title: Cue-induced striatal activity in frequent cannabis users independently predicts cannabis problem severity three years later.
abstract: Cannabis is the most frequently used illicit drug worldwide, but little is known about the mechanisms underlying continued cannabis use. Cue-reactivity (the physical, psychological, behavioural and neural reaction to substance-related cues) might be related to continued cannabis use. In this 3-year prospective neuroimaging study we investigated whether cannabis cue-induced brain activity predicted continued cannabis use and associated problem severity 3 years later. In addition, baseline brain activations were compared between dependent and non-dependent cannabis users at follow-up. Analyses were focussed on brain areas known to be important in cannabis cue-reactivity: anterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, ventral tegmental area, amygdala and striatum. At baseline, 31 treatment-naive frequent cannabis users performed a cue-reactivity functional magnetic resonance imaging task. Of these participants, 23 completed the 3-year follow-up. None of the cue-induced region of interest activations predicted the amount of cannabis use at follow-up. However, cue-induced activation in the left striatum (putamen) significantly and independently predicted problem severity at follow-up (p < 0.001) as assessed with the Cannabis Use Disorder Identification Test. Also, clinically dependent cannabis users at follow-up showed higher baseline activation at trend level in the left striatum compared with non-dependent users. This indicates that neural cue-reactivity in the dorsal striatum is an independent predictor of cannabis use-related problems. Given the relatively small sample size, these results are preliminary and should be replicated in larger samples of cannabis users.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands Department of Nuclear Medicine, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: W A M
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Vingerhoets
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Koenders
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: van den Brink
authors.affiliation: Addiction, Development and Psychopathology (ADAPT) lab, Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Wiers
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Arkin Mental Health Care, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Goudriaan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: van Amelsvoort
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de Haan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Addiction, Development and Psychopathology (ADAPT) lab, Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Department of Developmental and Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands j.cousijn@gmail.com.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cousijn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism*; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Addiction; cannabis; cannabis use disorder; cue-reactivity; fMRI; striatum