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Laboratory-based assessment of alcohol craving in social drinkers.

Subjective feelings of craving for drugs and alcohol are hallmark symptoms of substance abuse and dependence, and they are thought to play a pivotal role in relapse to drug use. However, relatively little is known about the relationship between craving and overt drug-seeking behavior or drug consumption. One way to investigate the relationship between self-report measures of craving and objective measures of drug-taking behavior is to investigate the degree to which they co-vary in laboratory studies. In particular it may be informative to examine the degree to which these measures co-vary after experimental manipulations that are expected to increase or decrease craving for, or use of, a drug. We review the results of several laboratory studies in which both self-report measures of craving or desire for alcohol and alcohol consumption were measured, using subjects who were non-problem social drinkers. The experimental manipulation used to increase craving and drug-taking was the administration of a priming dose of alcohol. The manipulation that was intended to decrease craving and drug-taking was administration of a dose of naltrexone, because of its use in the treatment for alcoholism. In most of these studies, self-reported ratings of desire for alcohol were positively associated with consumption of alcohol. However, there were also instances in which one measure varied independently of the other, indicating that under certain circumstances they are controlled by separate factors. Laboratory-based studies such as these may improve our understanding of how subjective reports of alcohol craving are related to objective measures of consumption.

Alcohol Drinking↗

Baclofen efficacy in reducing alcohol craving and intake: a preliminary double-blind randomized controlled study.

AIMS: The gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA(B)) receptor agonist, baclofen, has recently been shown to reduce alcohol intake in alcohol-preferring rats and alcohol consumption and craving for alcohol in an open study in humans. The present study was aimed at providing a first evaluation of the efficacy of baclofen in inducing and maintaining abstinence and reducing craving for alcohol in alcohol-dependent patients in a double-blind placebo-controlled design. METHODS: A total of 39 alcohol-dependent patients were consecutively enrolled in the study. After 12-24 h of abstinence from alcohol, patients were randomly divided into two groups. Twenty patients were treated with baclofen and 19 with placebo. Drug and placebo were orally administered for 30 consecutive days. Baclofen was administered at the dose of 15 mg/day for the first 3 days and 30 mg/day for the subsequent 27 days, divided into three daily doses. Patients were monitored as out-patients on a weekly basis. At each visit alcohol intake, abstinence from alcohol, alcohol craving and changes in affective disorders were evaluated. RESULTS: A higher percentage of subjects totally abstinent from alcohol and a higher number of cumulative abstinence days throughout the study period were found in the baclofen, compared to the placebo, group. A decrease in the obsessive and compulsive components of craving was found in the baclofen compared to the placebo group; likewise, alcohol intake was reduced in the baclofen group. A decrease in state anxiety was found in the baclofen compared to the placebo group. No significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of current depressive symptoms. Baclofen proved to be easily manageable and no patient discontinued treatment due to the presence of side-effects. No patient was affected by craving for the drug and/or drug abuse. CONCLUSIONS: Baclofen proved to be effective in inducing abstinence from alcohol and reducing alcohol craving and consumption in alcoholics. With the limits posed by the small number of subjects involved, the results of this preliminary double-blind study suggest that baclofen may represent a potentially useful drug in the treatment of alcohol-dependent patients and thus merits further investigations.

Adult↗

Ethanol- and sucrose-reinforced appetitive and consummatory responding in HAD1, HAD2, and P rats.

INTRODUCTION: Ethanol-preferring (P) rats and high-alcohol-drinking (HAD1 and HAD2) rats have been selectively bred to consume greater amounts of ethanol than nonselected rat strains. These three rat lines also show increased levels of responding for ethanol in operant paradigms that assess a combined appetitive/consummatory response. METHODS: The present experiment used a model of reinforced responding that procedurally separates the appetitive, or seeking, response requirement from consummatory responding to compare seeking and intake responding in P and HAD rats. Subjects (n = 7 or 8 per group) were trained to make 25 lever-press responses, which were followed by 20 min of access to a sipper tube spout containing either 10% ethanol (10E) or (in separate groups of subjects) 3% sucrose (3S). After training, a single nonreinforced session was conducted to assess the limit to appetitive responding under extinction conditions. After this single nonreinforced session, three successive across-session breakpoint determinations were made for 10E and 3S by increasing the response requirement over days until subjects failed to complete the requirement. A final extinction session was then conducted. RESULTS: Appetitive responding during both the nonreinforced and breakpoint sessions indicated that P rats made significantly more responses overall than HAD rats in both the ethanol and sucrose groups. P rats also consumed more sucrose than HAD rats, with no differences in ethanol consumption between the lines (1.0-1.5 g/kg/20 min). Appetitive responding in the HAD rats in the ethanol groups was comparable to that reported previously for nonselected Long-Evans rats. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that appetitive and consummatory processes are distinct and that P rats have an increased tendency to both seek and drink ethanol and sucrose solutions, making this selected line useful when modeling both "craving" and "loss of control" related behaviors involved in excessive alcohol consumption.

