Higher substance use is associated with low executive control neural activity and higher inflammation

Individuals with substance use problems show lower executive control and alterations in prefrontal brain systems supporting emotion regulation and impulse control. A separate literature suggests that heightened inflammation also increases risk for substance use, in part, through targeting brain systems involved in executive control. Research on neural and inflammatory signaling in substance use, however, has occurred in parallel. Drawing on recent neuroimmune network models, we used fMRI to examine the relationships between executive control-related brain activity (as elicited by an n-back working memory task), peripheral inflammation, as quantified by inflammatory cytokines and C-reactive protein (CRP), and substance use for the past month in 93 participants [mean age = 24.4 (SD = 0.6)]. We operationalized low executive control as a neural inefficiency during the n-back task to achieve normative performance, as reflected in higher working memory-related brain activity and lower activity in the default mode network (DMN). Consistent with prediction, individuals with low executive control and high inflammation reported more substance use over the past month, controlling for behavioral performance on the n-back, sex, time between assessments, body-mass-index (BMI), and personal socioeconomic status (SES) (interaction between inflammation and working memory-related brain activity, b = 0.210, p = 0.005; interaction between inflammation and DMN, b = -0.219, p < 0.001). Findings suggest that low executive control and high inflammation may be associated with higher substance use. This has implications for understanding psychological, neural, and immunological risk for substance use problems and the development of interventions to target each of these components.