BACKGROUND: Relapse is a major problem in the treatment of addictive behaviors. Conditioning models of alcohol addiction suggest that stimuli associated with previous drug use (cues) may initiate relapse in a definite group of alcoholics. Event-related potentials (ERPs) might be useful to reveal the brain functional substrates of cue-reactivity. METHODS: In a preliminary investigation, 11 alcohol-dependent patients who did not take part in the electrophysiological study completed a structured interview to rate 80 words as to the degree of relatedness to alcohol. Based on these results, cue-reactivity for 15 alcohol-related and 15 unrelated word cues, each repeated eight times, was investigated in 19 alcohol-dependent men (44.2 +/- 8.5 years) and 19 healthy control men (42.5 +/- 12.5 years). RESULTS: A cue-reactivity that consisted of significantly higher amplitudes in the ERPs after alcohol-related words compared with unrelated words was found in alcohol-dependent patients, but not in controls, at the electrode location Pz [F(1,36) = 5.2,p < 0.05]. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with the hypothesis, only alcohol-dependent patients were characterized by signs of increased cerebral activity associated with alcohol-related compared with unrelated cues. Therefore, the results support the concept of cue-reactivity in alcoholism based on a neurobiological measurement. Future investigations will show whether this cue-reactivity can be applied to assess the risk of relapse in individual alcohol-dependent patients.
BACKGROUND: Relapse is a major problem in the treatment of addictive behaviors. Conditioning models of alcohol addiction suggest that stimuli associated with previous drug use (cues) may initiate relapse in a definite group of alcoholics. Event-related potentials (ERPs) might be useful to reveal the brain functional substrates of cue-reactivity. METHODS: In a preliminary investigation, 11 alcohol-dependent patients who did not take part in the electrophysiological study completed a structured interview to rate 80 words as to the degree of relatedness to alcohol. Based on these results, cue-reactivity for 15 alcohol-related and 15 unrelated word cues, each repeated eight times, was investigated in 19 alcohol-dependent men (44.2 +/- 8.5 years) and 19 healthy control men (42.5 +/- 12.5 years). RESULTS: A cue-reactivity that consisted of significantly higher amplitudes in the ERPs after alcohol-related words compared with unrelated words was found in alcohol-dependent patients, but not in controls, at the electrode location Pz [F(1,36) = 5.2,p < 0.05]. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with the hypothesis, only alcohol-dependent patients were characterized by signs of increased cerebral activity associated with alcohol-related compared with unrelated cues. Therefore, the results support the concept of cue-reactivity in alcoholism based on a neurobiological measurement. Future investigations will show whether this cue-reactivity can be applied to assess the risk of relapse in individual alcohol-dependent patients.
Authors: An-Li Wang; Dan Romer; Igor Elman; Bruce I Turetsky; Ruben C Gur; Daniel D Langleben Journal: Addict Biol Date: 2013-12-15 Impact factor: 4.280
Authors: Muhammad A Parvaz; Nelly Alia-Klein; Patricia A Woicik; Nora D Volkow; Rita Z Goldstein Journal: Rev Neurosci Date: 2011-11-25 Impact factor: 4.353
Authors: Ingmar H A Franken; Cornelis J Stam; Vincent M Hendriks; Wim van den Brink Journal: Psychopharmacology (Berl) Date: 2003-07-25 Impact factor: 4.530
Authors: Maria C van de Laar; Robert Licht; Ingmar H A Franken; Vincent M Hendriks Journal: Psychopharmacology (Berl) Date: 2004-06-25 Impact factor: 4.530