Journal
DRUG AND ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE
Volume 104, Issue 3, Pages 228-240Publisher
ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2009.04.022
Keywords
Opiate dependence; Methadone maintenance; Abstinence; Sustained attention; Neuropsychological function; Neuroimaging
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Funding
- NIDA Intramural Research Program, and the Counterdrug Technology Center, Office of National Drug Control Policy [ROI DA 12273]
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE [R01DA012273] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
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Objective: Impairments in the function of attention exacerbate the course of opiate dependence and may play a role in the relapsing nature of the disorder. This study used clinical measures and positron emission tomography (PET) to assess the functioning of sustained attention in subjects with a history of opiate dependence. Methods: A test of auditory sustained attention was administered to 10 subjects receiving methadone maintenance treatment, 13 formerly opiate-de pendent subjects in protracted abstinence, and 14 healthy Comparison subjects. Simultaneous measurement of regional glucose metabolism was made by [F-18] flourodeoxyglucose PET Subjects groups were compared on the measures of sustained attention and regional cerebral glucose metabolism. Results: Healthy Comparison subjects scored significantly better than either methadone-maintained or abstinent former opiate addicts on measures of sustained attention. Formerly opiate-dependent subjects in protracted abstinence scored better than methadone-maintained subjects on sustained attention. Methadone-maintained subjects demonstrated a relative reduction in regional cerebral glucose metabolism in the right supramarginal gyrus, and the thalamus bilaterally. The Comparison subjects without a history of opiate dependence demonstrated a relative increase in regional cerebral glucose metabolism in the right anterior cingulate gyrus, the right medial superior frontal gyrus and the thalamus bilaterally. Conclusions: Subjects with a history of opiate dependence have impairments in the functioning of sustained attention, and abnormalities in brain regions identified as important in attention processing.. Impairments in attention performance persist in subjects who enjoy prolonged abstinence from opiates. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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