Modeling impaired insight after drug use in rodents

Impaired insight in substance use disorder has been argued to reflect a global deficit in using cognitive models to mentally simulate possible future outcomes. The process of mentally simulating outcomes allows us to understand our beliefs about their causes, that is, to have insight and thereby avoid potentially negative outcomes. However, work in humans cannot address whether impaired insight and its neural/neurochemical sequalae are present prior to the development of a substance use disorder, a consequence of substance use, or a combination of both. This is because baseline measurements prior to drug use are not possible in humans. However, if these changes can be directly caused by drug use, then in animal models, a history of drug use should cause impairments in behavioral tasks designed to assess such inferences. Focusing on cocaine use, here we will review several lines of research from our laboratory that have tested this question using learning-theory tasks designed to isolate insight. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).