Neuroimaging and substance abuse disorders in the year 2000

Current Opinion in Psychiatry

Volumn 14, Issue 3, 2001, Pages 179-185

  Ernst, Monique ^a,b   Chefer, Svetlana ^a  

^a NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE   (United States)

^b NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

COGNITION; DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING; ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM; HUMAN; MORPHOMETRICS; NEUROCHEMISTRY; REVIEW; SUBSTANCE ABUSE;

EID: 0035023795     PISSN: 09517367     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1097/00001504-200105000-00004     Document Type: Review

References (30)

1. 1 Phelps ME. Inaugural article: positron emission tomography provides molecular imaging of biological processes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2000; 97:9226-9233.
2. 2 Ernst M, Rumsey J. Functional neuroimaging in child psychiatry. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press; 2000. This book provides excellent chapters on the basic principles and advantages and disadvantages of the various neuroimaging techniques available at present.
3. 3 Liu RS, Lemieux L, Shorvon SD, et al. Association between brain size and abstinence from alcohol [Letter]. Lancet 2000; 355:1969-1970.
4. 4 Teicher MH, Andersen SL, Hostetter JCJ. Evidence for dopamine receptor pruning between adolescence and adulthood in striatum but not nucleus accumbens. Brain Res Dev Brain Res 1995; 89:167-172.
5. 5 Block RI, O'Leary DS, Ehrhardt JC, et al. Effects of frequent marijuana use on brain tissue volume and composition. NeuroReport 2000; 11:491-496.
6. 6 Wilson W, Mathew R, Turkington T, et al. Brain morphological changes and early marijuana use: a magnetic resonance and positron emission tomography study. J Addict Dis 2000; 19:1-22. This paper focuses on the influence of the age of first use of marijuana on brain morphology and function. The results are discussed in the light of the reported effects of marijuana on gonadal and pituitary hormones. The findings stress the interaction between brain maturation and the toxic effects of drugs.
7. 7 De Bellis MD, Clark DB, Beers SR, et al. Hippocampal volume in adolescent-onset alcohol use disorders. Am J Psychiatry 2000; 157:737-744. This study emphasizes the importance of the age of onset of exposure to substances of abuse on their effects on brain structures. The study sample of this study includes only adolescents and young adults.
8. 8 Bartzokis G, Beckson M, Lu PH, at al. Increased CSF volumes are associated with diminished subjective responses to cocaine infusion. Neuropsychopharmacology 2000; 23:468-473. The authors evaluate the hypothesis that enlargements of ventricular and cortical CSF volumes are associated with reductions in the magnitude of euphoric effects produced by intravenous cocaine infusions in cocaine addicts.
9. 9 Conturo TE, Lori NF, Cull TS, et al. Tracking neuronal fiber pathways in the living human brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1999; 96:10422-10427.
10. 10 Block RI, O'Leary DS, Hichwa RD, et al. Cerebellar hypoactivity in frequent marijuana users. NeuroReport 2000; 11:749-753.
11. 11 Ernst T, Chang L, Oropilla G, et al. Cerebral perfusion abnormalities in abstinent cocaine abusers: a perfusion MRI and SPECT study. Psychiatry Res 2000; 99:63-74. This is the first successful attempt to apply perfusion MRI, a non-radioactive technique, to evaluate persistent rCBF abnormalities in the brain of cocaine users.
12. 12 Nakamura H, Tanaka A, Nomoto Y, et al. Activation of fronto-limbic system in the human brain by cigarette smoking: evaluated by a CBF measurement. Keio J Med 2000; 49 (Suppl. 1):A122-A124.
13. 13 Chang L, Grob CS, Ernst T, et al. Effect of ecstasy [3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA)] on cerebral blood flow: a co-registered SPECT and MRI study. Psychiatry Res 2000; 98:15-28.
14. 14 Volkow ND, Wang GJ, Fowler JS, et al. Cocaine abusers show a blunted response to alcohol intoxication in limbic brain regions. Life Sci 2000; 66:L161-L167. This work is important because it investigates the interactions of two drugs, commonly abused together, on brain function. The studies of the effects of interactions between addictive drugs on brain function are critical to the field of substance abuse because polysubstance abuse is the most common form of substance abuse.
15. 15 Li SJ, Biswal B, Li Z, et al. Cocaine administration decreases functional connectivity in human primary visual and motor cortex as detected by functional MRI. Magn Reson Med 2000; 43:45-51. A novel method, based on the calculation of the spatiotemporal correlation of low frequency fluctuation using fMRI, has been applied to assess the acute effects of cocaine on functional connectivity in visual and motor cortex in the baseline condition (without cognitive activation).
