Functional magnetic resonance imaging of human brain activation during cue-induced cocaine craving.
OBJECTIVE
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to test whether brain activation was detectable in regions previously associated with cocaine cue-induced craving.


METHODS
Blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) functional activation was measured during presentation of audiovisual stimuli containing alternating intervals of drug-related and neutral scenes to six male subjects with a history of crack cocaine use and six male comparison subjects.


RESULTS
Significant activation was detected in the anterior cingulate and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the cocaine-using group. In addition, a correlation between self-reported levels of craving and activation in these regions was found.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that functional MRI may be a useful tool to study the neurobiological basis of cue-induced craving.
Maas
L C
LC
Brain Imaging Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA 02178, USA. lcmaas@mclean.harvard.edu
Lukas
S E
SE
Kaufman
M J
MJ
Weiss
R D
RD
Daniels
S L
SL
Rogers
V W
VW
Kukes
T J
TJ
Renshaw
P F
PF
D000328:Adult; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000523:psychology; D016578:Crack Cocaine; D003463:Cues; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
D016578:Crack Cocaine; D010100:Oxygen