Intrinsic connectivity demonstrates a shared role of the posterior cingulate for cue reactivity in both gambling and cocaine use disorders

• Published in: Addictive behaviors Vol. 155; p. 108027
• Main Authors: Vaccaro, Anthony G., Lacadie, Cheryl M., Potenza, Marc N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2024
• Subjects: Addictive behavior; Adult; Case-Control Studies; Cocaine use disorder; Cocaine-Related Disorders - physiopathology; Cocaine-Related Disorders - psychology; Compulsive behavior; Craving; Craving - physiology; Cues; Female; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Gambling - physiopathology; Gambling - psychology; Gambling disorder; Gyrus Cinguli - diagnostic imaging; Gyrus Cinguli - physiopathology; Humans; Impulsive behavior; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Neural Pathways - diagnostic imaging; Neural Pathways - physiopathology; Posterior cingulate cortex; Young Adult; Gambling disorder; Cocaine use disorder; Craving; Compulsive behavior; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Impulsive behavior; Addictive behavior; Posterior cingulate cortex
• ISSN: 0306-4603; 1873-6327; 1873-6327
• DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.108027

•Gambling disorder (GD) and cocaine use disorder (CUD) share features.•Craving is relevant to GD and CUD.•Intrinsic connectivity distribution (ICD) is a novel data-driven approach.•ICD implicated posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) connectivity in GD and CUD craving.•PCC connectivity was decreased in a cue-diagnosis-related way in GD and CUD. Cue reactivity is relevant across addictive disorders as a process relevant to maintenance, relapse, and craving. Understanding the neurobiological foundations of cue reactivity across substance and behavioral addictions has important implications for intervention development. The present study used intrinsic connectivity distribution methods to examine functional connectivity during a cue-exposure fMRI task involving gambling, cocaine and sad videos in 22 subjects with gambling disorder, 24 with cocaine use disorder, and 40 healthy comparison subjects. Intrinsic connectivity distribution implicated the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) at a stringent whole-brain threshold. Post-hoc analyses investigating the nature of the findings indicated that individuals with gambling disorder and cocaine use disorder exhibited decreased connectivity in the posterior cingulate during gambling and cocaine cues, respectively, as compared to other cues and compared to other groups. Brain-related cue reactivity in substance and behavioral addictions involve PCC connectivity in a content-to-disorder specific fashion. The findings suggesting that PCC-related circuitry underlies cue reactivity across substance and behavioral addictions suggests a potential biomarker for targeting in intervention development.