The face of craving? Facial muscle EMG and reported craving in abstinent and non-abstinent cocaine users

Abstract

We studied 12 subjects, half of whom were current cocaine users and half of whom were abstinent former users, using facial EMG before and after subjects completed questionnaires describing cocaine use, craving and mood. Changes in zygomatic EMG tone before and after cocaine questionnaire completion correlated with reported craving in current users. This preliminary study suggests that facial EMG correlates with cocaine craving in current users.