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Electrophysiological evidence of the motivational salience of drug cues in opiate addiction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2007

DAN I. LUBMAN ,
NICHOLAS B. ALLEN ,
LESLEY A. PETERS  and
J. F. WILLIAM DEAKIN
DAN I. LUBMAN*
Affiliation:
ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Australia Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Manchester, UK
NICHOLAS B. ALLEN
Affiliation:
ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Australia Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, Australia
LESLEY A. PETERS
Affiliation:
Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Manchester, UK
J. F. WILLIAM DEAKIN
Affiliation:
Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Manchester, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr D. I. Lubman, ORYGEN Research Centre, 35 Poplar Road, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

Drug-related stimuli reliably induce craving in experimental paradigms, yet are rarely cited by drug users as major precipitants of relapse. We examined the motivational significance of drug cues in opiate dependence, by exploring their impact on central attentional processes.

Method

Fourteen methadone-maintained subjects and 14 matched controls were studied. Subjects performed a novel active visual oddball task, consisting of opiate-related and matched neutral pictures, some of which (the oddballs) included a white cup. Subjects were fitted with a 32-channel electrode cap. The P300 for each stimulus category was identified using temporal principal components analysis.

Results

The P300 elicited by opiate stimuli was significantly larger than that elicited by neutral stimuli in the methadone-maintained group but not in the controls. There was also a non-significant trend for the opiate stimuli to elicit larger P300s than the oddball stimuli in the addicted group.

Conclusions

These results suggest that drug cues acquire motivational salience and automatically capture attentional resources in opiate addicts, even when engaged in a non-drug-related task. Enhanced P300s to drug cues may provide an important biological marker of crucial psychological mechanisms relevant to addiction.

Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 37 , Issue 8 , August 2007 , pp. 1203 - 1209
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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