TY - JOUR
T1 - An fMRI analysis of verbal and non-verbal working memory in people with a past history of opioid dependence
AU - Berenbaum, Joshua G.
AU - Nadkarni, Prianca A.
AU - Marvel, Cherie L.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by K01DA030442, R01DA041264, and the Margaret Q. Landenberger Research Foundation. The MRI equipment in this study was funded by NIH grant 1S10ODO21648. This project described was also supported by Grant Number UL1 RR 025005 from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and NIH Roadmap for Medical Research.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2023 Berenbaum, Nadkarni and Marvel.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Introduction: Working memory describes the ability to maintain and manipulate information held in mind, and it is a fundamental aspect of executive function. Within drug addiction, impairments of executive control over behavior are thought to lead to poor decision making and risky behaviors. Previous research has demonstrated working memory (WM) and executive function difficulties in opioid-dependent individuals, but the neural underpinnings of such impairments in this population are not well understood. Methods: This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the neural mechanisms involved in WM in 13 opioid-dependent, methadone-maintained participants (OP) and 13 matched, healthy controls (HC). A Sternberg item-recognition task was administered with three conditions: (1) a “verbal” condition in which participants determined whether any six visually presented target letters matched a probe item that was presented 4–6 s later, (2) a “non-verbal” condition in which participants were presented with a Chinese character and, following a 4–6 s delay, determined whether the character matched the probe item, and (3) a “control” condition in which participants were presented with three horizontal lines and following the same delay, determined whether the lines matched a probe item (always the same three lines). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) contrasts focused on the delay (or “maintenance”) phase for verbal and non-verbal conditions relative to the control condition. Results: Accuracy on the WM task did not differ between groups, but the OP group was significantly slower to respond. The fMRI imaging results indicated differences in brain activity between the OP and HC groups. fMRI-guided regions of interest correlated with age of first alcohol and THC use, suggesting that early substance use, in addition to years of opioid-abuse, may have played a role in the OP group’s WM performance. Discussion: A deeper understanding of these neural differences between opioid-dependent individuals and their healthy control counterparts helps shed light on fundamental ways in which substance use impacts the brain and cognition, potentially opening up novel avenues for therapeutic targets to treat substance use disorder.
AB - Introduction: Working memory describes the ability to maintain and manipulate information held in mind, and it is a fundamental aspect of executive function. Within drug addiction, impairments of executive control over behavior are thought to lead to poor decision making and risky behaviors. Previous research has demonstrated working memory (WM) and executive function difficulties in opioid-dependent individuals, but the neural underpinnings of such impairments in this population are not well understood. Methods: This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the neural mechanisms involved in WM in 13 opioid-dependent, methadone-maintained participants (OP) and 13 matched, healthy controls (HC). A Sternberg item-recognition task was administered with three conditions: (1) a “verbal” condition in which participants determined whether any six visually presented target letters matched a probe item that was presented 4–6 s later, (2) a “non-verbal” condition in which participants were presented with a Chinese character and, following a 4–6 s delay, determined whether the character matched the probe item, and (3) a “control” condition in which participants were presented with three horizontal lines and following the same delay, determined whether the lines matched a probe item (always the same three lines). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) contrasts focused on the delay (or “maintenance”) phase for verbal and non-verbal conditions relative to the control condition. Results: Accuracy on the WM task did not differ between groups, but the OP group was significantly slower to respond. The fMRI imaging results indicated differences in brain activity between the OP and HC groups. fMRI-guided regions of interest correlated with age of first alcohol and THC use, suggesting that early substance use, in addition to years of opioid-abuse, may have played a role in the OP group’s WM performance. Discussion: A deeper understanding of these neural differences between opioid-dependent individuals and their healthy control counterparts helps shed light on fundamental ways in which substance use impacts the brain and cognition, potentially opening up novel avenues for therapeutic targets to treat substance use disorder.
KW - addiction
KW - brain
KW - cognition
KW - heroin
KW - methadone
KW - neuroimaging
KW - opioids
KW - substance use
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U2 - 10.3389/fnins.2023.1053500
DO - 10.3389/fnins.2023.1053500
M3 - Article
C2 - 37090800
AN - SCOPUS:85153116868
SN - 1662-4548
VL - 17
JO - Frontiers in Neuroscience
JF - Frontiers in Neuroscience
M1 - 1053500
ER -