Appetitive startle modulation in the human laboratory predicts Cannabis craving in the natural environment

Drug-related cues evoke craving and stimulate motivational systems in the brain. The acoustic startle reflex captures activation of these motivational processes and affords a unique measure of reactivity to drug cues.

This study examined the effects of cannabis-related cues on subjective and eye blink startle reactivity in the human laboratory and tested whether these effects predicted youth's cue-elicited cannabis craving in the natural environment.

Participants were 55 frequent cannabis users, ages 16 to 24 years (M = 19.9, SD = 1.9; 55% male; 56% met criteria for cannabis dependence), who were recruited from a clinical trial to reduce cannabis use. Eye blink electromyographic activity was recorded in response to acoustic probes that elicited startle reactivity while participants viewed pleasant, unpleasant, neutral, and cannabis picture cues. Following the startle assessment, participants completed an ecological momentary assessment protocol that involved repeated assessments of cue-elicited craving in real time in their real-world environments.

Multilevel models included the presence or absence of visible cannabis cues in the natural environment, startle magnitude, and the cross-level interaction of cues by startle to test whether cue-modulated startle reactivity in the laboratory was associated with cue-elicited craving in the natural environment. Analyses showed that cannabis-related stimuli evoked an appetitive startle response pattern in the laboratory, and this effect was associated with increased cue-elicited craving in the natural environment, b = - 0.15, p = .022, 95% CI [- 0.28, - 0.02]. Pleasant stimuli also evoked an appetitive response pattern, but in this case, blunted response was associated with increased cue-elicited craving in the natural environment, b = 0.27, p < .001, 95% CI [0.12, 0.43].

Our findings support cue-modulated startle reactivity as an index of the phenotypic expression of cue-elicited cannabis craving.