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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter November 25, 2011

Neuroimaging for drug addiction and related behaviors

  • Muhammad A. Parvaz , Nelly Alia-Klein , Patricia A. Woicik , Nora D. Volkow and Rita Z. Goldstein EMAIL logo

Abstract

In this review, we highlight the role of neuroimaging techniques in studying the emotional and cognitive-behavioral components of the addiction syndrome by focusing on the neural substrates subserving them. The phenomenology of drug addiction can be characterized by a recurrent pattern of subjective experiences that includes drug intoxication, craving, bingeing, and withdrawal with the cycle culminating in a persistent preoccupation with obtaining, consuming, and recovering from the drug. In the past two decades, imaging studies of drug addiction have demonstrated deficits in brain circuits related to reward and impulsivity. The current review focuses on studies employing positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate these behaviors in drug-addicted human populations. We begin with a brief account of drug addiction followed by a technical account of each of these imaging modalities. We then discuss how these techniques have uniquely contributed to a deeper understanding of addictive behaviors.


Corresponding author

Received: 2011-11-3
Accepted: 2011-11-5
Published Online: 2011-11-25
Published in Print: 2011-12-01

©2011 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston

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