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Effects of familial risk and stimulant drug use on the anticipation of monetary reward: an fMRI study.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Just, Alanna L 
Smith, Dana G 
Robbins, Trevor W 

Abstract

The association between stimulant drug use and aberrant reward processing is well-documented in the literature, but the nature of these abnormalities remains elusive. The present study aims to disentangle the separate and interacting effects of stimulant drug use and pre-existing familial risk on abnormal reward processing associated with stimulant drug addiction. We used the Monetary Incentive Delay task, a well-validated measure of reward processing, during fMRI scanning in four distinct groups: individuals with familial risk who were either stimulant drug-dependent (N = 41) or had never used stimulant drugs (N = 46); and individuals without familial risk who were either using stimulant drugs (N = 25) or not (N = 48). We first examined task-related whole-brain activation followed by a psychophysiological interaction analysis to further explore brain functional connectivity. For analyses, we used a univariate model with two fixed factors (familial risk and stimulant drug use). Our results showed increased task-related activation in the putamen and motor cortex of stimulant-using participants. We also found altered task-related functional connectivity between the putamen and frontal regions in participants with a familial risk (irrespective of whether they were using stimulant drugs or not). Additionally, we identified an interaction between stimulant drug use and familial risk in task-related functional connectivity between the putamen and motor-related cortical regions in potentially at-risk individuals. Our findings suggest that abnormal task-related activation in motor brain systems is associated with regular stimulant drug use, whereas abnormal task-related functional connectivity in frontostriatal brain systems, in individuals with familial risk, may indicate pre-existing neural vulnerability for developing addiction.

Description

Keywords

Adult, Anticipation, Psychological, Central Nervous System Stimulants, Connectome, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Motor Cortex, Nerve Net, Prefrontal Cortex, Putamen, Reward, Siblings, Substance-Related Disorders, Young Adult

Journal Title

Transl Psychiatry

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2158-3188
2158-3188

Volume Title

9

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Sponsorship
Medical Research Council (G0701497)
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) (unknown)
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) (unknown)
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) (unknown)
Medical Research Council (MR/J012084/1)
Medical Research Council (G1000183)
Wellcome Trust (105602/Z/14/Z)
This research was funded by a Medical Research Council (MRC) grant (G0701497), and conducted within the Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute (BCNI), which is jointly funded by the MRC and Wellcome Trust. ALJ was supported by the Gates Cambridge Trust, DGS by a studentship from the Cambridge Overseas Trust, and CM by the Wellcome Trust (105602/Z/14/Z) and the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. TWR is supported by Wellcome Trust (104631/z/14/z).