Markers Of Addiction Research Articles

The centrality of craving in network analysis of five substance use disorders

Background and aimsAmong the 11 current diagnostic criteria, craving is a potential central marker for understanding and for treatment of Substance Use Disorders (SUD). Our objective was to explore craving centrality across SUD based on the study of symptom interactions in cross-sectional network analyses of DSM-5 SUD diagnostic criteria. We hypothesized the centrality of “Craving” in SUD across substance types. DesignParticipants from the ADDICTAQUI clinical cohort with regular use (2 times per week threshold for a substance) and at least one DSM-5 SUD. SettingOutpatient substance use treatment services in Bordeaux, France. ParticipantsThe sample of 1359 participants, had a mean age of 39 years old and 67% were males. The prevalence of SUD over the time course of the study was: 93% for alcohol, 98% for opioids, 94% for cocaine, 94% for cannabis and 91% tobacco. MeasurementsConstruction of a Symptom Network Model conducted on the DSM-5 SUD criteria evaluated over the past 12 months for Alcohol-, Cocaine-, Tobacco-, Opioid- and Cannabis Use disorder. FindingsThe only symptom that consistently remained in terms of centrality was “Craving” [3.96 – 6.17] (z-scores), indicating that it exhibits a high degree of connections in the entire symptom network regardless of the substance. ConclusionIdentifying craving as central in SUD symptoms network confirms the role of craving as a marker of addiction. This constitutes a major avenue in the understanding of the mechanisms of addiction, with implications to ameliorate diagnostic validity and clarify treatment targets.

Мемуарні структури наративу в п’єсі Тетяни Іващенко «Таїна буття»

The article analyzes the peculiarities of the use of narrative structures of memory in T. Ivashchenko's play «The Secret of Being». The relevance of the study is determined by the popularity of the genre of artistic biography, which is drawn from the desire to deeply rethink the lives of key cultural and historical figures and the availability of a wide range of tools for this literary representation. Also, the play «The Secret of Being» is interesting for researchers of biographical drama due to the peculiar construction of the plot. During the research, first and foremost, the content of the basic terminology was clarified - the concepts of «narrative», «memories-narrative», «dependency», «addictive behavior». Secondly, the chronotopic structures of the narrative were distinguished. Then, the connecting elements of the chronotopic structures – memories-narratives were determined, and the features of memories were analyzed – narratives as which containing markers of addiction. In T. Ivashchenko's play «The Secret of Being» two chronotopic structures are closely intertwined: the first – Olha Franko recalls her youth at the end of her life; the second – the actual memories of the woman from the moment she met Ivan Franko and their married life in general. The difference in time and space, which is quite significant in chronotopic structures, is overcoming not only due to the presence of memories-narratives but also due to the inherent meaning - addiction. Most of the immanent signs of addiction – compulsive behavior, anxiety, and partial creation of an alternative reality – are realized in the text of the play at the lexical and stylistic levels. A specific tool for manifesting the other two – the loss of the sense of reality and the creation of an alternative reality – is the reception of hallucinations and delusions. Thus, interpersonal dependence pervades the memories-narratives and acts as the unifying element, thanks to which the play is perceived as a complete work. Taking into account the results of the research, it is worth extending the proven methodology of analysis to other biographical plays, intending to identify a number of possible meanings that can serve as a connecting element.

A second type of magnitude effect: Reinforcer magnitude differentiates delay discounting between substance users and controls.

Basic research on delay discounting, examining preference for smaller-sooner or larger-later reinforcers, has demonstrated a variety of findings of considerable generality. One of these, the magnitude effect, is the observation that individuals tend to exhibit greater preference for the immediate with smaller magnitude reinforcers. Delay discounting has also proved to be a useful marker of addiction, as demonstrated by the highly replicated finding of greater discounting rates in substance users compared to controls. However, some research on delay discounting rates in substance users, particularly research examining discounting of small-magnitude reinforcers, has not found significant differences compared to controls. Here, we hypothesize that the magnitude effect could produce ceiling effects at small magnitudes, thus obscuring differences in delay discounting between groups. We examined differences in discounting between high-risk substance users and controls over a broad range of magnitudes of monetary amounts ($0.10, $1.00, $10.00, $100.00, and $1000.00) in 116 Amazon Mechanical Turk workers. We found no significant differences in discounting rates between users and controls at the smallest reinforcer magnitudes ($0.10 and $1.00) and further found that differences became more pronounced as magnitudes increased. These results provide an understanding of a second form of the magnitude effect: That is, differences in discounting between populations can become more evident as a function of reinforcer magnitude.

Problematic Internet Users Show Impaired Inhibitory Control and Risk Taking with Losses: Evidence from Stop Signal and Mixed Gambles Tasks.

According to the balance model of self-regulation, dysfunction of the inhibitory control and reward processing might be a behavioral marker for addiction and problematic behaviors. Although several studies have separately examined the inhibitory control or reward processing of individuals exhibiting problematic Internet use (PIU), no study has explored these two functions simultaneously to examine the potential imbalance of these functions. This study aimed to investigate whether the self-regulatory failure of PIU individuals results from deficits in both inhibitory control [indexed with the stop signal reaction time (SSRT) in a stop signal task] and risk taking with losses (measured as the acceptance rates of risky gables or the ratio of win/loss in a mixed gambles task). The results revealed that PIU individuals, compared with controls, showed decreased SSRT and increased error rates as well as reduced risk taking with losses. Correlational analyses revealed a significant positive relationship between the SSRT and risk taking with losses. These findings suggest that both the inhibitory control and reward functions are impaired in PIU individuals and reveal an association between these two systems. These results strengthen the balance model of self-regulation theory’s argument that deficits in inhibitory control and risk taking with losses may assist in identifying risk markers for early diagnosis, progression, and prediction of PIU.

Economic demand predicts addiction-like behavior and therapeutic efficacy of oxytocin in the rat.

Development of new treatments for drug addiction will depend on high-throughput screening in animal models. However, an addiction biomarker fit for rapid testing, and useful in both humans and animals, is not currently available. Economic models are promising candidates. They offer a structured quantitative approach to modeling behavior that is mathematically identical across species, and accruing evidence indicates economic-based descriptors of human behavior may be particularly useful biomarkers of addiction severity. However, economic demand has not yet been established as a biomarker of addiction-like behavior in animals, an essential final step in linking animal and human studies of addiction through economic models. We recently developed a mathematical approach for rapidly modeling economic demand in rats trained to self-administer cocaine. We show here that economic demand, as both a spontaneous trait and induced state, predicts addiction-like behavior, including relapse propensity, drug seeking in abstinence, and compulsive (punished) drug taking. These findings confirm economic demand as a biomarker of addiction-like behavior in rats. They also support the view that excessive motivation plays an important role in addiction while extending the idea that drug dependence represents a shift from initially recreational to compulsive drug use. Finally, we found that economic demand for cocaine predicted the efficacy of a promising pharmacotherapy (oxytocin) in attenuating cocaine-seeking behaviors across individuals, demonstrating that economic measures may be used to rapidly identify the clinical utility of prospective addiction treatments.

Susceptibility loci for COPD

GlaxoSmithKline and Duke researchers have identified two new susceptibility loci for COPD. The pharma is now running a much larger, long-term study to validate the role of the genes in lung disease to ensure they aren't just a marker for addiction in smokers prone to the disease.