Alcohol Drinking↗

Effects of brief cognitive-behavioral interventions on confidence to resist the urges to use heroin and methamphetamine in relapse-related situations.

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of brief cognitive-behavioral (C-B) intervention on improving confidence in managing situations related to heroin and methamphetamine (MAMP) use in drug users. The subjects in the intervention group received a five-session C-B intervention, which focused on the acquisition of skills aimed at helping the subject to reduce drug use. The subjects in the intervention and control groups completed pretest and posttest assessments to determine the changes of confidence in managing situations related to drug use. A total of 70 subjects (40 heroin and 30 MAMP users) and 75 subjects (38 heroin and 37 MAMP users) in the control group completed pretest and posttest assessments. The results revealed that among heroin users, the intervention group had greater improvement in confidence to manage interpersonal situations related to heroin use than did the control group, but there was no difference in the improvement in confidence to manage intrapersonal situations between the two groups. Furthermore, MAMP users in the intervention group showed greater improvement in confidence to manage both intrapersonal and interpersonal situations related to MAMP use than the control group. The present study confirmed the efficacy of brief C-B interventions in improving confidence in ability to resist urges to use heroin and MAMP in stressful interpersonal situations and to use MAMP in intrapersonal situations. The possible explanations for the ineffectiveness of brief C-B interventions to improve confidence in managing intrapersonal situations related to heroin use are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Spence and Robbins' measures of workaholism components: test-retest stability.

There has been a recent increase in research devoted to the study of workaholism, specifically concerning issues of definition and measurement. The present investigation examined the test-retest stability of Spence and Robbins' measures of the components of workaholism (1992), one of two measures that has been fairly widely used. These measures were found to be relatively stable in a sample of early-career managers (n = 67) over a 12-wk. period.

Adult↗

Sexual problems in gay men: an overview of empirical research.

This article summarizes the findings and theoretical perspectives of 19 empirical studies of sexual problems in gay men. In order to understand these problems better, various differences between male homosexual and heterosexual functioning are discussed first. The studies included differ widely in terms of the issues explored, the populations studied, and the way data have been collected. In a few studies, researchers generally have looked at the prevalence and experience of sexual problems. In other studies, researchers have focused on the etiology and treatment of specific problems, such as sexual desire disorders, sexual aversion, excitement and arousal problems, orgasm disorders, sexual pain disorders and sexual compulsivity. Overall it is surprising how little is known about these problems in gay men. This is also true, however, for same-sex sexuality in general. Suggestions are made for studies that will enable us to obtain a better understanding of sexual problems in gay men.

Adult↗

What is addiction? Age-related differences in the meaning of addiction.

In a sample of families from a midwestern community study of cigarette smoking, we examined adolescents' and adults' definitions of "addiction", and related these definitions to their perceived addictiveness of cigarette smoking. Both adolescents and adults viewed addiction as multi-faceted, including both appetitive aspects and compulsive aspects. However, for adolescents, the two dimensions were equally important to the overall meaning of addiction, whereas for adults, the compulsive dimension was more important than was the appetitive dimension. The two dimensions of addiction were related to the perceived addictiveness of smoking, but differently for adolescents and adults. For adolescents, the appetitive dimension was a significant predictor whereas, for adults, the compulsive dimension was significant (and appetitive scores were predictive only at high levels of endorsement of the compulsive factor). These findings have potential implications for prevention programs for adolescents. Adolescents may perceive messages about "addiction" as communicating that the behavior in question has appetitive value in addition to a potential for inducing loss of control, and this may weaken the effectiveness of these messages.

Adolescent↗

Cellular mechanisms of striatum-dependent behavioral plasticity and drug addiction.

The striatum has long been known to be involved in the control of motor behavior, since disruption of dopamine-mediated function in this brain structure is directly linked to Parkinson's disease and other disorders of movement. However, it is now accepted that both dorsal and ventral striatal nuclei are also essential for a variety of cognitive processes, which depend on reward-based stimulus-response learning. Since the neuroanatomical and neurochemical organization of dorsal and ventral striatum is only partially overlapping, it is likely that both common and nucleus-specific cellular and molecular events contribute to synaptic plasticity, learning and memory processes mediated by these cerebral structures. Alterations in cell signaling in the striatum may be particularly important in the response to both acute and chronic administration of drugs of abuse, resulting in maladaptive changes in the reward-based associative learning involved in addiction, withdrawal and relapse.

Animals↗

The disease of addiction.

Drug use is a preventable behavior, and addiction is a treatable disease. More than two decades of scientific research have yielded tremendous understanding concerning the nature of addiction and what to do about it. Many tools that can be used by health care providers to aid in the recognition, referral, and treatment for drug abuse and addiction also have been developed. To assist in these efforts, the National Institute on Drug Abuse recently has published the first ever science-based guide to drug treatment: Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment. This guide articulates some essential characteristics of addiction and its treatment and lays out the principles derived from two decades of scientific research that characterize effective treatment programs. This article elaborates many of those points.

