Utilizing the commodity purchase task to evaluate behavioral economic demand for illicit substances: a review and meta-analysis.

Background Andaims: The commodity purchase task is a simulated demand procedure that is easy and quick to complete (< 5 minutes) as well as adaptable for remote delivery and use with varied study populations. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to synthesize research using the commodity purchase task with illicit substances to evaluate the magnitude of omnibus effects sizes and moderators of the correlation of demand indices with quantity-frequency (QF) and severity measures.

Design: Random-effects meta-analyses and meta-regressions involving studies with cross-sectional correlational designs.

DUI offenders display reduced perception of intoxication and heightened impulsive choice in response to alcohol.

Driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol continues to be a major contributor in traffic fatalities. There is growing evidence for heightened trait impulsivity in DUI offenders, but little is known about how impulsivity could interact with alcohol intoxication in a manner that would increase the likelihood of driving while intoxicated. This placebo-controlled study examined the acute effects of 0.

Contribution of cannabis-related cues to concurrent reinforcer choice in humans.

Background: Drug-related cues play a critical role in the development and persistence of substance use disorder. Few human laboratory studies have evaluated how these cues contribute to decisions between concurrently presented reinforcers, and none have examined the specific role of cannabis cues. This study evaluated the contribution of cannabis-related cues to concurrent monetary reinforcer choice in humans.

Associations of first trimester co-use of tobacco and Cannabis with prenatal immune response and psychosocial well-being.

Purpose: This study aims to describe the association of first trimester co-use of tobacco and cannabis with maternal immune response and psychosocial well-being, relative to tobacco use only.

Methods: A preliminary midpoint analysis included 138 pregnant women with biologically verified tobacco use, 38 of whom (28%) also tested positive for recent cannabis use. Maternal perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale), depressive symptoms (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale), and serum immune markers (IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNFα, CRP, MMP8), were collected, although cytokine data were only available for 122 women.

Evaluating non-medical prescription opioid demand using commodity purchase tasks: test-retest reliability and incremental validity.

Rationale: Non-medical prescription opioid use and opioid use disorder (OUD) present a significant public health concern. Identifying behavioral mechanisms underlying OUD will assist in developing improved prevention and intervention approaches. Behavioral economic demand has been extensively evaluated as a measure of reinforcer valuation for alcohol and cigarettes, whereas prescription opioids have received comparatively little attention.

Influence of phendimetrazine maintenance on the reinforcing, subjective, performance, and physiological effects of intranasal cocaine.

Rationale: No pharmacotherapies are approved for cocaine use disorder. Phendimetrazine, a prodrug of the monoamine-releaser phenmetrazine, attenuates the reinforcing effects of cocaine in preclinical models, has minimal abuse potential, and is safe when combined with cocaine.

Objectives: This study determined the influence of phendimetrazine maintenance on the reinforcing effects of cocaine (i.

Feasibility, Acceptability, and Initial Efficacy of Delivering Alcohol Use Cognitive Interventions via Crowdsourcing.

Background: Inhibitory control training and working memory training are 2 cognitive interventions that have been considered for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Existing studies have typically relied on small samples that preclude the evaluation of small effects. Crowdsourcing is a sampling method that can address these limitations by effectively and efficiently recruiting large samples with varying health histories.

Using behavioral economic variables to predict future alcohol use in a crowdsourced sample.

Background: Theoretical perspectives at the intersection of behavioral economics and operant theory have resulted in numerous advances for addiction science. Three mechanisms (i.e.

Reliability and validity of the Brief DSM-5 Alcohol Use Disorder Diagnostic Assessment: A systematic replication in a crowdsourced sample.

Effectively and efficiently identifying alcohol use disorder (AUD) is an essential goal for researchers and clinicians alike. To date, there are a limited number of self-reported tools specifically designed for evaluating DSM-5 criteria for AUD. The Brief DSM-5 AUD Diagnostic Assessment is a recently created participant self-reported measure with demonstrated reliability and validity in college student populations.

The impact of financial strain on medication non-adherence: Influence of psychiatric medication use.

Non-adherence to prescribed medications is a systemic public health concern. Financial strain, the extent to which an individual is unable to afford necessary items, may represent an important factor related to adherence. This study evaluated the association between financial strain and medication adherence as a function of medication type.

Attentional bias to cannabis cues in cannabis users but not cocaine users.

Attentional bias to drug cues has been associated with the problematic use of drugs, including cannabis. The cognitive mechanisms underlying this bias are not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to determine whether cannabis-cue attentional bias is associated with disruptions in attentional processing.

Contribution of cocaine-related cues to concurrent monetary choice in humans.

Rationale: Theoretical accounts highlight the importance of drug-related cues for the development and persistence of drug-taking behavior. Few studies have evaluated the ability of spatially contiguous drug cues to bias decisions between two concurrently presented non-drug reinforcers.

Objective: Evaluate the contribution of spatially contiguous cocaine cues to choice between two concurrently presented monetary reinforcers METHODS: Participants with cocaine use disorder completed a cued concurrent choice task.

Feasibility, acceptability, and validity of crowdsourcing for collecting longitudinal alcohol use data.

Challenges to conducting longitudinal research include financial, time, and geographic constraints. An emerging sampling method positioned to address these concerns is crowdsourcing. This study evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and validity of collecting intensive longitudinal alcohol use data with the crowdsourcing platform, Amazon.

Decision-making in addiction: Current knowledge, clinical implications and future directions.

