Social Computing and Social Media. User Experience and Behavior

Abstract

Background: Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies suggest that blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response in medial and ventral prefrontal brain regions in reaction to alcohol cues may play a role in addiction and relapse. However, it is unclear whether approved psychopharmacological therapies affect these brain regions in the face of alcohol cue exposure. The aim of this pilot study was to examine the effects of naltrexone, acamprosate, and placebo on the neural circuitry subserving alcohol cue reactivity in an fMRI environment relative to in vivo alcohol-cue exposure among non-treatment-seeking alcoholics. Methods: In this double-blind, placebo controlled human laboratory model of risk factors for relapse, 30 non-treatment-seeking alcohol dependent paid volunteers were randomly assigned to receive 2 g/day acamprosate (n=10), 50 mg/day naltrexone (n=11) or placebo (n=9) for 1 week. Subjects were then exposed to their preferred alcoholic beverage or a glass of water and asked to rate their cravings on a 4 item visual analogue scale. Subjects then completed a fMRI task during which they rated alcohol and non-alcohol beverage visual stimuli as "like, dislike, or neutral." A whole-brain single-sample t-test determined brain regions significantly active to alcohol relative to neutral beverage stimuli. Drug condition and subjective craving ratings of in vivo cue presentation were then used to predict brain response to visual cue presentation during fMRI scanning. Results: Alcohol relative to water cues evoked significantly less craving in the acamprosate (but not naltrexone) group during in vivo cue presentation as compared to placebo (p =.05). Alcohol relative to neutral beverage visual cues activated bilateral anterior cingulate, left medial frontal gyrus, bilateral cuneus, and right occipital cortex across subjects (clusters >=500mul, alpha.05). Conclusions: Results suggest acamprosate as an effective compound for dampening alcoholcue reactivity within an in vivo cue reactivity paradigm. Findings suggest that in vivo craving ratings of alcohol cues may be more sensitive than BOLD response contrast to the effects of psychopharmacological treatments on cue reactivity.