Addiction
Describe and evaluate brain neurochemistry, including the role of dopamine as an explanation for
nicotine addiction
Nicotine attaches to neurons in the ventral tegmental area
Triggers the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens which boosts activity in the prefrontal cortex
Nicotine also stimulates the neurotransmitter glutamate which speeds up dopamine release and prevents
GABA from slowing down neuron activity
Meaning there’s a lot of dopamine in the synapse which makes the person feel pleasure
When reuptake occurs, this feeling disappears and the person wants more nicotine
Overtime the body becomes desensitised to the high levels of dopamine and the body needs more dopamine
to have the desired effect – called tolerance
When addict doesn’t have the nicotine, they experience withdrawal symptoms such as weight gain and
irritability, making it difficult for the person to stop smoking
Neuroadaptation can take years to revert back to normal functioning
AO3:
Research support – Corrigall and Coen found rats self-administered nicotine into reward centres of the brain –
when they were injected with a drug that prevents dopamine release the rats decreased the self-
administration of nicotine – suggests rats were addicted to dopamine rather than nicotine – however it’s an
animal study so can it be generalised? – humans have cognition and emotion so can use their free will to
choose not to smoke or to quit smoking – takes a biologically deterministic approach, weakening the
explanation
Research support for maintenance of smoking – Watkins et al found dopamine release reduced following
chronic exposure to nicotine, meaning tolerance of the nicotine occurs due to levels of reward felt increasing –
supported by Chiara who argues dopamine is one of the main causes of the addictive nature of nicotine, the
feeling of pleasure is released through dopaminergetic activity and so is responsible for the addictive nature of
the drug, suggests that if pleasure wasn’t felt the smoker wouldn’t continue to smoke – explanation is
reductionist as it only considers the biological reasons for nicotine, doesn’t look at the role of stress/peers
It can be argued the learning theory is a better explanation for nicotine addiction – explain cue reactivity –
means the brain neurochemistry explanation is limited as it doesn’t take into account other reasons – if these
two explanations are taken together, they can provide a more holistic explanation for nicotine addiction since
there’s a psychological and biological reaction to cues
Describe and evaluate learning theory as an explanation for nicotine addiction
Social learning theory – for smoking to be imitated it must be rewarding in some way, this is called vicarious
reinforcement – we observe others gaining rewards as a result of smoking and imitate the behaviour to gain
the same rewards e.g. smoking at a party because the people who are smoking are popular and you want to
be popular
Operant conditioning – learning where the behaviour is influenced by the consequences that follow it: positive
reinforcement is when behaviour is followed by a reward so we learn to repeat it, e.g. smoking increases
dopamine, and negative reinforcement is when a behaviour is used to stop a negative stimulus, e.g. smoking
relieves stress
Classical conditioning – individuals come to associate various things with the effects of smoking, these are
called cues e.g. specific mood (stressed), situations (beer gardens), environmental factors (smelling one)
The smoking related cue (e.g. smelling one) was initially a neutral stimulus but it got paired with the
unconditioned stimulus of the nicotine which causes dopamine levels to rise and produces an
unconditioned response of the restoration of dopamine levels, after conditioning, the cue (e.g. smelling
one) becomes a conditioned stimulus which triggers a reduction in dopamine levels (now the conditioned
response) – meaning the person experiences withdrawal symptoms so they’re motivated to smoke again to
feel better
AO3:
Research support for operant conditioning – Shiffman and Waters found sudden increases in negative mood
states, rather than slow changes in stress levels were involved in relapse, even among individuals not trying to
quit smoking there’s evidence that negative moods can increase craving to smoke – supports negative
reinforcement explanation that individuals smoke to remove negative feelings
Describe and evaluate brain neurochemistry, including the role of dopamine as an explanation for
nicotine addiction
Nicotine attaches to neurons in the ventral tegmental area
Triggers the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens which boosts activity in the prefrontal cortex
Nicotine also stimulates the neurotransmitter glutamate which speeds up dopamine release and prevents
GABA from slowing down neuron activity
Meaning there’s a lot of dopamine in the synapse which makes the person feel pleasure
When reuptake occurs, this feeling disappears and the person wants more nicotine
Overtime the body becomes desensitised to the high levels of dopamine and the body needs more dopamine
to have the desired effect – called tolerance
When addict doesn’t have the nicotine, they experience withdrawal symptoms such as weight gain and
irritability, making it difficult for the person to stop smoking
Neuroadaptation can take years to revert back to normal functioning
AO3:
Research support – Corrigall and Coen found rats self-administered nicotine into reward centres of the brain –
when they were injected with a drug that prevents dopamine release the rats decreased the self-
administration of nicotine – suggests rats were addicted to dopamine rather than nicotine – however it’s an
animal study so can it be generalised? – humans have cognition and emotion so can use their free will to
choose not to smoke or to quit smoking – takes a biologically deterministic approach, weakening the
explanation
Research support for maintenance of smoking – Watkins et al found dopamine release reduced following
chronic exposure to nicotine, meaning tolerance of the nicotine occurs due to levels of reward felt increasing –
supported by Chiara who argues dopamine is one of the main causes of the addictive nature of nicotine, the
feeling of pleasure is released through dopaminergetic activity and so is responsible for the addictive nature of
the drug, suggests that if pleasure wasn’t felt the smoker wouldn’t continue to smoke – explanation is
reductionist as it only considers the biological reasons for nicotine, doesn’t look at the role of stress/peers
It can be argued the learning theory is a better explanation for nicotine addiction – explain cue reactivity –
means the brain neurochemistry explanation is limited as it doesn’t take into account other reasons – if these
two explanations are taken together, they can provide a more holistic explanation for nicotine addiction since
there’s a psychological and biological reaction to cues
Describe and evaluate learning theory as an explanation for nicotine addiction
Social learning theory – for smoking to be imitated it must be rewarding in some way, this is called vicarious
reinforcement – we observe others gaining rewards as a result of smoking and imitate the behaviour to gain
the same rewards e.g. smoking at a party because the people who are smoking are popular and you want to
be popular
Operant conditioning – learning where the behaviour is influenced by the consequences that follow it: positive
reinforcement is when behaviour is followed by a reward so we learn to repeat it, e.g. smoking increases
dopamine, and negative reinforcement is when a behaviour is used to stop a negative stimulus, e.g. smoking
relieves stress
Classical conditioning – individuals come to associate various things with the effects of smoking, these are
called cues e.g. specific mood (stressed), situations (beer gardens), environmental factors (smelling one)
The smoking related cue (e.g. smelling one) was initially a neutral stimulus but it got paired with the
unconditioned stimulus of the nicotine which causes dopamine levels to rise and produces an
unconditioned response of the restoration of dopamine levels, after conditioning, the cue (e.g. smelling
one) becomes a conditioned stimulus which triggers a reduction in dopamine levels (now the conditioned
response) – meaning the person experiences withdrawal symptoms so they’re motivated to smoke again to
feel better
AO3:
Research support for operant conditioning – Shiffman and Waters found sudden increases in negative mood
states, rather than slow changes in stress levels were involved in relapse, even among individuals not trying to
quit smoking there’s evidence that negative moods can increase craving to smoke – supports negative
reinforcement explanation that individuals smoke to remove negative feelings