This article serves to summarize this special issue on "Decision-making in Addiction." The manuscripts included in this issue cover topics as diverse as theory, types of models used to study decision-making, underlying pharmacological, behavioral and brain mechanisms, and individual differences. Together, these papers can serve as a comprehensive resource outlining our contemporary understanding of how decision-making processes contribute to addictive behavior.

Linking kindling to increased glutamate release in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus through the STXBP5/tomosyn-1 gene.

Introduction: In kindling, repeated electrical stimulation of certain brain areas causes progressive and permanent intensification of epileptiform activity resulting in generalized seizures. We focused on the role(s) of glutamate and a negative regulator of glutamate release, STXBP5/tomosyn-1, in kindling.

Methods: Stimulating electrodes were implanted in the amygdala and progression to two successive Racine stage 5 seizures was measured in wild-type and STXBP5/tomosyn-1 (Tom) animals.

A pilot study of loss aversion for drug and non-drug commodities in cocaine users.

Background: Numerous studies in behavioral economics have demonstrated that individuals are more sensitive to the prospect of a loss than a gain (i.e., loss aversion).

N-Acetylcysteine reduces cocaine-cue attentional bias and differentially alters cocaine self-administration based on dosing order.

Background: Disrupted glutamate homeostasis is thought to contribute to cocaine-use disorder, in particular, by enhancing the incentive salience of cocaine stimuli. n-Acetylcysteine might be useful in cocaine-use disorder by normalizing glutamate function. In prior studies, n-acetylcysteine blocked the reinstatement of cocaine seeking in laboratory animals and reduced the salience of cocaine stimuli and delayed relapse in humans.

Calcineurin/NFAT Signaling in Activated Astrocytes Drives Network Hyperexcitability in Aβ-Bearing Mice.

Hyperexcitable neuronal networks are mechanistically linked to the pathologic and clinical features of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Astrocytes are a primary defense against hyperexcitability, but their functional phenotype during AD is poorly understood. Here, we found that activated astrocytes in the 5xFAD mouse model were strongly associated with proteolysis of the protein phosphatase calcineurin (CN) and the elevated expression of the CN-dependent transcription factor nuclear factor of activated T cells 4 (NFAT4).

Neurophysiological capacity in a working memory task differentiates dependent from nondependent heavy drinkers and controls.

Background: Determining the neurobehavioral profiles that differentiate heavy drinkers who are and are not alcohol dependent will inform treatment efforts. Working memory is linked to substance use disorders and can serve as a representation of the demand placed on the neurophysiology associated with cognitive control.

Methods: Behavior and brain activity (via fMRI) were recorded during an N-Back working memory task in controls (CTRL), nondependent heavy drinkers (A-ND) and dependent heavy drinkers (A-D).

Unique prediction of cannabis use severity and behaviors by delay discounting and behavioral economic demand.

Few studies have simultaneously evaluated delay discounting and behavioral economic demand to determine their unique contribution to drug use. A recent study in cannabis users found that monetary delay discounting uniquely predicted cannabis dependence symptoms, whereas cannabis demand uniquely predicted use frequency. This study sought to replicate and extend this research by evaluating delay discounting and behavioral economic demand measures for multiple commodities and including a use quantity measure.

A pilot investigation of acute inhibitory control training in cocaine users.

Background: Disrupted response inhibition and presence of drug-cue attentional bias in cocaine-using individuals have predicted poor treatment outcomes. Inhibitory control training could help improve treatment outcomes by strengthening cognitive control. This pilot study assessed the effects of acute inhibitory control training to drug- and non-drug-related cues on response inhibition performance and cocaine-cue attentional bias in cocaine-using individuals.

Human Drug Discrimination: Elucidating the Neuropharmacology of Commonly Abused Illicit Drugs.

Drug-discrimination procedures empirically evaluate the control that internal drug states have over behavior. They provide a highly selective method to investigate the neuropharmacological underpinnings of the interoceptive effects of drugs in vivo. As a result, drug discrimination has been one of the most widely used assays in the field of behavioral pharmacology.

Development of a translational model to screen medications for cocaine use disorder II: Choice between intravenous cocaine and money in humans.

Background: A medication for treating cocaine use disorder has yet to be approved. Laboratory-based evaluation of candidate medications in animals and humans is a valuable means to demonstrate safety, tolerability and initial efficacy of potential medications. However, animal-to-human translation has been hampered by a lack of coordination.

Buspirone reduces sexual risk-taking intent but not cocaine self-administration.

Impulsive sexual decision-making may underlie sexual risk-taking behavior that contributes to the disproportionately high prevalence of HIV infection among cocaine users. Delay-discounting procedures measure impulsive decision-making and may provide insight into the underlying mechanisms of sexual risk-taking behavior. The anxiolytic drug buspirone reduces delay discounting in rats and blunts the reinforcing effects of cocaine in some preclinical studies suggesting that it might have utility in the treatment of cocaine-use disorders.

Separate and Combined Effects of Naltrexone and Extended-Release Alprazolam on the Reinforcing, Subject-Rated, and Cardiovascular Effects of Methamphetamine.

Opioid antagonists (eg, naltrexone) and positive modulators of γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptors (eg, alprazolam) each modestly attenuate the abuse-related effects of stimulants. A previous study demonstrated that acute pretreatment with the combination of naltrexone and alprazolam attenuated a greater number of the subject-rated effects of D-amphetamine than the constituent drugs alone. This study tested the hypothesis that maintenance on the combination of naltrexone and alprazolam XR would attenuate the reinforcing and "positive" subject-rated effects of methamphetamine to a greater extent than the constituent drugs alone.