Effect of drug-related cues on response inhibition through abstinence: A pilot study in male heroin abstainers

ABSTRACT

Background: Chronic heroin use can cause a deficit of inhibitory function, leading to a loss of control over drug use. Exposure to drug-related cues is considered as one of the contributing factors. However, it is unclear whether there are dynamic changes on the effect of drug-related cues on response inhibition following prolonged abstinence. Objective: The present study investigated the effect of drug-related cues on response inhibition in heroin abstainers at different abstinent phases. Methods: 26 shorter-term (2–6 months) and 26 longer-term (19–24 months) male heroin abstainers performed on a modified two-choice Oddball task, which included two conditions: in the cued condition, neutral pictures served as the background of standard stimuli (yellow frame) and heroin-related pictures served as the background of deviant stimuli (blue frame), reversed in the controlled conditions. Results: Compared to longer-term abstainers, mean reaction time (RT) for drug deviants in shorter-term abstainers was significantly longer. Shorter-term abstainers also showed markedly slower response to neutral deviants relative to drug deviants, but this tendency was not observed in longer-term abstainers. Nevertheless, both groups had similar RT for standard stimuli regardless of their paired background pictures. Conclusion: Effect of drug-related cues on response inhibition remains at the early stage of abstinence; however, this effect may be reduced following a longer period of drug abstinence. Our findings highlight the importance of assessing and improving the ability of inhibiting drug-related cue reactivity during treatment.

KEYWORDS:

• Heroin abstainers
• response inhibition
• drug-related cues
• two-choice Oddball task

Financial disclosure

The authors report no relevant financial conflicts.

Funding

Funding for this study was provided by grants (31360233, 31660276) from National Natural Science Foundation of China. NNSFC had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this study was provided by grants (31360233, 31660276) from National Natural Science Foundation of China. NNSFC had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.