Question

The nurse is teaching a class on addiction. Which statement by one of the participates in the class indicates a need for further teaching?

a) Addictive drugs produce dopamine release in similar amounts to the normally released in reward circuit

b) Overtime the brain will develop reduced responses to many addictive drugs

c) With the use of drug overtime the brain will undergo synaptic remodelling

d) Changes in neurons after chronic drug use leads to feelings of depression

Answer 1

question :

The nurse is teaching a class on addiction. Which statement by one of the participates in the class indicates a need for further teaching

ANS:

A:Addictive drugs produce dopamine release in similar amounts to the normally released in reward circuit

For the brain, the difference between normal rewards and drug rewards can be described as the difference between someone whispering into your ear and someone shouting into a microphone. Just as we turn down the volume on a radio that is too loud, the brain adjusts to the overwhelming surges in dopamine (and other neurotransmitters) by producing less dopamine or by reducing the number of receptors that can receive signals. As a result, dopamine’s impact on the reward circuit of the brain of someone who abuses drugs can become abnormally low, and that person’s ability to experience any pleasure is reduced. This is why a person who abuses drugs eventually feels flat, lifeless, and depressed, and is unable to enjoy things that were previously pleasurable. Now, the person needs to keep taking drugs again and again just to try and bring his or her dopamine function back up to normal—which only makes the problem worse, like a vicious cycle. Also, the person will often need to take larger amounts of the drug to produce the familiar dopamine high—an effect known as tolerance.