Article
Psychiatry
Daniela Benzano, Felipe Ornell, Jaqueline Bohrer Schuch, Flavio Pechansky, Anne Orgler Sordi, Lisia von Diemen, Felix Henrique Paim Kessler
Summary: Individuals with substance use disorder are at higher risk of COVID-19 severity due to various risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, respiratory issues, and homelessness. Multiple risk factors were observed in the sample, indicating a potentially worse prognosis for COVID-19 in this population.
PSYCHIATRY RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Wenhan Yang, Min Zhang, Fei Tang, Yanyao Du, Li Fan, Jing Luo, Cui Yan, Shicong Wang, Jun Zhang, Kai Yuan, Jun Liu
Summary: This study found that after protracted heroin abstinence, heroin users showed improvements in cortical thickness and resting-state functional connectivity in the brain, leading to enhanced cognition and reduced craving. This indicates that impaired frontal-limbic neurocircuitry in substance-abusing individuals can be partially restored, providing novel scientific evidence for brain circuit recovery associated with cognition and craving.
HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING
(2022)
Article
Psychiatry
Wenhan Yang, Shicong Wang, Jing Luo, Cui Yan, Fei Tang, Yanyao Du, Li Fan, Min Zhang, Jun Zhang, Kai Yuan, Jun Liu
Summary: This study found that there were changes in the functional connectivity of the insular cortex in individuals with opioid use disorder after protracted abstinence, and these changes were correlated with changes in craving. This finding provides novel evidence for future abstinence therapies and rehabilitation procedures for patients with substance use disorders.
PSYCHIATRY RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Tyrone L. Burleigh, Mark D. Griffiths, Alexander Sumich, Grace Y. Wang, Daria J. Kuss
Summary: The findings of the study suggest that gamers from different populations share similar at-risk behaviors, and these behaviors are more pronounced among abstinent substance use gamers, particularly among poly-substance use gamers. The study highlights the importance of considering integrated treatment approaches that address both substance use and other problematic behaviors.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Nicolo Trevisan, Fabio Di Camillo, Niccolo Ghiotto, Giulia Cattarinussi, Maddalena Sala, Fabio Sambataro
Summary: In this study, the complexity of cortical folding (CCF) was compared between patients with cocaine addiction and controls. Patients with cocaine addiction showed reduced CCF in the left insula, the supramarginal gyrus, and the left medial orbitofrontal cortex. The reduction in cortical folding in the left medial orbitofrontal cortex was associated with the age of onset of cocaine addiction and attentional impulsivity.
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Gary B. Kaplan, Benjamin L. Thompson
Summary: Opioid use disorder is characterized by excessive use of opioids, inability to control use, withdrawal syndrome, and likelihood of relapse. The opponent process view of motivation suggests that opioid addiction involves positive affective experiences during active involvement and negative affective experiences during abstinence. These negative experiences are hypothesized to be caused by neuroadaptations in the extended amygdala, which includes the CeA, BNST, and NAc shell, as well as input from the BLA. Animal models of opioid withdrawal demonstrate the somatic, motivational, affective, and learning related aspects of withdrawal. Neuroadaptations in the extended amygdala lead to aversive and fear-related effects, hypodopaminergia, and increased vulnerability to relapse. Understanding and reversing these neuroadaptations could lead to new interventions for opioid use disorder.
FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Ahmet O. Ceceli, Yuefeng Huang, Greg Kronberg, Pias Malaker, Pazia Miller, Sarah G. King, Pierre-Olivier Gaudreault, Natalie McClain, Lily Gabay, Devarshi Vasa, Jeffrey H. Newcorn, Defne Ekin, Nelly Alia-Klein, Rita Z. Goldstein
Summary: Opiate and stimulant addictions have significant impacts on society, resulting in numerous deaths each year. This study found that individuals with heroin use disorder have lower grey matter volume in the corticostriatal and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, while those with cocaine addiction have lower grey matter volume in the inferior frontal gyrus. These results suggest substance-specific volumetric changes in human psychostimulant or opiate addiction, highlighting the importance of biomarker development and targeted treatments.
