Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 19, 2026

A Protocol for Measuring Cue Reactivity in a Rat Model of Cocaine Use Disorder
Published on: June 18, 2018
Craving versus control: Negative urgency and neural correlates of alcohol cue reactivity
David S Chester1, Donald R Lynam2, Richard Milich1
1Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, USA.
Background:
Alcohol abuse is a common and costly practice. Individuals high in negative urgency, the tendency to act rashly when experiencing negative emotions, are at particular risk for abusing alcohol. Alcohol abuse among individuals high in negative urgency may be due to (a) increased activity in the brain's striatum, (b) decreased activity in brain regions associated with self-control, or (c) a combination of the two.
Methods:
Thirty eight non-alcohol-dependent participants completed a measure of negative urgency and then underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while passively viewing pleasant and alcohol images.
Results:
Alcohol images (as compared to pleasant images) were associated with activation in the caudate nucleus, a brain region associated with linking reward to external stimuli. Negative urgency (above and beyond other facets of impulsivity) correlated positively with this caudate activation in response to alcohol images. Alcohol images and negative urgency were unassociated with activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex, a self-regulatory brain region.
Conclusions:
These findings provide initial support that the alcohol abuse observed among individuals high in negative urgency may be due, in part, to heightened reactivity in the striatum to alcohol. Investigating such neural contributors to self-regulation failure is crucial to reducing substance abuse.
More Related Videos
13:24A Procedure to Observe Context-induced Renewal of Pavlovian-conditioned Alcohol-seeking Behavior in Rats
Published on: September 19, 2014
08:05A Prediction Error-driven Retrieval Procedure for Destabilizing and Rewriting Maladaptive Reward Memories in Hazardous Drinkers
Published on: January 5, 2018
Related Concept Videos
CNS Depressants: Alcohol and Nicotine
Primary Motives: Hunger and Thirst
Hunger arises when the brain detects changes in the body's nutrient levels, including glucose, lipids, amino acids, and hormones such as ghrelin and leptin. The hypothalamus plays a central role in hunger regulation. The lateral hypothalamus...
Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena
Self-Regulation
Drug Dependence
Substance Use Disorders Affecting Sleep
Understanding the concepts of physical dependence,...