The Human PFC Response to Drug Cues: Outcome Representation vs. Cognitive Contro

University Of California At Davis, Davis CA

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Abstract

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): It has been repeatedly shown that drug cues are a powerful influence in drug addiction and relapse; however, several aspects of reactivity to drug cues are still unclear. In particular, the precise neural mechanisms that underlie the link between exposure to drug cues and the decision-making processes that lead to drug use or relapse, remain unknown. Cognitive models of addiction reconcile well apparent discrepancies in existing results of cue-reactivity studies. Furthermore, cognitive processes are also highly relevant for normal decision-making. Therefore, it is likely that a better understanding of the effects of drug cues on decision-making and their neural substrates could come from neurocognitive models that integrate: 1) the neural substrates of normal decision-making and 2) disturbances of cognitive mechanisms in addiction. Here we propose such a model, which posits the existence of segregated ventral prefrontal circuits involved in appetitive vs. aversive cue-associated representations, as well as dorsal prefrontal areas involved in active suppression of automatic but maladaptive cognitive processes triggered by exposure to drug cues [unreadable] [unreadable] This proposal's specific aim is to use fMRI to test, in stimulant-dependent patients and matched control subjects, two hypotheses generated by this model: A) In patients recovering from stimulant dependence, drug cues impair the capacity for behavioral control because of their motivational salience, which enhances their attention-capturing properties, which in turn interfere with the limited capacity of cognitive control systems; B) In patients, the drug cues elicit concurrent and opposing motivational representations (appetitive and aversive), whose resultant effect modulate the cue's influence on behavior. [unreadable] [unreadable] Understanding the effects of drug cues on decision making in drug-dependent individuals holds great potential for clinical aspects of addiction. If successful, this project will open a new line of research that will contribute to: 1) the search for screening procedures aimed at identifying risk factors for drug dependence and relapse, and 2) to the design and implementation of treatments and monitoring their efficacy. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]