Review
Substance Abuse
Muhammad A. Parvaz, Rachel A. Rabin, Faith Adams, Rita Z. Goldstein
Summary: Neuroimaging studies suggest that individuals with substance use disorders may experience partial neurobiological recovery, particularly in frontal cortical regions, the insula, hippocampus, and cerebellum, after abstinence. Functional and neurochemical recovery may also be observed in prefrontal cortical regions and subcortical structures.
DRUG AND ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Swarup Mitra, Pedro H. Gobira, Craig T. Werner, Jennifer A. Martin, Madoka Iida, Shruthi A. Thomas, Kyra Erias, Sophia Miracle, Charles Lafargue, Chunna An, David M. Dietz
Summary: After prolonged drug abuse, changes in DAGL and MAGL levels in the NAc influence cocaine relapse by regulating the synthesis of the endocannabinoid 2-AG. Additionally, the phosphorylation status of the translational initiation factor eIF2 alpha is also modulated in this process.
Article
Psychiatry
Lei Li, Hua Yu, Yihao Liu, Ya-Jing Meng, Xiao-Jing Li, Chengcheng Zhang, Sugai Liang, Ming-Li Li, Wanjun Guo, Qiang Wang, Wei Deng, Xiaohong Ma, Jeremy Coid, Tao Li
Summary: The study found GM atrophy in the right hippocampus, right insula, and left middle frontal gyrus in AUD patients, with lower levels compared to controls. Additionally, increasing GM atrophy in the right insula was associated with longer abstinence duration. Male ratio was positively correlated with GM atrophy in the left middle frontal gyrus.
Article
Immunology
Mark D. Namba, Megan N. Phillips, Janet L. Neisewander, M. Foster Olive
Summary: Chronic drug self-administration and withdrawal lead to neuroimmune adaptations that increase drug craving and relapse vulnerability. The NF-KB pathway regulates immune and addiction-related genes like MMP-9. Knockdown of NF-KB p65 subunit in the NAc core affects cue-induced cocaine seeking, but not sucrose seeking, and this effect is sex-specific. Males have higher levels of MMP-9 in the NAc core and NAcSh compared to females, and p65 knockdown significantly reduces MMP-9 in the NAc core of male rats exposed to cocaine cues.
BRAIN BEHAVIOR AND IMMUNITY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Rachel A. Rabin, Scott Mackey, Muhammad A. Parvaz, Janna Cousijn, Chiang-shan Li, Godfrey Pearlson, Lianne Schmaal, Rajita Sinha, Elliot Stein, Dick Veltman, Paul M. Thompson, Patricia Conrod, Hugh Garavan, Nelly Alia-Klein, Rita Z. Goldstein
Summary: This study investigates the impact of gender on gray matter volume (GMV) in cocaine-dependent individuals (CD) compared to controls. The results suggest gender differences in certain brain areas, and the diagnosis differences are predominantly found in frontal regions. These findings may shed light on the gender-specific mechanisms in cocaine addiction.
HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING
(2022)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Jason Yuen, Abhinav Goyal, Aaron E. Rusheen, Abbas Z. Kouzani, Michael Berk, Jee Hyun Kim, Susannah J. Tye, Charles D. Blaha, Kevin E. Bennet, Dong-Pyo Jang, Kendall H. Lee, Hojin Shin, Yoonbae Oh
Summary: For over 40 years, in vivo microdialysis techniques have been crucial in studying the effects of illicit substances on dopamine levels in the brain, but limitations have led to the development of a new electrochemical method known as M-CSWV. This method provides faster recordings of dopamine level changes, allowing for a more detailed understanding of neuronal responses to drug administration.
FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Psychiatry
Milton Mocambique, Aline Hoffmann, Vinicius S. Roglio, Felix H. P. Kessler, Carla Dalbosco, Jaqueline B. Schuch, Flavio Pechansky
Summary: This study reviewed the prevalence of suicidal behaviors among cocaine users seeking health services. The results showed that the prevalence of suicidal ideation was 43.59% and the prevalence of suicide attempts was 27.71%. These findings suggest that cocaine use can be considered a risk factor for suicidal behavior, highlighting the importance of implementing prevention and early screening measures to facilitate proper treatment.
BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Julia C. Basso, Medha K. Satyal, Liqa Athamneh, Warren K. Bickel
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the attraction to palatable foods in individuals recovering from substance misuse. Contrary to expectations, individuals in recovery showed improved outcomes in temporal discounting, hedonic hunger, and food addiction symptoms. Recovery status and temporal discounting were significant predictors of these outcomes.
Article
Substance Abuse
Jonatan Ottino-Gonzalez, Hugh Garavan, Matthew D. Albaugh, Zhipeng Cao, Renata B. Cupertino, Nathan Schwab, Philip A. Spechler, Nicholas Allen, Eric Artiges, Tobias Banaschewski, Arun L. W. Bokde, Erin Burke Quinlan, Ruediger Bruehl, Catherine Orr, Janna Cousijn, Sylvane Desrivieres, Herta Flor, John J. Foxe, Juliane H. Froehner, Anna E. Goudriaan, Penny Gowland, Antoine Grigis, Andreas Heinz, Robert Hester, Kent Hutchison, Chiang-Shan R. Li, Edythe D. London, Valentina Lorenzetti, Maartje Luijten, Frauke Nees, Rocio Martin-Santos, Jean-Luc Martinot, Sabina Millenet, Reza Momenan, Marie-Laure Paillere Martinot, Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos, Martin P. Paulus, Luise Poustka, Lianne Schmaal, Gunter Schumann, Rajita Sinha, Michael N. Smolka, Nadia Solowij, Dan J. Stein, Elliot A. Stein, Anne Uhlmann, Ruth J. Holst, Dick J. Veltman, Henrik Walter, Robert Whelan, Reinout W. Wiers, Murat Yucel, Sheng Zhang, Neda Jahanshad, Paul M. Thompson, Patricia Conrod, Scott Mackey
Summary: Graph theoretic analysis of structural covariance networks provides insights into brain organization in alcohol dependence. This study found that a specific structural covariance network profile can serve as an early marker for alcohol dependence in adults, and may also be a pre-existing risk factor for problematic drinking.
Editorial Material
Neurosciences
Nathan A. Smith, Dana L. Helmreich, Antoine Adamantidis, Paola Bovolenta, John J. Foxe, Yoland Smith, Vidita A. Vaidya
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
David P. Richardson, John J. Foxe, Kevin A. Mazurek, Nicholas Abraham, Edward G. Freedman
Summary: The study showed that walking affects neurophysiological indices of both proactive and reactive control. Walking amplified cue-evoked late frontal slow waves, and reduced the amplitude of target-evoked fronto-central N2 and parietal P3. The effects of walking on evoked neural responses systematically increased as the task became increasingly difficult.
Article
Neurosciences
Kathryn-Mary Wakim, Edward G. Freedman, Madalina E. Tivarus, Armin Heinecke, John J. Foxe
Summary: Individuals diagnosed with both co-morbid HIV infection and cocaine use disorder are at higher risk of poor health outcomes. Research shows that individuals affected by both conditions demonstrate the lowest response accuracy, and the CD+/ HIV+ group exhibits hyperactivation in brain regions related to response inhibition.
Article
Pediatrics
Michael R. Sherby, Luther G. Kalb, Ryan J. Coller, Gregory P. DeMuri, Sabrina Butteris, John J. Foxe, Martin S. Zand, Edward G. Freedman, Stephen Dewhurst, Jason G. Newland, Christina A. Gurnett
Summary: Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities and children with medical complexity have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This report describes the implementation of screening testing models to facilitate safe school operations for these high-risk populations during the current and future pandemics.
