Addiction changes orbitofrontal gyrus function: involvement ... : NeuroReport (original) (raw)
COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
Addiction changes orbitofrontal gyrus function: involvement in response inhibition
Goldstein, Rita Z.CA; Volkow, Nora D.; Wang, Gene-Jack; Fowler, Joanna S.; Rajaram, Suparna1
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Medical Research, Bldg. 490, 30 Bell Ave, Upton, NY 11973; 1Department of Psychology, SUNY Stony Brook, NY 11794-2500
CACorresponding Author
Received 23 May 2001; accepted 5 June 2001
Abstract
We used the Stroop task as a measure of the ability to inhibit a prepotent response tendency and examined its association with relative glucose metabolism in selected prefrontal brain regions in cocaine addicts, alcoholics, and controls (17 per group). Results revealed that for the substance abusers, higher orbitofrontal gyrus (OFG) activation was associated with lower conflict (higher score;r = 0.32, p < 0.05). For the controls, higher OFG activation was associated with higher conflict (lower score;r = −0.42, p < 0.05). Thus, at baseline, increased relative activation of the OFG is associated with worse performance in controls and better performance in substance abusers on the Stroop task, suggesting reversal of the role of the OFG as a function of addiction.
© 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.