Neural Responses to Monetary Gain and Loss in Individuals Recovering From Opioid Use Disorder Compared with Controls

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Addiction Research
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• The brain's valuation network is crucial for decision-making, but its function in prescription opioid use disorder (POUD) recovery is not fully understood.
• This network includes the ventral striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate differences in neural responses to monetary gains and losses between individuals recovering from POUD and neurotypical controls.
• To test the hypothesis that neural valuation signals differ based on POUD recovery status.

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to scan participants during a monetary incentive delay task.
• Participants included 23 individuals in early recovery from POUD and 21 neurotypical controls.
• Whole-brain and specific valuation network regions of interest (ROIs) were analyzed for fMRI signal differences.

Main Results:

• Neural responses in the ventral striatum differed between the POUD recovery group and the control group.
• Specifically, the left ventral striatum showed prolonged signal elevation following monetary losses in individuals recovering from POUD compared to controls.

Conclusions:

• Brain responses to non-drug financial incentives may be altered in individuals recovering from POUD.
• These findings suggest potential differences in affective responses and decision-making processes during POUD recovery.