Eric L Garland1, Matthew O Howard2. 1. University of Utah, 395 South, 1500 East, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA. eric.garland@socwk.utah.edu. 2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Abstract
RATIONALE: Among opioid-treated chronic pain patients, response inhibition deficits in emotional contexts may contribute to opioid misuse. OBJECTIVES: Using high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) to index-impaired response inhibition, we examined associations between opioid misuse and response inhibition in emotional and neutral contexts in a sample of opioid-treated chronic pain patients. METHOD: Chronic pain patients taking opioid analgesics (N = 97) for ≥ 90 days completed an Emotional Go/NoGo task that presented an inhibitory control challenge in the context of neutral, opioid, negative affective, and positive affective background images while HF-HRV was computed. Opioid misuse and craving were assessed. Using a validated cut-point on the Current Opioid Misuse Measure, participants were classified as opioid misusers or non-misusers. Opioid misuse was examined as a predictor of behavioral and HF-HRV metrics of response inhibition. RESULTS: Negative affective and opioid images elicited more errors of commission (p = .002, η2partial = .16) and slowed reaction times (p = .045, η2partial = .09) compared to neutral and positive affective images, respectively. Though no between-group behavioral differences were observed on the task, opioid misusers exhibited significantly blunted phasic HF-HRV during the task relative to non-misusers (p = .027, η2partial = .11). HF-HRV during the task was significantly inversely associated with opioid craving. It was not clear whether these autonomic findings reflected a durable phenotypic difference between groups or between-group differences in opioid dosing and withdrawal. CONCLUSION: Reduced parasympathetic regulation during inhibitory control challenge may indicate heightened opioid misuse risk among opioid-treated chronic pain patients.
RATIONALE: Among opioid-treated chronic pain patients, response inhibition deficits in emotional contexts may contribute to opioid misuse. OBJECTIVES: Using high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) to index-impaired response inhibition, we examined associations between opioid misuse and response inhibition in emotional and neutral contexts in a sample of opioid-treated chronic pain patients. METHOD: Chronic pain patients taking opioid analgesics (N = 97) for ≥ 90 days completed an Emotional Go/NoGo task that presented an inhibitory control challenge in the context of neutral, opioid, negative affective, and positive affective background images while HF-HRV was computed. Opioid misuse and craving were assessed. Using a validated cut-point on the Current Opioid Misuse Measure, participants were classified as opioid misusers or non-misusers. Opioid misuse was examined as a predictor of behavioral and HF-HRV metrics of response inhibition. RESULTS: Negative affective and opioid images elicited more errors of commission (p = .002, η2partial = .16) and slowed reaction times (p = .045, η2partial = .09) compared to neutral and positive affective images, respectively. Though no between-group behavioral differences were observed on the task, opioid misusers exhibited significantly blunted phasic HF-HRV during the task relative to non-misusers (p = .027, η2partial = .11). HF-HRV during the task was significantly inversely associated with opioid craving. It was not clear whether these autonomic findings reflected a durable phenotypic difference between groups or between-group differences in opioid dosing and withdrawal. CONCLUSION: Reduced parasympathetic regulation during inhibitory control challenge may indicate heightened opioid misuse risk among opioid-treated chronic pain patients.
Authors: G G Berntson; J T Bigger; D L Eckberg; P Grossman; P G Kaufmann; M Malik; H N Nagaraja; S W Porges; J P Saul; P H Stone; M W van der Molen Journal: Psychophysiology Date: 1997-11 Impact factor: 4.016
Authors: Anna Parisi; Hannah Louise Landicho; Justin Hudak; Siri Leknes; Brett Froeliger; Eric L Garland Journal: Drug Alcohol Depend Date: 2022-02-24 Impact factor: 4.852