Marijuana craving in the brain
Marijuana craving in the brain
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.0903863106
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发表时间：
2009-08-04
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Hutchison, Kent E.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Filbey, Francesca M.;Schacht, Joseph P.;Hutchison, Kent E.
渴望是药物成瘾的主要行为组成部分之一，而线索引发的渴望是这种结构的一种特别强大的形式。虽然线索引发的渴望及其潜在的神经生物学机制已经在酒精和其他滥用药物方面得到了广泛的研究，但大麻的情况却并非如此。线索引发的对其他滥用药物的渴望与一些大脑区域的活动增加有关，特别是奖励通路。这项研究使用功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）来检测线索引发的大麻渴望。38名经常吸食大麻的人在72小时内不使用大麻，并在接受功能磁共振成像扫描时向他们展示与大麻相关的触觉和中性线索。奖赏通路中的几个结构，包括腹侧被盖区、丘脑、前扣带、脑岛和杏仁核，在大麻提示下比在中性提示下表现出更大的血氧水平依赖（BOLD）激活。这些区域是动机行为和激励显著性归因的基础。眼窝额叶皮层和伏隔核的激活也与大麻使用相关的问题呈正相关，因此，更大的BOLD激活与大麻问题量表上更多的项目相关。因此，线索引发的对大麻的渴望激活了与成瘾神经病理相关的奖赏神经回路，这些结构的激活程度与大麻相关问题的严重程度有关。这些发现可能为大麻依赖治疗策略的发展提供信息。
Craving is one of the primary behavioral components of drug addiction, and cue-elicited craving is an especially powerful form of this construct. While cue-elicited craving and its underlying neurobiological mechanisms have been extensively studied with respect to alcohol and other drugs of abuse, the same cannot be said for marijuana. Cue-elicited craving for other drugs of abuse is associated with increased activity in a number of brain areas, particularly the reward pathway. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine cue-elicited craving for marijuana. Thirty-eight regular marijuana users abstained from use for 72 h and were presented with tactile marijuana-related and neutral cues while undergoing a fMRI scan. Several structures in the reward pathway, including the ventral tegmental area, thalamus, anterior cingulate, insula, and amygdala, demonstrated greater blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) activation in response to the marijuana cue as compared with the neutral cue. These regions underlie motivated behavior and the attribution of incentive salience. Activation of the orbitofrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens was also positively correlated with problems related to marijuana use, such that greater BOLD activation was associated with greater number of items on a marijuana problem scale. Thus, cue-elicited craving for marijuana activates the reward neurocircuitry associated with the neuropathology of addiction, and the magnitude of activation of these structures is associated with severity of cannabis-related problems. These findings may inform the development of treatment strategies for cannabis dependence.