Abstract
Objective: Betel quid dependency (BQD) is characterized by functional and structural brain alterations. Trait impulsivity may influence substance dependence by impacting its neurobiological underpinnings in the frontostriatal circuit. However, little is known about the trait impulsivity and its neural correlates in individuals with BQD.Methods: Forty-eight participants with BQD and 22 normal controls (NCs) were recruited and scanned on a 3T MRI scanner. Barratt impulsiveness scale (BIS) was used to measure trait impulsivity: motor, attention, and no plan impulsivity. We used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to assess the relationship between trait impulsivity and gray matter volumes. The relevant clusters identified were served as regions of interest (ROI) seeds. The whole-volume psycho-physiological interactions (PPI) analysis was used to investigate the changes of functional connectivity related to ROI seeds in the cue-reactivity task condition (BQ and control images).Results: Behaviorally, the BQD group showed significantly higher trait impulsivity including motor and no plan impulsivity than the NCs group. VBM analyses showed that motor impulsivity was negatively associated with gray matter volume of right caudate in the whole sample. No difference in gray matter volume between the two groups was observed. PPI analyses showed that there was a significantly decreased functional connectivity between the right caudate and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) when watching BQ related images than control images in individuals with BQD. Furthermore, functional connectivity between the right caudate and right DLPFC was negatively correlated with BQ dependency scores.Conclusions: Our study demonstrated the structural basis of trait impulsivity in the caudate and provided evidence for abnormal interactions within frontostriatal circuitsin individuals with BQD, which may provide insight into the selection of potential novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of BQ dependency.
Highlights
Betel quid (BQ, the product of areca nut, which is the fruit of the areca palm) is among the most widely used psychoactive substances worldwide along with tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine (Boucher and Mannan, 2002; Yen et al, 2018)
Results suggested that the BQ dependency (BQD) group showed higher motor and no plan impulsivity than the normal controls (NCs) group
The result of correlation analysis suggested that scores of motor impulsivity were negatively correlated with the volume of right caudate in the whole group
Summary
Betel quid (BQ, the product of areca nut, which is the fruit of the areca palm) is among the most widely used psychoactive substances worldwide along with tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine (Boucher and Mannan, 2002; Yen et al, 2018). The negative consequences of excessive BQ use have been reported to be correlated with the risk of oral potentially malignant disorder, oral cancer, and other health consequences (Lee et al, 2003; Jacob et al, 2004; Tilakaratne et al, 2006; Mehrtash et al, 2017). These clinical phenomena are well-known, the pathophysiological mechanism of BQ dependency (BQD) remains unclear
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