Humans↗

Types and characteristics of addicts in the community.

This study examines both the status and behavior while addicted of 230 White and 230 Black male narcotic addicts. Following a presentation of antecedent behaviors and characteristics, an addict typology is developed based on illicit income, perception of adequacy of income to meet needs, and employment. The resulting six types are then described in terms of treatment experiences, criminality, social activities, and psychopathology. The discussion includes suggestions of a treatment perspective for each type.

Adult↗

Enhancement of hippocampal long-term potentiation induced by cocaine self-administration is maintained during the extinction of this behavior.

Drug addiction may involve learning and memory processes requiring the participation of hippocampal formation. One of the best studied examples of hippocampal synaptic plasticity is the long-term potentiation (LTP) which usually occurs when hippocampal synapses are stimulated with high-frequency stimulation. The aim of this work has been to study the effect of extinction of cocaine self-administration behavior on synaptic plasticity in rat hippocampal slices. LTP was induced using a tetanization paradigm consisting of a single train of high-frequency (100 Hz) stimulation for one second. This tetanization protocol evoked a greater and more perdurable LTP in slices obtained after 10 days of extinction of cocaine self-administration (1 mg/kg/injection) than that elicited in slices from saline self-administering (0.9% NaCl) animals. In addition, this LTP facilitation in animals which have followed the cocaine self-administration extinction protocol was very similar to that obtained in slices from cocaine self-administering animals. These results suggest that chronic cocaine self-administration induces enduring neuroadaptive changes in hippocampal synaptic plasticity which last even after the extinction of this behavior and that they may be involved in cocaine dependence.

Animals↗

Sex addiction.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Behavior, Addictive↗

Behavioral and neuroeconomics of drug addiction: competing neural systems and temporal discounting processes.

We review behavioral- and neuroeconomic research that identifies temporal discounting as an important component in the development and maintenance of drug addiction. First, we review behavioral economic research that explains and documents the contribution of temporal discounting to addiction. This is followed with recent insights from neuroeconomics that may provide an explanation of why drug-dependent individuals discount the future. Specifically, neuroeconomics has identified two competing neural systems that are related to temporal discounting using brain-imaging techniques that examine the relative activation of different brain regions for temporal discounting. According to the competing neural systems account, choices for delayed outcomes are related to the prefrontal cortex (i.e., the "executive system") and choices for immediate outcomes are related to the limbic brain regions (i.e., the "impulsive system"). Temporal discounting provides a useful framework for future imaging research, and suggests a novel approach to designing effective drug dependence prevention and treatment programs.

Awareness↗

Probing the role of the dopamine D1 receptor in psychostimulant addiction.

Pharmacological studies have shown that blockade of the dopamine D1 receptor attenuates locomotor behaviors and prevents sensitization to psychostimulants. However, due to possible cross-reactivities of the D1 receptor antagonists, the exact role of the D1 receptor in response to psychostimulants is still not definitive. To address this issue, we used D1 receptor mutant mice and tested locomotor responses of the mutant mice and wild-type control mice after cocaine and amphetamine treatments. We found that the D1 receptor mutant mice exhibit significantly reduced locomotor responses to repeated cocaine administration compared to wild-type mice. Moreover, D1 receptor mutant mice were less sensitive than the wild-type mice to acute amphetamine administration over a dose range, although they exhibited apparently similar behavioral responses to those of the wild-type mice after repeated amphetamine administration at the 5 mg/kg dose. These studies suggest that the D1 receptor plays an essential role in mediating cocaine-induced locomotor responses in mice. In addition, the D1 receptor also participates in behavioral responses induced by amphetamine administration. Further molecular studies are in progress to address the intracellular signaling mechanisms in response to D1 receptor activation by psychostimulants.

Amphetamine↗

Polymorphism of 5HT2A serotonin receptor gene is implicated in smoking addiction.

Smoking behavior is influenced by genetic factors. Polymorphisms affecting the dopaminergic system have been linked to smoking habits. The aim of this study was to investigate if the T102C polymorphism of the 5-HT(2A) receptor gene is related to tobacco use, since this receptor modulates the mesolimbic dopamine system and the C allele is associated with reduced receptor gene expression. A sample of 625 subjects were genotyped and classified according to their smoking behavior (never, former, or current smokers). We found differences in the distribution of the genotypes when the current smokers were compared with the never + former smokers, suggesting that T102C polymorphism is associated with maintenance, but not with initiation of the smoking habit. The CC genotype was more frequent in the current smokers than in the never + former smokers (chi(2) = 6.825, P = 0.03). The odds ratio of being a current smoker with a CC genotype was 1.63, 95% CI 1.06-2.51.

Adult↗