Pathways of Addiction Opportunities in Drug Abuse Research (1996) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2. Behavioral Research
2. Behavioral Research
Pages 35-55
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 35... ...
and discusses opportunities for future research. Insights from behavioral research have made major contributions to our understanding of the addictive process, enabling researchers to study the behavior of drug taking separately from its pharmacological sequelae and making it possible to integrate the findings of other research disciplines (e.g., treatment and neurosciences)
|
From page 36... ...
This model also allows behavioral researchers to control past history and current environmental conditions, thus demonstrating that it is the interaction of the drug's pharmacological effects with past history and current environmental conditions (i.e., setting) that determines whether sampling an abusable drug will proceed to persistent use or abuse (e.g., Barrett and Witkin, 1986)
|
From page 37... ...
Animal Models of Drug Dependence Drug dependence has also been modeled in laboratory animals. Drug dependence (or addiction)
|
From page 38... ...
and psychological disturbances produced by PCP; the animal models developed by drug abuse researchers are now being relied on in this area of medications development. An exciting research development suggests that excitatory amino acids may play an important role in the development of tolerance to and dependence on drugs of abuse such as the opiates, alcohol, and stimulants (Balster and Willetts, 1996)
|
From page 39... ...
in their scheduling recommendations.2 Behavioral assays using this model provide critical data for determining the appropriate regulatory status of drugs, since such determinations cannot be made simply on the basis of chemical structure or in vitro data. Because the particular schedule in which a drug is placed strongly influences the marketing success of the new compound, the pharmaceutical industry has been a major supporter of behavioral research.
|
From page 40... ...
. This technique is effective in the test tube, but it must now be demonstrated in nonhumans before it proceeds to human trials; researchers are pursuing this work in conjunction with behavioral researchers experienced in drug self-administration research and medications development (J.
|
From page 41... ...
Research on learning and conditioning has led to successful treatment models for drug abusers, including relapse prevention, community reinforcement, and focused techniques such as extinction training, relaxation training, contingency management, and job skills training. Two well-studied behavioral interventions are discussed below: contingency management and relapse prevention.
|
From page 42... ...
Thus, even though a previously opiate-dependent person has remained drug free for a prolonged period of time, specific environmental conditions could trigger opiate withdrawal symptoms, which in turn might motivate relapse. This effect has been modeled in the laboratory, where rhesus monkeys, dependent in the past on morphine, showed clear signs of physical dependence and relapse in the presence of stimuli that in the past signaled opiate withdrawal (Goldberg and Schuster, 1967, 1969; Goldberg et al., 1970, 1971)
|
From page 43... ...
Thus, the concept of motivation -- why people use drugs -- is far more complicated than initially believed and may include adjunctive behaviors, non-drug reinforcers, appetitive behaviors, and single priming doses. Adjunctive Behaviors Although drug abuse is frequently described as a direct consequence of exposure to a drug with abuse liability, the great majority of people experimenting with such drugs do not become abusers (Anthony et al., 1994)
|
From page 44... ...
Individuals who, in the absence of drug use, will go to work, support a family, seek an education, and engage in other aspects of a productive life style, can become totally involved in drug seeking and drug taking, neglecting all other activities they previously found rewarding. Behavioral research with human subjects is now focusing on understanding the determinants of the reinforcing effects of drugs in an environment in which alternative reinforcers are available.
|
From page 45... ...
. These observations support the hypothesis that priming doses of a drug can reinstate drug taking in those who are currently not seeking or taking a drug.
|
From page 46... ...
in a meaningful fashion. Clinicians try to gauge the efficacy of treatment interventions by assessing changes in reports of drug craving by their patients.
|
From page 47... ...
Patients frequently report craving that is associated with increased thoughts about drugs and drug use. Modification or alleviation of those thoughts, while not resulting in abstinence, may well shift their focus away from drug seeking and drug taking toward more acceptable behaviors that are in keeping with the goals of a treatment program.
|
From page 48... ...
. Those areas have received attention from behavioral researchers in other contexts, and it should be possible to adapt existing models or to develop new ones with direct relevance to drug abuse and dependence.
|
From page 49... ...
As the role of expectancies in the development and maintenance of drug abuse is delineated more clearly, procedures for preventing or changing drug effect expectancies may well be a useful aspect of a more general cognitivebehavioral approach to drug abuse treatment. Behavioral Economics Drug self-administration models have been developed to provide finer-grained analyses of the dynamic interplay among variables.
|
From page 50... ...
Behavioral assays, including drug self-administration by animals and humans, as well as subjective effects assessment in humans, are the cornerstone of medications development research because they enable efficient means of screening new chemicals that are highly predictive in their effects on human drug taking. The opportunities for future behavioral research are in the continued development and utilization of those behavioral assays of drug effects.
|
From page 51... ...
Although a number of animal models have been developed, the use of behavioral models with human participants is a necessary step in expanding the field of drug abuse research. The models being developed should combine a range of behavioral approaches including conditioning, social learning, and cognitive models, integrating them to emulate most effectively the complex behaviors represented by the various aspects of drug seeking and taking.
|
From page 52... ...
1984. Testing Drugs for Physical Dependence Potential and Abuse Liability.
|
From page 53... ...
1993. Increased ethanol choice in social drinkers following etha nol preload.
|
From page 54... ...
1986. Effects of nicotine chewing gum on cigarette smoking and subjective and physiologic effects.
|
From page 55... ...
1973. Dynamics of drug dependence: Implications of a conditioning theory for research and treatment.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.