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Updated: Aug 2, 2026

A General Method for Evaluating Incubation of Sucrose Craving in Rats
Published on: November 4, 2011
Cue reactivity in cocaine-dependent subjects: effects of cue type and cue modality
B A Johnson1, Y R Chen, J Schmitz
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas, Houston 77030, USA. Bjohnson@msi149.msi.uth.tmc.edu
Abstract:
Thirty cocaine-dependent subjects were enrolled into a cue-laboratory study to determine the specificity and sensitivity of this paradigm as a craving measure. Subjects experienced three cue types (i.e., cocaine, arousing, and neutral stimuli) in three cue modalities (i.e., audio, visual, and manual). Cue types were administered in different experimental sessions with a period of 2 to 3 days between sessions. Our results showed that subjective and physiological craving for cocaine was relatively specific for the cocaine cue as compared with either the arousing or the neutral cue. The relative sensitivities of the cue modalities in decreasing order was manual, audio, and visual. We suggest that a modified conditioned-cue paradigm could be a useful tool in the repeated assessment of craving during a clinical study.
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