title: White matter disruptions in male cocaine polysubstance users: Associations with severity of drug use and duration of abstinence.
abstract: Cocaine dependence has been associated with alterations in the brain's white matter integrity, yet relevant questions remain about what alterations are linked to cocaine use and/or polysubstance use, and whether they are amenable to abstinence.
  
  
  
  This study applied a single measurement session of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to examine white matter structure in male cocaine polysubstance users (n=37) versus male healthy controls (n=38), along with correlations between DTI measures and patterns of polysubstance use and duration of abstinence. Specifically, we conducted voxel-wise analyses of fractional anisotropy (FA) in the corpus callosum, frontolimbic, striatal and cingulate tracts relevant to drug sequelae.
  
  
  
  Cocaine polysubstance users, compared to controls, showed lower FA in the body of the corpus callosum, anterior cingulate, uncinate fasciculus and retrolenticular part of the internal capsule. Duration of cocaine use had a marginal negative association with FA in the corpus callosum, and duration of alcohol use was negatively associated with FA in the internal capsule and the uncinate fasciculus. Duration of cocaine abstinence was positively correlated with FA in the uncinate fasciculus, posterior cingulate and fornix-striatum. In the context of cocaine polysubstance use, chronicity of cocaine use is therefore likely to be associated with lower FA in the corpus callosum, and chronicity of alcohol use with lower FA in the frontal-striatal and frontal-limbic tracts. Longer abstinence was correlated to greater FA in frontal-striatal and frontal-limbic tracts, though the direction of causality remains unclear.
  
  
  
  Since the results did not survive multiple comparison-corrected thresholds, more studies are needed to confirm these indications.
authors.affiliation: Addiction, Development and Psychopathology (ADAPT) lab, Dept. of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: d.m.e.van.son@fsw.leidenuniv.nl.
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van Son
authors.affiliation: Addiction, Development and Psychopathology (ADAPT) lab, Dept. of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Reinout W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Wiers
authors.affiliation: Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Andrés
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Catena
authors.affiliation: Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perez-Garcia
authors.affiliation: Red de Trastornos Adictivos & Institute of Neurosciences F. Olóriz, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain; School of Psychological Sciences and Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neurosciences, Monash University, Australia.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Verdejo-García
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003042:Cocaine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003042:Cocaine
keywords: Abstinence; Alcohol; Cocaine; Diffusion tensor imaging; Fractional anisotropy; Polysubstance use