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Appetitive startle modulation in the human laboratory predicts Cannabis craving in the natural environment.

ABSTRACT: RATIONALE:Drug-related cues evoke craving and stimulate motivational systems in the brain. The acoustic startle reflex captures activation of these motivational processes and affords a unique measure of reactivity to drug cues. OBJECTIVES:This study examined the effects of cannabis-related cues on subjective and eye blink startle reactivity in the human laboratory and tested whether these effects predicted youth's cue-elicited cannabis craving in the natural environment. METHODS:Participants were 55 frequent cannabis users, ages 16 to 24 years (M?=?19.9, SD?=?1.9; 55% male; 56% met criteria for cannabis dependence), who were recruited from a clinical trial to reduce cannabis use. Eye blink electromyographic activity was recorded in response to acoustic probes that elicited startle reactivity while participants viewed pleasant, unpleasant, neutral, and cannabis picture cues. Following the startle assessment, participants completed an ecological momentary assessment protocol that involved repeated assessments of cue-elicited craving in real time in their real-world environments. RESULTS:Multilevel models included the presence or absence of visible cannabis cues in the natural environment, startle magnitude, and the cross-level interaction of cues by startle to test whether cue-modulated startle reactivity in the laboratory was associated with cue-elicited craving in the natural environment. Analyses showed that cannabis-related stimuli evoked an appetitive startle response pattern in the laboratory, and this effect was associated with increased cue-elicited craving in the natural environment, b?=?- 0.15, p?=?.022, 95% CI [- 0.28, - 0.02]. Pleasant stimuli also evoked an appetitive response pattern, but in this case, blunted response was associated with increased cue-elicited craving in the natural environment, b?=?0.27, p?

SUBMITTER: Mereish EH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6015780 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Appetitive startle modulation in the human laboratory predicts Cannabis craving in the natural environment.

Mereish Ethan H EH Padovano Hayley Treloar HT Wemm Stephanie S Miranda Robert R

Psychopharmacology 20180405 7

<h4>Rationale</h4>Drug-related cues evoke craving and stimulate motivational systems in the brain. The acoustic startle reflex captures activation of these motivational processes and affords a unique measure of reactivity to drug cues.<h4>Objectives</h4>This study examined the effects of cannabis-related cues on subjective and eye blink startle reactivity in the human laboratory and tested whether these effects predicted youth's cue-elicited cannabis craving in the natural environment.<h4>Method ...[more]

PMID: 29623354

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Project description:Previous studies have not clearly demonstrated whether motivational tendencies during reward feedback are mainly characterized by appetitive responses to a gain or mainly by aversive consequences of reward omission. In the current study this issue was addressed employing a passive head or tails game and using the startle reflex as an index of the appetitive-aversive continuum. A second aim of the current study was to use startle-reflex modulation as a means to compare the subjective value of monetary rewards of varying magnitude. Startle responses after receiving feedback that a potential reward was won or not won were compared with a baseline condition without a potential gain. Furthermore, startle responses during anticipation of no versus potential gain were compared. Consistent with previous studies, startle-reflex magnitudes were significantly potentiated when participants anticipated a reward compared to no reward, which may reflect anticipatory arousal. Specifically for the largest reward (20-cents) startle magnitudes were potentiated when a reward was at stake but not won, compared to a neutral baseline without potential gain. In contrast, startle was not inhibited relative to baseline when a reward was won. This suggests that startle modulation during feedback is better characterized in terms of potentiation when missing out on reward rather than in terms of inhibition as a result of winning. However, neither of these effects were replicated in a more targeted second experiment. The discrepancy between these experiments may be due to differences in motivation to obtain rewards or differences in task engagement. From these experiments it may be concluded that the nature of the processing of reward feedback and reward cues is very sensitive to experimental parameters and settings. These studies show how apparently modest changes in these parameters and settings may lead to quite different modulations of appetitive/aversive motivation. A future experiment may shed more light on the question whether startle-reflex modulation after feedback is indeed mainly characterized by the aversive consequences of reward omission for relatively large rewards.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Cannabis dependence is a significant public health problem. Because there are no approved medications for this condition, treatment must rely on behavioral approaches empirically complemented by such lifestyle change as exercise. AIMS:To examine the effects of moderate aerobic exercise on cannabis craving and use in cannabis dependent adults under normal living conditions. DESIGN:Participants attended 10 supervised 30-min treadmill exercise sessions standardized using heart rate (HR) monitoring (60-70% HR reserve) over 2 weeks. Exercise sessions were conducted by exercise physiologists under medical oversight. PARTICIPANTS:Sedentary or minimally active non-treatment seeking cannabis-dependent adults (n?=?12, age 25±3 years, 8 females) met criteria for primary cannabis dependence using the Substance Abuse module of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID). MEASUREMENTS:Self-reported drug use was assessed for 1-week before, during, and 2-weeks after the study. Participants viewed visual cannabis cues before and after exercise in conjunction with assessment of subjective cannabis craving using the Marijuana Craving Questionnaire (MCQ-SF). FINDINGS:Daily cannabis use within the run-in period was 5.9 joints per day (SD?=?3.1, range 1.8-10.9). Average cannabis use levels within the exercise (2.8 joints, SD?=?1.6, range 0.9-5.4) and follow-up (4.1 joints, SD?=?2.5, range 1.1-9.5) periods were lower than during the run-in period (both P<.005). Average MCQ factor scores for the pre- and post-exercise craving assessments were reduced for compulsivity (P ?=?.006), emotionality (P ?=?.002), expectancy (P ?=?.002), and purposefulness (P ?=?.002). CONCLUSIONS:The findings of this pilot study warrant larger, adequately powered controlled trials to test the efficacy of prescribed moderate aerobic exercise as a component of cannabis dependence treatment. The neurobiological mechanisms that account for these beneficial effects on cannabis use may lead to understanding of the physical and emotional underpinnings of cannabis dependence and recovery from this disorder. TRIAL REGISTRATION:ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00838448].

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Appetitive startle modulation in the human laboratory predicts Cannabis craving in the natural environment.

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Appetitive startle modulation in the human laboratory predicts Cannabis craving in the natural environment.

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