Categories
· Health/Science
· Addiction
· Mental Health
non-USA, by Country
· China
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Hum Brain Mapp. 2008 Mar 14
Jump to full article: National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), 2008-03-14
Author: Zhang X, Chen X, Yu Y, Sun D, Ma N, He S, Hu X, Zhang D.
Intro: The questions of whether and how indiscriminate drug-related stimuli could influence drug-users are important to our understanding of addictive behavior, but the answers are still inconclusive. In the present preliminary functional magnetic resonance imaging study using a backward masking paradigm, the effect of indiscriminate smoking-related stimuli on 10 smokers and 10 nonsmokers was examined. The BOLD response showed a significant reduction (P = 0.001) in the right amygdala of smokers when they viewed but did not perceive masked smoking-related stimuli, while no significant differences were found in the nonsmoker group. . . .
The BOLD response in drug-users indicates the amygdala responds to drug-related stimuli that are below the perceptual threshold. The functional connectivity data suggest a functional interaction between the amygdala and the anterior cingulate cortex when drug users view 33ms back-masked drug-related stimuli. This observation suggests that the amygdala plays an important role in the indiscriminate drug-related cue process.
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