title: Implicit processing of heroin and emotional cues in abstinent heroin users: early and late event-related potential effects.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The abnormal cognitive processing of drug cues is a core characteristic of drug dependence. Previous research has suggested that the late positive potential (LPP) of heroin users is increased by heroin-related stimuli because of the attention-grabbing nature of such stimuli.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The present research used a modified emotional Stroop (eStroop) task to examine whether there was an early posterior negativity (EPN) modulation to heroin cues compared with emotional or neutral stimuli in heroin dependent subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifteen former heroin users and 15 matched controls performed the eStroop task, which was composed of positive, negative, heroin-related, and neutral pictures with superimposed color squares. Participants responded to the color of the square and not to the picture while behavioral data and event-related potentials were recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant differences of EPN amplitudes to emotional and neutral stimuli between heroin users and controls. However, heroin users displayed increased EPN modulation for heroin cues, whereas this modulation was absent in controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Drug-related cues acquire motivational salience and automatically capture the attention of heroin users at early processing stages, even when engaged in a non-drug-related task. The EPN to heroin cues could represent a novel electrophysiological index with clinical implications for selecting abstinent drug users who are at increased risk of relapse or to evaluate treatment interventions.
authors: School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University , Lanzhou , P. R. China.
authors: Ling
authors: L
authors: Yang
authors: Jianxun
authors: J
authors: Zhang
authors: Xin
authors: X
authors: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003463:Cues; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D003932:Heroin; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D003932:Heroin
keywords: Attentional bias; early posterior negativity (EPN); event-related potentials (ERP); heroin dependence; late positive potential (LPP)