Neural activity associated with cognitive regulation in heroin users: A fMRI study

Previous research has found heroin addicts to be impulsive. This study employed functional magnetic resonance imaging technology to investigate the differences between heroin addicts and normal controls in neural activity associated with cognitive regulation of behavior. Twenty-one Chinese men participated in this study, 11 of whom were newly admitted heroin-addicted patients and 10 of whom were healthy volunteers. In the experimental task, the subjects were required to first identify the correct directions of arrowheads and then give the opposite answers. Behaviorally, the heroin-dependent patients took a much shorter time to complete the more demanding second part of the task but committed more errors than the normal controls. This pattern of behavior, characteristic of people who are disinhibited and who tend to be impulsive, was consistent with previous reports of impulsivity observed in people who have abused heroin. The neural activity of the patients that was associated with performing the experimental task of cognitive regulation was different to that of the normal controls in terms of the pattern of prefrontal activation, the attenuation of activity in the anterior cingulate, and the additional recruitment of the right inferior parietal region. This study is the first that seeks to understand the neural activity associated with impulsive behavior in people who abuse heroin. The pattern of imaging data obtained resembled the pattern of data observed in immature brains attempting to exercise cognitive control of behavior. Further theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.