Functional connectivity during language processing in acute cocaine withdrawal: A pilot study

• Published in: Neurocase Vol. 18; no. 6; pp. 441 - 449
• Main Authors: Narayanan, Ananth, White, Catherine A., Saklayen, Sanjida S., Abduljalil, Amir, Schmalbrock, Petra, Pepper, Tom H., Lander, Brad N., Beversdorf, David Q.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis Group 01.01.2012
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Adult; Analysis of Variance; Autism; Case-Control Studies; Cerebral Cortex - physiopathology; Cocaine; Cocaine-Related Disorders - physiopathology; Female; fMRI; Functional connectivity; Functional Neuroimaging; Humans; Language; Male; Matched-Pair Analysis; Middle Aged; Neural Pathways - drug effects; Neural Pathways - physiopathology; Noradrenergic; Phonetics; Pilot Projects; Reference Values; Semantics; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome - physiopathology; Verbal Behavior - physiology; Verbal Learning - physiology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1355-4794; 1465-3656
• DOI: 10.1080/13554794.2011.627341

Recent research revealed decreased access to semantic and associative networks in acute cocaine withdrawal. In autism, such behavioral outcomes are associated with decreased functional connectivity using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Therefore, we wished to determine whether connectivity is also decreased in acute cocaine withdrawal. Eight subjects in acute cocaine withdrawal were compared to controls for connectivity in language areas while performing a task involving categorization of words according to semantic and phonological relatedness. Acute withdrawal subjects had significantly less overall connectivity during semantic relatedness, and a trend towards less connectivity during phonological relatedness. Of potential future interest is whether this might serve as an imaging marker for treatment in patients.