Effects of Social Context on the Neural Correlates of Cue Reactivity

描述（由申请人提供）：背景：对于瘾君子来说，接触与毒品相关的刺激会产生显著的情绪和动机反应，如愉悦和渴望，从而鼓励立即使用物质，并破坏戒除或控制毒品使用的努力。最近的神经成像研究发现，大脑区域的分布式网络有助于这种反应。然而，所有研究的结果都令人烦恼地不一致，部分原因可能是研究人员未能对影响药物渴望的心理背景给予足够的关注。在实验室之外，瘾君子的精神状态、现成物质的可获得性、社会环境以及遇到线索的环境背景可能对毒品线索的心理和行为反应起着至关重要的作用。描述这些因素的性质可能有助于解决文献中存在的差异，从而有助于阐明负责药物线索反应的神经基质及其在成瘾中的作用。具体目的：本研究的总体目标是确定影响药物寻求行为倾向的关键社会和环境因素。具体目标包括(i)了解社会背景如何影响与线索反应相关的神经活动；（ii）检查研究参与者的情绪和精神状态如何影响对线索暴露的反应；（iii）预测线索暴露后的自我调节行为；（iv）检查社会从众是否会耗尽自我调节资源。这项研究将利用一种独特的电影资源，这些电影已经对毒品、烟草和酒精的使用，以及社会背景、吸毒动机和角色特征进行了严格的计算机编码。该数据库包括自1995年以来每年排名前100的电影。每项研究的刺激材料将从数据库中精心挑选。为了完成我们的研究目标，我们将使用功能磁共振成像。意义：由于暴露于药物线索在药物使用和复发中起着重要作用，了解这些反应的神经机制将有助于深入了解成瘾的大脑。了解药物线索暴露的社会背景有可能阐明成瘾行为的治疗。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Background: For addicts, exposure to drug-relevant stimuli produces significant emotional and motivational reactions, such as pleasure and craving that encourage immediate substance use and undermine efforts to abstain or control drug use. Recent neuroimaging research has identified a distributed network of brain regions that contribute to this reactivity. However, results across studies have been vexingly inconsistent, perhaps in part because researchers have failed to pay sufficient attention to the psychological contexts that influence drug craving. Outside of the laboratory, the mental state of the addict, the availability of ready substances, the social environment, and the environmental context in which cues are encountered are likely to make vital contributions to psychological and behavioral reactions to drug cues. Delineating the nature of these factors may help resolve extant discrepancies in the literature, thereby helping to elucidate the neural substrates responsible for drug cue reactivity and their role in addiction. Specific Aims: The overarching goal of this research is to identify key social and contextual factors that affect the propensity to engage in drug-seeking behavior. Specific aims include (i) understanding how social context influences neural activity associated with cue reactivity (ii) examining how the emotional and mental state of research participants influences reactions to cue exposure, (iii) predicting self-regulatory behavior following cue exposure, and (iv) examining whether social conformity depletes self-regulatory resources. This research will make use of a unique resource of movies that have been rigorously computer-coded for drug, tobacco, and alcohol use, as well as for social context, drug use motivations, and character features. The database consists of the top 100 movies each year since 1995. The stimulus materials for each study will be carefully selected from the database. To accomplish our research goals, we will use functional magnetic resonance imaging. Significance: Because exposure to drug cues plays a prominent role in drug use and relapse, understanding the neural mechanisms that contribute to these reactions will provide insights into the addicted brain. Understanding the social context of drug cue exposure has the potential to illuminate treatment of addictive behaviors.