Addiction

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Addiction Vulnerabilities Implication in
Prevention
Glen R. Hanson, Ph.D., D.D.S. Director, Utah
Addiction Center Professor, Dept. Pharmacol.
Tox. Senior Advisor, NIDA
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What if the Hokey Pokey Is What
Its All About.
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Drug Abuse- use of a drug in a manner not
medically or socially approved.
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Addiction- compulsive behavior that persists
despite severely negative consequences
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Cognition- processes of awareness,
motivation, emotions, memory and their
impact on decision-making
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If we are determined to prevent addiction, we
need to understand

• How does it occur?

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• Who are vulnerable?

• How do we prevent it?

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Trying to bring together prevention experts and
neurobiology
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What Constitutes Good Decision-making?

• They share your opinions

• They are easily trained to do
• what you want them to

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Good Decisions
Good Outcomes

• Reflects reality (e.g., senses emotions
• sensory cortex, amygdala)

• Good comprehension (e.g., recognize
• consequences cortical structures)

• Complete and accurate memory
• (hippocampus)

• Healthy priorities (values/rewards
• orbitofrontal)

• Proper balance and integration in
• frontal cortex

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• Exerts proper control when inputs
• are distorted (e.g., extreme emotions,
• peer pressures, distorted senses
• prefrontal cortex)

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Things that compromise cognition
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Causes of poor decision making
Can increase vulnerability

Poor Decision Making-Destructive Outcomes
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Adolescents and Cognition
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Why is Drug Use Attractive to adolescents??
????
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Blue represents maturing brain areas

• Impulsive system develops before
• strong cognition is fully functional

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Why this arrangement in adolescence?

• phylogenetically preserved
• every mammal experiences
• during adolescence

• Humans 13-26 yrs

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Theory High-risk attitude necessary for
development and separation from
family
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Downside
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Causes vulnerabilities to drugs
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• Why drug use during adolescence
• especially concerning

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• It may retard development, especially in
• regard to proper decision making

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Consequence of METH Use on Adolescent Brain?
Peter Pan phenomenon he/she doesnt grow up
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Other things that compromise cognition
Neurochemical (drugs of abuse) alters cognitive
functions
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How Does METH affect Decision-making Areas?
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Consequences
Higher order decision-making goes off line-

• lose proper perspective (what is real
• and important?)-easily lose temper

• dont recognize potential consequences

• dont learn from previous experiences
• (relevance of memory impaired)

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INHERITED FACTORS (genetic vulnerability-not
inevitability)
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In General Inheritability for Drug Abuse Ranges
From 40-60 (includes alcohol, cocaine,
heroin, tobacco, marijuana)

• Some Variability Between Drugs

• Developmental impact?

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Examples of How Genetics Can Influence
Cognition
All increase vulnerability to drug abuse and
poor decision making
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Impact prevention and treatment elements?
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UAC
(Utah Addiction Center)
University of Utah