SA 540

THE ADDICTED BRAIN

AIHCP BLOG: Please visit our interactive web blog. Here you will find frequently added information on our programs, articles and news by practice speciality, and much more. Register and become a part of our professional health care community.

COURSE INFORMATION

This course presents contemporary issues involving neuroanatomy and physiology as it relates to addictions. The text for the course is a comprehensive examination of how the brain works and what happens to the brain in cases of addiction. The author, a neuroscientist presents cutting edge research from using brain imaging on what is actually going on physiologically in states of addictions. While the primary context studied is related to drugs of abuse, student will also examine some other addictions related to brain function. Neurotransmitters are studied and the effects on this system are examined related to drugs of abuse. The physiology of becoming addicted is studied in-depth. Many research study outcomes are presented and reviewed to enhance the student’s learning in the physiology of addiction. Gender differences, from a physiologic view are examined as well. Some other addictions which are examined include the addiction to food, drugs and sex. Students will also study issues related to treatment modalities from both a behavioral and a neurochemical presentation. Issues for further research are also examined. Course Code: SA 540. Contact hours of education = 30

Pre-requisite: Pre-requisite to enrolling in the continuing education program: must have successfully completed the course: SA 500: Substance Abuse Theory and Practice I and SA 510: Foundations of Addictions Counseling and registrants must be: 1.) a licensed health care professional with current, active licensure to practice, or 2). a counselor, psychologist, or social worker, or 3). an ordained or licensed minister in active ministry.

This course is particularly designed for those professionals meeting one of the pre-requisites above, would like to apply for the Substance Abuse Practitioner Certification by the American Institute of Health Care Professionals, Inc.

BOARD APPROVALS: The American Institute of Health Care Professionals (The Provider) is approved by the California Board of Registered Nurses, Provider number # CEP 15595 for 30 Contact Hours. Access information

This course, which is approved by the Florida State Board Of Nursing (CE Provider # 50-11975) also has the following Board of Nursing Approvals, for 30 contact hours of CE:

The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Arkansas Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Georgia Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the South Carolina Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Professional Registered Nurses. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the New Mexico Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.

Course Refund & AIHCP Policies: access here

Instructor/Course Author: Dominick L. Flarey, Ph.D, RN-BC, ANP-BC, FACHE

Link to Resume

E-mail: info@aihcp.org

TIME FRAME: You are allotted two years from the date of enrollment, to complete all of the continuing education courses in the substance abuse practitioner program. There are no set time-frames, other than the two year allotted time. If you do not complete the courses within the two-year time-frame, you will be removed from the course and an "incomplete" will be recorded for you in our records. Also, if you would like to complete the courses after this two-year expiration time, you would need to register and pay the course tuition fee again.

TEXTBOOKS: There is one (1) required textbook for this course.

The Addicted Brain: Why we Abuse Drugs, Alcohol, and Nicotine. By Michael Kuhar, Ph.D. New Jersey; Pearson Education Inc publishing as FT Press:2012. ISBN-10: 0132542501 ISBN-13: 978-0132542500

Link to Purchase on Amazon.com: click here

GRADING: You must achieve a passing score of at least 70% to complete this course and receive the 30 hours of awarded continuing education credit. There are no letter grades assigned. You will receive notice of your total % score. Those who score below the minimum of 70% will be contacted by the and options for completing additional course work to achieve a passing score, will be presented.

EXAMINATION ACCESS: there is link to take you right to the online examination program where you can print out your examination and work with it. All examinations are formatted as "open book" tests. When you are ready, you can access the exam program at any time and click in your responses to the questions. Full information is provided in the online classrooms.

STUDENT RESOURCE CENTER: there is a link for access to a web page "Student Resource Center." The Resource Center provides for easy access to all of our policies/procedures and additional information regarding applying for certification. We also have many links to many outside reference sites, such as online libraries that you may freely access.

ONINE EVALUATION: there is a link in the classroom where you may access the course evaluation. All students completing a course, must, without exception, complete the course evaluation.

FACULTY ACCESS INFORMATION: you will have access to your instructor's online resume/biography, as well as your instructor's specific contact information.

ADDITIONAL LEARNING MATERIALS: some of our faculty have prepared additional "readings" and /or brief lecture notes to enhance your experience. All of these are available in the online classrooms.

Our site also provides specialty practice blogs, an online health care directory where members may voluntarily post information about themselves, and a health care articles blog.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

List and understand three different definitions of addictions based on DSM IV TR criteria
Understand why people take drugs
Discuss what animals tell us about human desires for drugs
Understand why drug abuse is a relapsing disorder
Discuss why and how the brain is its own reward system
Understand what deep brain stimulation is and how it relates to drugs
Review anatomy and physiology of the human brain
Discuss the physiology of the neurotransmitter systems
Identify and discuss the major neurotransmitters in the brain and their role in normal brain physiology
Explain how drugs of abuse distort normal neurotransmission
Understand and discuss how cocaine adversely affects neurotransmission function
Discuss the neurophysiology of drug addiction and drug withdrawal
Discuss what is meant by epigenetics and how it relates to drug abuse
Explain how drug use changes the activity of the brain
Recognize how dopamine is related to food intake and to sexual behavior
Describe the neurophysiology of the neurotransmitter dopamine
Assess research outcomes related to brain imaging and drug abuse
Identify time-lines related to abnormal changes in brain functioning due to drugs of abuse
Identify the three major factors that create vulnerability to the abuse of drugs
Discuss the neurophysiology involved in the development of a smoking addiction
Define and discuss several major psychological problems and how they relate to drug abuse
Discuss how drugs of abuse impair judgment
Review and discuss how the body responds to stressors
Explain how stress may lead to the abuse of drugs
Explain how social class is related to the abuse of drugs
Understand how addictions to gambling, sex and food occur from a neurophysiologic standpoint
Identify and discuss the major physiologic effects of alcohol on the brain
Identify and discuss the major physiologic effects of nicotine on the brain
Identify and discuss the major physiologic effects of cannabis on the brain
Identify and discuss the major physiologic effects of methamphetamine on the brain
Compare and contract research outcomes related to brain physiology of men and women
Discuss the impact of drug abuse on the brains of adolescents
Identify and discuss the twelve major principles related to the treatment of drug abuse
Differentiate addiction as a possible metabolic disease
Identify and discuss three major areas for future exploration and research related to drug abuse

COURSE CONTENT

Definitions of abuse and addiction by DSM IV TR
Why people take drugs
The experience of taking drugs
Brain structure and function

What animals tell us about the human desire for drugs
Relapse and cravings in drug abuse
The brain’s reward system
Deep brain stimulation and the drug connection
Anatomy and physiology of drug action in the brain
Drugs of abuse and related neurotransmitters
How neurotransmitters work
Drug abuse and neurotransmitter distortions
Physiology of drug addiction and withdrawal
Epigenetics and drug abuse
Changes in the brain due to drug abuse
Relationship between dopamine and food

How dopamine affects sexual behavior
Brain imaging and drug abuse
Issues related to recover of brain physiology in drug abuse
Issues of vulnerability and the abuse of drugs
Psychological problems related to drug abuse
Drugs and issues of impairment of judgment
Stress, social status and drugs
The stress response system
Relationship of drug abuse to stress
Drug abuse and social rank
Addictions to gambling, food and sex
Physiologic effects of alcohol on brain functioning

Physiologic effects of methamphetamine on brain functioning
Physiologic effects of other common substances of abuse on brain functioning
Issues of drug abuse in women and in adolescents
Principles of treatment in substance abuse
Addictions and metabolic processes
Issues for further and future research and clinical outcome studies

Request Information