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Title: Overlapping patterns of brain activation to food and cocaine cues in cocaine abusers: Association to striatal D2/D3 receptors

Journal Article · · Human Brain Mapping
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.22617· OSTI ID:1281081
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5]
  1. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, MD (United States)
  2. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  3. National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, MD (United States)
  4. New York Univ., New York, NY (United States)
  5. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, MD (United States); National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, MD (United States)

Cocaine, through its activation of dopamine (DA) signaling, usurps pathways that process natural rewards. However, the extent to which there is overlap between the networks that process natural and drug rewards and whether DA signaling associated with cocaine abuse influences these networks have not been investigated in humans. We measured brain activation responses to food and cocaine cues with fMRI, and D2/D3 receptors in the striatum with [11C]raclopride and PET in 20 active cocaine abusers. Compared to neutral cues, food and cocaine cues increasingly engaged cerebellum, orbitofrontal, inferior frontal and premotor cortices and insula and disengaged cuneus and default mode network (DMN). These fMRI signals were proportional to striatal D2/D3 receptors. Surprisingly cocaine and food cues also deactivated ventral striatum and hypothalamus. Compared to food cues, cocaine cues produced lower activation in insula and postcentral gyrus, and less deactivation in hypothalamus and DMN regions. Activation in cortical regions and cerebellum increased in proportion to the valence of the cues, and activation to food cues in somatosensory and orbitofrontal cortices also increased in proportion to body mass. Longer exposure to cocaine was associated with lower activation to both cues in occipital cortex and cerebellum, which could reflect the decreases in D2/D3 receptors associated with chronicity. In conclusion, these findings show that cocaine cues activate similar, though not identical, pathways to those activated by food cues and that striatal D2/D3 receptors modulate these responses, suggesting that chronic cocaine exposure might influence brain sensitivity not just to drugs but also to food cues.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Inst. of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Grant/Contract Number:
2RO1AA09481
OSTI ID:
1281081
Journal Information:
Human Brain Mapping, Vol. 36, Issue 1; ISSN 1065-9471
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 83 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Reduced sleep duration mediates decreases in striatal D2/D3 receptor availability in cocaine abusers journal March 2016
Association of genetic ancestry with striatal dopamine D2/D3 receptor availability journal November 2017
Hypothalamic response to cocaine cues and cocaine addiction severity journal October 2018
A Behavioral Genetic Model of the Mechanisms Underlying the Link Between Obesity and Symptoms of ADHD journal January 2016
Neuroimaging Metrics of Drug and Food Processing in Cocaine-Dependence, as a Function of Psychopathic Traits and Substance Use Severity journal September 2018
Long-lasting memory deficits in mice withdrawn from cocaine are concomitant with neuroadaptations in hippocampal basal activity, GABAergic interneurons and adult neurogenesis journal January 2017
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Individual Variation in the Motivational and Neurobiological Effects of an Opioid Cue journal November 2014
Enhanced neural responsiveness to reward associated with obesity in the absence of food-related stimuli: Obesity and Neural Responsiveness to Reward journal February 2015
Hypothalamic Responses to Cocaine and Food Cues in Individuals with Cocaine Dependence journal August 2019
Independent associations and effect modification between lifetime substance use and recent mood disorder diagnosis with household food insecurity journal January 2018
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