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Electrophysiological evidence that drug cues have greater salience than other affective stimuli in opiate addiction

ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Australia, dan.lubman{at}mh.org.au, Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Manchester, UK

NB Allen

ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Australia, Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, Australia

LA Peters

Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Manchester, UK

JFW Deakin

Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Manchester, UK

Previous research has demonstrated that drug cues are able to capture attentional resources in addicted populations. However, few studies have controlled for the possibility that drug users find all motivationally significant (i.e., affective) stimuli particularly salient. We examined this issue in opiate addiction, by exploring the impact of drug-related and affective stimuli on central attentional processes. Sixteen male heroin addicts (seven on opiate pharmacotherapy and nine recently detoxified subjects) and 12 matched controls were studied. Subjects were fitted with a 32-channel electrode cap and were instructed to passively view a series of neutral, affective and opiate-related images. The P300 elicited by drug-related stimuli was significantly larger than that elicited by affective and neutral stimuli in opiate users but not controls. Baseline ratings of craving were also found to predict the degree of P300 facilitation to the drug-related stimuli in the addicted group. Further, the opiate group demonstrated an absence of the typical enhancement of ERP responses to non-drug affective stimuli. These results suggest that opiate addicts demonstrate greater cortical processing of drug cues than other types of affective stimuli. Further research is required to assess whether addiction is specifically associated with reduced sensitivity to natural rewards, aversive stimuli or affective cues in general.

Key Words: opiate dependence • addiction • ERP • P300 • drug cues • attention • craving • emotion • anhedonia

This version was published on November 1, 2008

Journal of Psychopharmacology, Vol. 22, No. 8, 836-842 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0269881107083846


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