MAC Trivia 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which neurotransmitter is most directly associated with the reward pathway activated by most substances of abuse?
- Serotonin
- Dopamine (Correct answer)
- GABA
- Norepinephrine
Correct answer: Dopamine
Dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens (the brain's reward center) is the primary mechanism through which addictive substances produce pleasurable effects.
Question 2: The DSM-5 replaced the separate diagnoses of 'substance abuse' and 'substance dependence' with a single diagnosis called:
- Substance Use Disorder (Correct answer)
- Addictive Disorder
- Chemical Dependency Syndrome
- Substance-Related Disorder
Correct answer: Substance Use Disorder
The DSM-5 combined substance abuse and substance dependence into a single diagnosis of Substance Use Disorder, rated as mild, moderate, or severe based on the number of criteria met.
Question 3: Which of the following is NOT one of the four core dimensions of recovery identified by SAMHSA?
- Health
- Home
- Purpose
- Spirituality (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Spirituality
SAMHSA's four dimensions of recovery are Health, Home, Purpose, and Community — spirituality is not a named dimension, though it may support recovery.
Question 4: The 'kindling effect' in addiction refers to:
- Increased tolerance requiring higher doses over time
- Progressive worsening of withdrawal severity with repeated detoxifications (Correct answer)
- The initial sensitization to a substance's euphoric effects
- Cross-tolerance between chemically similar substances
Correct answer: Progressive worsening of withdrawal severity with repeated detoxifications
The kindling effect describes how repeated withdrawal episodes cause increasingly severe and potentially life-threatening withdrawal symptoms, particularly with alcohol and benzodiazepines.
Question 5: Project MATCH, a landmark clinical trial in addiction treatment, found that:
- CBT was significantly superior to all other treatments
- Client-treatment matching produced dramatically better outcomes
- All three tested treatments produced similar outcomes (Correct answer)
- 12-step facilitation was ineffective for most patients
Correct answer: All three tested treatments produced similar outcomes
Project MATCH found that CBT, Motivational Enhancement Therapy, and 12-Step Facilitation all produced similar outcomes, challenging the hypothesis that matching clients to specific treatments would substantially improve results.
Question 6: Which medication is used for alcohol use disorder and works by blocking opioid receptors to reduce alcohol cravings?
- Disulfiram
- Acamprosate
- Naltrexone (Correct answer)
- Buprenorphine
Correct answer: Naltrexone
Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist that reduces alcohol cravings and the rewarding effects of alcohol by blocking opioid receptors involved in alcohol's pleasurable effects.
Question 7: The concept of 'cross-addiction' (also called cross-dependence) suggests that:
- Two substances from different drug classes cannot produce addiction simultaneously
- A person addicted to one substance has increased risk for addiction to other substances (Correct answer)
- Addiction to prescription drugs is less severe than addiction to illicit drugs
- Tolerance developed for one drug class does not transfer to other drug classes
Correct answer: A person addicted to one substance has increased risk for addiction to other substances
Cross-addiction refers to the phenomenon where someone with a substance use disorder is at elevated risk for developing dependence on other substances, due to shared neurobiological vulnerabilities.
MAC Trivia 2
Which neurotransmitter is most directly associated with the reward pathway activated by most substances of abuse?