Functional magnetic resonance imaging of cocaine craving

Identification of brain activity associated with craving is important for understanding the neurobiology of addiction.

Brain activity was measured in cocaine addicts and healthy subjects by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while the subjects watched videotapes designed to elicit happy feelings, sad feelings, or the desire to use cocaine. The subjects indicated the onset of drug craving or emotional response, allowing comparison of groups before and after such feelings.

Robust activation of the anterior cingulate was evident in patients watching cocaine-cue tapes but not in patients watching happy or sad tapes or in healthy subjects under any condition. Anterior cingulate activation preceded the reported onset of craving and was evident in patients who did not report craving. In contrast, patients showed less activation than healthy subjects during the cocaine-cue tapes in areas of the frontal lobes. After the reported onset of craving, cocaine-dependent subjects showed greater activity than healthy subjects in regions that are more active in healthy subjects when they watch sad tapes than when they watch happy tapes, suggesting a physiologic link between cocaine-cue responses and normal dysphoric states. Dynamic aspects of regional brain activations, but not the location of activations, were abnormal in cocaine-dependent subjects watching sad tapes, suggesting more general affective dysregulation. Patients showed low activation of sensory areas during initial viewing of all videotapes, suggesting generalized alteration in neuroresponsiveness.

Cocaine cues lead to abnormally high cingulate and low frontal lobe activation in cocaine addicts. Addicts also show more general abnormalities in affect-related brain activation.