dACC response to presentation of negative feedback predicts stimulant dependence diagnosis and stimulant use severity

• Published in: NeuroImage clinical Vol. 20; pp. 16 - 23
• Main Authors: Claus, Eric D., Shane, Matthew S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Inc 01-01-2018; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Anterior cingulate; Biomarker; Central Nervous System Stimulants - adverse effects; Cocaine; Cocaine-Related Disorders - diagnostic imaging; Cocaine-Related Disorders - psychology; Feedback, Psychological - physiology; Female; Gyrus Cinguli - diagnostic imaging; Gyrus Cinguli - drug effects; Gyrus Cinguli - physiology; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Negative feedback; Photic Stimulation - methods; Predictive Value of Tests; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Reaction Time - physiology; Regular; Relapse; Severity of Illness Index; Stimulant dependence; Young Adult; Anterior cingulate; Negative feedback; Relapse; Biomarker; Cocaine; Stimulant dependence
• ISSN: 2213-1582; 2213-1582
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2018.05.007

Error-monitoring abnormalities in stimulant-dependent individuals (SDIs) may be due to reduced awareness of committed errors, or to reduced sensitivity upon such awareness. The distinction between these alternatives remains largely undifferentiated, but may have substantial clinical relevance. We sought to better characterize the nature, and clinical relevance, of SDIs' error-monitoring processes by comparing carefully isolated neural responses during the presentation of negative feedback to a) stimulant dependence status and b) lifetime stimulant use. Forty-eight SDIs and twenty-three non-SDIs performed an fMRI-based time-estimation task specifically designed to isolate neural responses associated with the presentation (versus expectation) of contingent negative feedback. SDIs showed reduced dACC response compared to non-SDIs following the presentation of negative feedback, but only when error expectancies were controlled. Moreover, lifetime stimulant use correlated negatively with magnitude of expectancy-controlled dACC attenuation. While this finding was minimized after controlling for age, these results suggest that SDIs may be characterized by a core reduction in neural activity following error feedback, in the context of intact feedback expectancies. Correlations with lifetime stimulant use suggest that this neural attenuation may hold clinical significance.
•Examined whether SDIs error-related deficits are due to reduced error-awareness, or reduced sensitivity upon such awareness.•A time-estimation task was used that isolated SDI's and non-SDI's neural responses to the presentation and expectation of negative feedback.•SDIs showed reduced dACC response following the presentation of negative feedback, but only when error-expectancies were controlled.•dACC signal change to the presentation of negative feedback distinguished SDI/non-SDI, and predicted stimulant use history.