Neural activation patterns in cannabis- and amphetamine-dependent individuals: alterations after 28-days of abstinence and prospective associations with relapse risk

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Addiction is a major health problem worldwide. In particular, the persistent drug craving after detoxification and the high relapse rates represent challenging problems for both the individual and society. Addiction has generally been defined as a chronic, relapsing, neurobiological disease characterized by drug intoxication, craving, bingeing, and withdrawal accompanied by loss of control over drug related behaviors. Converging lines of evidence suggest that the transition from drug use to addiction is associated with altered processing in brain circuits subserving cognition, emotion and motivation. The proposed functional MRI project aims to (1) examine common and distinct alterations in motivational and emotional processing in cannabis- and amphetamine-addicted individuals, and (2) to assess to what extend these alterations represent common or substance-specific predictors of an increased relapse risk. To this end we intend to recruit separate samples of individuals with either cannabis- or amphetamine-addictions before they enter treatment in a specialized local clinic. To examine altered motivational and emotional processing the drug-addicted samples will be compared with a group of non-using controls. To control for confounding (sub-)acute effects of substance intake all participants will undergo 28-days of supervised abstinence before the examination. To further examine the predictive value of the assessed behavioral and neural indices of motivational and emotional functioning and relapse risk participants will be followed-up for a period of 12 months after the initial examination. During the functional MRI examination the integrity of three domains will be challenged that are key to successful long-term abstinence: (i) emotional and behavioral regulation, (ii) stress regulation, and (iii) reactivity to drug-associated cues. We expect that the findings from the present project may help to identify individuals with an increased relapse risk. Moreover, the findings from the present project may help to develop more efficient and substance-specific treatment approaches for cannabis and amphetamine addiction.