Altered anterior cingulate cortex to hippocampus effective connectivity in response to drug cues in men with cocaine use disorder

• Published in: Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging Vol. 271; pp. 59 - 66
• Main Authors: Ma, Liangsuo, Steinberg, Joel L., Cunningham, Kathryn A., Bjork, James M., Lane, Scott D., Schmitz, Joy M., Burroughs, Thomas, Narayana, Ponnada A., Kosten, Thomas R., Bechara, Antoine, Moeller, F. Gerard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 30.01.2018
• Subjects: Adult; Attentional bias; Brain Mapping - methods; Cocaine use disorder; Cocaine-Related Disorders - diagnostic imaging; Cocaine-Related Disorders - physiopathology; Cognition - physiology; Cue reactivity; Cues; Dynamic causal modeling; Effective connectivity; Female; Gyrus Cinguli - diagnostic imaging; Gyrus Cinguli - physiopathology; Hippocampus - diagnostic imaging; Hippocampus - physiopathology; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Middle Aged; Nerve Net - diagnostic imaging; Nerve Net - physiopathology; Photic Stimulation - methods; Random Allocation; Reaction Time - physiology; Stroop Test; Attentional bias; Dynamic causal modeling; Cocaine use disorder; Cue reactivity; Effective connectivity
• ISSN: 0925-4927; 1872-7506; 1872-7506
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2017.10.012

Drug-related attentional bias may have significant implications for the treatment of cocaine use disorder (CocUD). However, the neurobiology of attentional bias is not completely understood. This study employed dynamic causal modeling (DCM) to conduct an analysis of effective (directional) connectivity involved in drug-related attentional bias in treatment-seeking CocUD subjects. The DCM analysis was conducted based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data acquired from fifteen CocUD subjects while performing a cocaine-word Stroop task, during which blocks of Cocaine Words (CW) and Neutral Words (NW) alternated. There was no significant attentional bias at group level. Although no significant brain activation was found, the DCM analysis found that, relative to the NW, the CW caused a significant increase in the strength of the right (R) anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) to R hippocampus effective connectivity. Greater increase of this connectivity was associated with greater CW reaction time (relative to NW reaction time). The increased strength of R ACC to R hippocampus connectivity may reflect ACC activation of hippocampal memories related to drug use, which was triggered by the drug cues. This circuit could be a potential target for therapeutics in CocUD patients. No significant change was found in the other modeled connectivities. •This study investigated attentional bias in cocaine use disorder.•Dynamic causal modeling was used to assess underlying neural circuits.•Drug cues caused increase in anterior cingulate cortex to hippocampus effective connectivity.•Greater increase of this connectivity was associated with greater reaction time during drug cues.•May reflect anterior cingulate cortex activation of hippocampal memories related to drug use.