Craving Responses to Methamphetamine and Sexual Visual Cues in Individuals With Methamphetamine Use Disorder After Long-Term Drug Rehabilitation

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Zhixue Zhang¹  Lidan Fan¹  Jun Liu¹  Yuanyuan Dai²  Shucai Huang²  Hongxian Chen⁴  Cheng Yang⁴  Wei Hao⁴  Changcun Zhang⁵ 

[1] Department of Medical Imaging, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China;Department of Psychiatry, The Fourth People's Hospital of Wuhu, Wuhu, China;Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China;Hunan Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Chinese National Clinical Research Center on Mental Disorders (Xiangya), Chinese National Technology Institute on Mental Disorders, Mental Health Institute of the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China;Pingtang Isolated Compulsory Drug Rehabilitation Center in Hunan Province, Changsha, China;

关键词: methamphetamine;    long-term drug rehabilitation;    cue-reactivity;    fMRI;    medial prefrontal cortex;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00145

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Studies utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) cue-reactivity paradigms have demonstrated that short-term abstinent or current methamphetamine (MA) users have increased brain activity in the ventral striatum, caudate nucleus and medial frontal cortex, when exposed to MA-related visual cues. However, patterns of brain activity following cue-reactivity in subjects with long-term MA abstinence, especially long-term compulsory drug rehabilitation, have not been well studied. To enrich knowledge in this field, functional brain imaging was conducted during a cue-reactivity paradigm task in 28 individuals with MA use disorder following long-term compulsory drug rehabilitation, and 27 healthy control subjects. The results showed that, when compared with controls, individuals with MA use disorder displayed elevated activity in the bilateral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and right lateral posterior cingulate cortex in response to MA-related images. Additionally, the anterior cingulate region of mPFC activation during the MA-related cue-reactivity paradigm was positively correlated with craving alterations and previous frequency of drug use. No significant differences in brain activity in response to pornographic images were found between the two groups. Compared to MA cues, individuals with MA use disorder had increased activation in the occipital lobe when exposed to pornographic cues. In conclusion, the present study indicates that, even after long-term drug rehabilitation, individuals with MA use disorder have unique brain activity when exposed to MA-related cues. Additionally, our results illustrate that the libido brain response might be restored, and that sexual demand might be more robust than drug demand, in individuals with MA use disorder following long-term drug rehabilitation.

【 授权许可】

Unknown