2004-12-01
Event-related potentials indicate motivational relevance of cocaine cues in abstinent cocaine addicts
Publication
Publication
Psychopharmacology , Volume 177 - Issue 1-2 p. 121- 129
Rationale: Motivational drive and its underlying affect-related states are the core mechanisms that precede the seeking and taking of drugs in substance dependence. Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the motivational relevance of cocaine cues and whether or not an appetitive emotional system is involved employing event-related potential (ERP) measurements. Methods: Cocaine-addicted subjects and healthy controls were exposed to neutral and cocaine-related pictures whilst ERPs were recorded simultaneously over frontal, parietal and midline sites. Results: Patients exhibited ERP amplitude discrepancies between neutral and cocaine-related pictures for N300, late slow positive wave (LSPW) and sustained slow positive wave (SSPW), whilst this effect was absent in control subjects. Differences in neutral and cocaine cue-evoked ERP waves were also found at left frontal sites for LSPW and SSPW in the patient group only. No group-specific cue-evoked ERP amplitudes were observed at parietal and midline sites. Conclusion: The findings confirm the assumption that cocaine cues induce motivational relevance in cocaine-dependent individuals. It is possible that exposure to cocaine cues triggers an appetitive emotional system since left frontal sites are assumed to be involved in processing positive emotional-laden stimuli. The present study provides evidence that the sensitivity of ERP correlates for cocaine cues may be an indicator of motivational and emotional processes in drug-dependent individuals.
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doi.org/10.1007/s00213-004-1928-1, hdl.handle.net/1765/61813 | |
Psychopharmacology | |
Organisation | Department of Psychology |
van de Laar, M., Licht, R., Franken, I., & Hendriks, V. (2004). Event-related potentials indicate motivational relevance of cocaine cues in abstinent cocaine addicts. Psychopharmacology, 177(1-2), 121–129. doi:10.1007/s00213-004-1928-1 |