critical role for VTA Lepr in regulating feeding behavior and provide functional evidence for direct action of a peripheral metabolic signal on VTA dopamine neurons.

Action Potentials↗

An A-B-C model of habit disorders: hair-pulling, skin-picking, and other stereotypic conditions.

Severe hair-pulling is characteristic of trichotillomania, an impulse control disorder not otherwise classified. Other pathological habits, including severe nail-biting and skin-picking, are also prevalent and are potentially diagnosable as stereotypic movement disorder. There is increasing awareness of the morbidity associated with these kind of habit disorders but, to date, relatively few randomized controlled trials of pharmacotherapy or psychotherapy have been undertaken. Advances in the understanding of the underlying cognitive-affective mechanisms driving stereotypies in animals and humans may ultimately lead to new approaches. An affect regulation, behavioral addiction, and cognitive control (A-B-C) approach is outlined to conceptualizing and managing these conditions.

Adult↗

Medical education in substance-related disorders: components and outcome.

AIMS: To analyze the process of acquisition by physicians of a body of knowledge and skills in the management of substance abuse. DESIGN: A comprehensive search of English-speaking literature was conducted over 20 years. Articles assessing the outcome of educational strategies in undergraduate, graduate and continuing medical education were examined to determine the targeted sample, the educational strategies involved and the outcomes assessed. FINDINGS: Nine studies in undergraduate education, 11 in graduate and 11 in continuing education met the inclusion criteria. They were generally difficult to compare in design, strategy and outcome analysis. Cognitive knowledge and behavioral skills appear to be easier to obtain compared to more complex attitudinal shifts. CONCLUSIONS: There is growing consensus in the selection of a combined didactic and interactive educational strategy but few empirical data as to the more cost-effective learning interventions. Training must be reinforced at regular intervals. While the expanding panoply of interventions available to physicians should enhance the perceptions of role legitimacy and treatment optimism, cohort studies across levels of education, specialty groups and across-substance and other addictive behaviors are required to determine cost-effective educational strategies.

Education, Medical↗

A behavioral intervention for improving verbal behaviors of heroin addicts in a treatment clinic.

Positively reinforcing appropriate behaviors improved verbal behaviors of opioid-dependent patients in a buprenorphine treatment clinic. During B phases of an ABAB design, clients received stickers for engaging in appropriate verbal or nonverbal behaviors. Each sticker provided a chance of winning $25. No reinforcement was provided during the A phases. Appropriate verbal behaviors increased during reinforcement periods, and inappropriate verbal behaviors decreased.

Adult↗

Predicting natural resolution of alcohol-related problems: a prospective behavioral economic analysis.

This study investigated whether the relative allocation of discretionary monetary expenditures to alcoholic beverages versus savings (presumed to reflect relative preferences for immediate vs. delayed rewards) before quitting abusive drinking predicted natural resolution among untreated problem drinkers. Drinking, life events, income, and expenditures were assessed for the year before resolution and again 1 and 2 years later (N = 50). Compared with those who relapsed, participants who remained resolved at 2 years reported proportionally more pre-resolution discretionary expenditures on savings and less on alcohol. Income and expenditures were similar across groups. The findings support the predictive utility of this functional index of relative reward preferences that operate over variable time horizons and suggest that temporal discounting is an important process in addictive behavior change.

Adult↗

Opioid therapy for chronic noncancer pain: practice guidelines for initiation and maintenance of therapy.

Contemporary standard pharmacological care for the treatment of noncancer pain includes the use of opioid medications. The responsiveness of neuropathic pain to opioids has long been an area of controversy. Evidence from multiple randomized controlled trials indicates that opioids can relieve pain in a variety of neuropathic pain syndromes. Opioids are typically reserved for moderate to severe pain that cannot be relieved by the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Opioids are often used in combination with other adjuvants or other analgesic agents. The advantage of opioids is the lack of a ceiling effect of the pure mu opioid agonists. The disadvantages of these drugs are a series of mechanism-based opioids-related side effects (e.g., nausea, drowsiness, constipation) and the potential issue of their abuse and misuse. Each patient needs to undergo a comprehensive evaluation and receive education on the treatment. The physician must be well conversant with the differential diagnosis and definitions of physical dependence, tolerance, pseudotolerance, aberrant behaviors, addiction, and pseudoaddiction. No specific opioid drug is intrinsically ''better'' than the others. Opioid rotation refers to the switch from one opioid to another when the degree of analgesia obtained is limited by the persistence of adverse effects or the occurrence of clinically relevant tolerance. This approach is based on the observation that a patient's response varies from opioid to opioid. At present, after 1) appropriate selection of patients and 2) longitudinal patient care with routine assessment of degree of analgesia, functional daily activities, adverse events and aberrant behaviors is carried out, opioid therapy can be the safest and most effective treatment measure for quality of life improvement in the chronic pain patient.

Humans↗

Functional characteristics of CRH receptors and potential clinical applications of CRH-receptor antagonists.

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) plays a major role in coordinating the behavioral, endocrine, autonomic and immune responses to stress. CRH and CRH-related peptides and their receptors are present in the central nervous system and in a wide variety of peripheral tissues, including the immune, cardiovascular and reproductive systems, and have been associated with the pathophysiology of many disease states. These observations have led to the development of several CRH receptor type-selective antagonists, which have been used experimentally to elucidate the role of CRH and related peptides in physiological and disease processes, such as anxiety and depression, sleep disorders, addictive behavior, inflammatory and allergic disorders, neurological diseases and pre-term labor. Because of the complex network of multiple CRH receptor subtypes and their tissue- and agonist-specific signaling diversity, antagonists need to be developed that can target specific CRH receptor isoform-driven signaling pathways.

Animals↗

Relationships between childhood abuse and neglect experience and HIV risk behaviors among methadone treatment drop-outs.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between childhood abuse/neglect experiences (sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and child neglect) and adult life functioning among Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program (MMTP) drop-outs. METHOD: 432 subjects who dropped out of MMTP were recruited in New York City in 1997-1999. Adult life functioning was measured by HIV drug and sex risk behaviors, Addiction Severity Index (ASI) composite scores, and depression. The chi(2) tests, t tests, correlation, and multiple logistic regressions were performed to examine the relationships between abuse experiences and adult life functioning. RESULTS: The prevalence of child abuse/neglect history was high among MMTP drop-outs: sexual abuse-36%; physical abuse-60%; emotional abuse-57%; child physical neglect-66%; all four experiences-25%. As assessed via ASI composite scores, those who had been abused in childhood had significantly more medical, legal, relationship, and psychological problems than those who had not. Overall, several significant associations were found between the abuse experiences and HIV risk behaviors. Those who had experienced child neglect were more likely to be HIV positive. In multivariate analyses, childhood physical abuse was a significant predictor of having multiple sex partners while depression was significantly related to injection drug use in adulthood (p<.05). There were trends for the relationships between childhood sexual abuse and HIV sex risk behavior (p<.10) and between gender and injection drug use (p<.10). CONCLUSIONS: The findings support a need for drug treatment programs that include specialized therapies for those who suffered childhood abuse and neglect experiences.

Adaptation, Psychological↗