Main Body
Ch. 3: Biology of Addiction
This chapter goes into greater detail about some of the topics introduced in the NIDA publication, and some additional content mentioned in our classification system from Module 2. You will be reading a chapter about neurobiology and addiction from Begun and Brown (2014). As further assistance to your learning, this chapter also includes a case example in which many of the concepts are applied.
In this chapter you will read about:
- the role of genetics in substance use disorders/addiction;
- basic neuroanatomy as it relates to substance use disorders/addiction;
- basic neurophysiology as it relates to substance use disorders/addiction;
- substance use and human development;
- neurobiology and recovery from substance use disorders;
- clinical implications of this information; and,
- key terms used in the field of substance use disorders and addiction.
Click here for a link to our Carmen course where you can locate the assigned pdf file(s) for this chapter. You will need to be logged into our Carmen course, select Modules 3&4, and proceed to the Coursework area. Under the Readings heading you will find a box with links to the readings for relevant coursebook chapters. Don’t forget to return here in your coursebook to complete the remaining chapters and interactive activities.
Please answer these short questions to assess your knowledge of the readings.
Mark each of the error statements by clicking on the number in front of the bolded text to identify phrases written in a message home by a classmate who was not paying attention to what was being read.
We have been learning about the biology of addiction in our class and I learned that (1)genomic scientists have (2)identified the addiction gene ! I also learned that there are some (3)protective genes , at least against (4)alcohol use disorders , because they can make it very uncomfortable for a person to drink. Genetic differences between people can also cause (5)differences in their level of response or metabolic tolerance for alcohol, and (6)women tend to metabolize alcohol faster than men so they tend to get drunk more easily. Genetic heritability (rather than environmental factors) predicts and explains (7)more alcohol use disorders for women than for men . And one reason why alcohol dependence and depression may co-occur for many people is because (8)some chromosomal regions are shared for these two problems .