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Brain Scan Study Shows Cocaine Abusers Can
Control Cravings
New treatments aimed at strengthening
inhibitory control could help prevent relapse
November 30, 2009
UPTON, NY — When asked to inhibit their response to a
“cocaine-cues” video, active cocaine abusers were, on
average, able to suppress activity in brain regions linked to drug
craving, according to a new study at the U.S. Department of
Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory. The results, to be
published in an upcoming issue of NeuroImage, suggest that
clinical interventions designed to strengthen these inhibitory
responses could help cocaine abusers stop using drugs and avoid
relapse.
“Exposure to drugs or stimuli associated with using drugs
is one of the most common factors leading to relapse in
drug-addicted individuals,” said Nora Volkow, Director of the
National Institute on Drug Abuse and lead author on the paper.
“We know from previous studies that drug cues can trigger
dramatic changes in the brain that are linked to a strong craving
response,” added co-author Gene-Jack Wang, Chair of
Brookhaven’s medical department. “This study provides
the first evidence that cocaine abusers retain some ability to
cognitively inhibit their craving responses to drug-related
cues.”
Added Volkow, “Our findings provide enormous hope because
they imply that cognitive interventions might be developed to
maximize cocaine abusers’ success in blocking the
drug-craving response to help them avoid relapse.”
The scientists used a brain-scanning technique called positron
emission tomography (PET) and a radioactively “tagged”
form of glucose — the brain’s main fuel — to
measure brain activity in 24 active cocaine abusers during three
different conditions: 1) while subjects simply lay in the scanner
with eyes open; 2) while subjects watched a
“cocaine-cues” video with scenes simulating the
purchase, preparation, and smoking of crack cocaine; and 3) while
subjects watched the video but were told to try to inhibit their
craving response. Scans were performed in random order and on
separate days.