Article
Psychiatry
Ana A. Francisco, John J. Foxe, Douwe J. Horsthuis, Sophie Molholm
Summary: We investigated visual processing and adaptation in individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, a condition associated with an increased risk for schizophrenia. Our findings suggest that there are differences in early visual processing and adaptation between individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and those with idiopathic schizophrenia. The results indicate that there may be specific neurogenetic aspects associated with the deletion in chromosome 22 and that visual processing measures in the later time window may be markers of psychosis presence and chronicity/severity.
Article
Neurosciences
Eleni Patelaki, John J. Foxe, Kevin A. Mazurek, Edward G. Freedman
Summary: This study investigates the effects of pairing a cognitive task with walking in young adults. The preliminary findings suggest that some participants improve in cognitive task performance while walking, while others do not. Neural activity changes associated with performance improvement may have potential implications for assessing cognitive decline in aging and neurodegeneration.
Article
Neurosciences
Kathryn K. Toffolo, Edward G. Freedman, John J. Foxe
Summary: This study developed an auditory stimulus set for investigating semantic processing and integration. The set was validated to elicit specific brain responses and can be used to explore differences in sentence semantic comprehension between control and clinical populations.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Emily J. Knight, Aaron Krakowski, Edward G. Freedman, John S. Butler, Sophie Molholm, John J. Foxe
Summary: This study examined the modulating role of attention in biological motion processing in ASD, finding that individuals with ASD have reduced automatic neural specificity for upright biological motion compared to neurotypical individuals, but are able to discriminate biological from non-biological motion with explicit attention. Additionally, distinctive patterns of covariance were observed between visual potentials evoked by biological motion and functional social ability in the ASD group, suggesting potential implications for the development of higher-order social cognition.
Article
Neurosciences
Kathryn-Mary Wakim, John J. Foxe, Sophie Molholm
Summary: Motor atypicalities are common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and research on basic motor processing in autistic individuals is surprisingly sparse. In this study, we analyzed EEG data from a large sample of autistic and neurotypical children and adolescents, revealing clear motor-related neural responses in ASD, but with subtle differences compared to typically developing participants. Group differences were most prominent in the youngest group of children (age 6-9), suggesting the need for further investigations in younger children.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Emily J. Knight, Edward G. Freedman, Evan J. Myers, Alaina S. Berruti, Leona A. Oakes, Cody Zhewei Cao, Sophie Molholm, John J. Foxe
Summary: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder exhibit atypical sensory perception, which is not fully understood. One proposed mechanism is an imbalance in higher-order feedback inputs during sensory perception, resulting in a preference for local object features. This study investigated this theory using visual evoked potentials and found that autistic children had attenuated responses to illusory contours compared to neurotypical controls. These findings suggest that weakened predictive feedback processes may contribute to the visual processing anomalies seen in autism.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Eleni Patelaki, John J. Foxe, Emma P. Mantel, George Kassis, Edward G. Freedman
Summary: Combining walking with a cognitive task can improve performance in younger and older adults, with the former benefiting cognitively while the latter experiencing motor decline. EEG activity and behavioral responses during walking were correlated with increased response accuracy, while slower walking speeds and changes in EEG activity were associated with aging.
Editorial Material
Neurosciences
Michael Willis, Megan R. Carey, John J. Foxe, Jackie Jones, Nathan Smith, Vidita Vaidya
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Eleni Patelaki, John J. Foxe, Amber L. McFerren, Edward G. Freedman
Summary: This study investigates the neural mechanisms underlying increased cognitive load while walking. The findings suggest that the difficulty of the cognitive task does not affect response accuracy, speed, or gait consistency, but it does lead to changes in EEG components.
Article
Neurosciences
Emily L. Isenstein, Edward G. Freedman, Jiayi Xu, Ian A. DeAndrea-Lazarus, John J. Foxe
Summary: This study evaluated electrophysiological discrimination of parametric somatosensory stimuli in healthy young adults to understand how the brain processes the duration of tactile information. The results showed that participants did not electrophysiologically discriminate between 100 and 115 ms, but they exhibited distinct electrophysiological responses when the deviant stimuli were 130, 145, and 160 ms. These findings contribute to a better understanding of tactile sensitivity in different clinical conditions.