Addiction, Author Interviews, Cocaine / 25.09.2013
Cocaine: Brain Reward Circuitry Altered, even in Former Users
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Krishna Patel, M.S.
Clinical Data Analyst
Hartford Hospital|Institute of Living
Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center
Hartford, CT-06106
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Answer: We looked at brain response to a monetary incentive delay (MID) task in current and former cocaine users compared to healthy controls using functional MRI. The task measures aspects of sensitivity to rewards and punishments. Current cocaine users showed abnormal under-activation in reward circuitry compared to healthy controls. In some of those regions former cocaine users (who had an average of 4years of abstinence from cocaine) also showed abnormalities. These former users also showed over-activation in the ventral tegmental area of the midbrain, (an important region containing dopamine cell bodies) compared to both healthy controls and current cocaine users. Current and former cocaine users also scored higher on specific impulsivity measures, compared to healthy controls.
(more…)