16. 16 Ernst M, Matochik JA, Heishman SJ, et al. Effect of nicotine on brain activation during performance of a working memory task. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2001; in press.
17. 17 Sell LA, Morris JS, Beam J, et al. Neural responses associated with cue evoked emotional states and heroin in opiate addicts. Drug Alcohol Depend 2000; 60:207-216. This study compares the neural substrates of subjective states induced by heroin-related cues (cognitive induction) and by heroin administration (pharmacological induction). The findings have relevance to questions regarding the neural mechanisms of reward in humans and the functional role of critical brain structures in human cognition and subjective states.
18. 18 Garavan H, Pankiewicz J, Bloom A, et al. Cue-induced cocaine craving: neuroanatomical specificity for drug users and drug stimuli. Am J Psychiatry 2000; 157:1789-1798. This study is unique for comparing two different types of cravings (sex and cocaine), which tests the specificity of craving for addictive substances.
19. 19 Salokangas RK, Vilkman H, Ilonen T, et al. High levels of dopamine activity in the basal ganglia of cigarette smokers. Am J Psychiatry 2000; 157:632-634.
20. 20 Guardia J, Catafau AM, Batlle F, et al. Striatal dopaminergic D(2) receptor density measured by [(123)I]iodobenzamide SPECT in the prediction of treatment outcome of alcohol-dependent patients. Am J Psychiatry 2000; 157:127-129. This study stresses the potential for a better understanding of the mechanisms of relapse in alcohol dependence.
21. 21 Kuikka JT, Repo E, Bergstrom KA, et al. Specific binding and laterality of human extrastriatal dopamine D(2)/D(3) receptors in late onset type 1 alcoholic patients. Neurosoi Lett 2000; 292:57-59. This work illustrates the need to use more homogeneous groups for neuroimaging studies.
22. 22 Jacobsen LK, Staley JK, Malison RT, et al. Elevated central serotonin transporter binding availability in acutely abstinent cocaine-dependent patients. Am J Psychiatry 2000; 157:1134-1140. This is a well-controlled well-designed study of acutely abstinent cocaine abusers, which informs both striatal dopamine transporter and extra-striatal serotonin transporter availability.
23. 23 Heinz A, Jones DW, Mazzanti C, et al. A relationship between serotonin transporter genotype and in vivo protein expression and alcohol neurotoxicity. Biol Psychiatry 2000; 47:643-649. This elegant work is special because it uses both genotypic and phenotypic information to study alcohol neurotoxicity in the brain.
24. 24 Ricaurte GA, McCann UD, Szabo Z, et al. Toxicodynamics and long-term toxicity of the recreational drug, 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, 'Ecstasy'). Toxicol Lett 2000; 112-113:143-146. This is the first study of MDMA to examine serotonin receptor availability with a specific serotonin ligand.
25. 25 Reneman L, Booij J, Schmand B, et al. Memory disturbances in 'Ecstasy' users are correlated with an altered brain serotonin neurotransmission. Psychopharmacology (Berl.) 2000; 148:322-324. An original study in which the authors attempt to correlate altered presynaptic serotonin function with memory impairment in abstinent MDMA users.
26. 26 Zubieta J, Greenwald MK, Lombardi U, et al. Buprenorphine-induced changes in mu-opioid receptor availability in male heroin-dependent volunteers: a preliminary study. Neuropsychopharmacology 2000; 23:326-334.
27. 27 Kling MA, Carson RE, Borg L, et al. Opioid receptor imaging with positron emission tomography and [(18)F]cyclofoxy in long-term, methadone-treated former heroin addicts. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 2000; 295:1070-1076. The effects of chronic methadone treatment on brain function are critical to assess. The authors completed a very difficult study using PET with a mu and kappa opioid ligand in a relatively large sample.
28. 123I-iomazenil single photon emission tomography study. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2000; 24:1449-1455.
29. 29 Ernst M, London ED. More ethical challenges: commentary on Fischman and Johanson's ethical and practical issues involved in behavioral pharmacology research that administers drug of abuse to human volunteers [Comment]. Behav Pharmacol 1998; 9:499-501.
30. 30 Sihver W, Nordberg A, Langstrom B, et al. Development of ligands for in vivo imaging of cerebral nicotinic receptors. Behav Brain Res 2000; 113:143-157. Pioneering work in the development of tools to investigate nicotinic receptors in humans using neuroimaging tools.