No abstract

Background Attentional bias (i.e., differences in reaction time between drug and neutral cues) has been associated with a variety of drug-use behaviors (e.g., craving, abstinence) and reduction of bias may ultimately reduce use. Objective The current study examined whether attentional bias modification therapy (ABMT) reduced the frequency of drug use behaviors in individuals with cocaine use disorder (CUD). Method Participants (n= 37) were randomly assigned to ABMT or control therapy, which systematically varied how frequently probes replaced neutral (ABMT = 100%; control = 50%) relative to drug stimuli. Each intervention included five training sessions comprising a total of 2640 trials over 4 weeks. Clinical assessments occurred at baseline, post-intervention, 2 weeks and 3 months post-treatment. Results There were no baseline differences between groups on drug-use behaviors or other clinical measures. Contrary to predictions, both groups exhibited slower rather than faster reaction times for cocaine stimuli (p = 0.005) at baseline, with no relationship between bias and baseline measures of drug-use behavior. Conclusions ABMT was not more effective than our control at reducing attentional bias, reducing craving or changing other drug use behaviors. Current results suggest additional replication studies are needed to assess ABMT’s efficacy in reducing drug-use behaviors in CUD.

Individuals with alcohol use disorders (AUDs) have deficits in cognitive control, but how they change with treatment is unclear. Seven patients with AUD and anxiety from an open-label trial of disulfiram plus lorazepam performed a multisensory Stroop task during fMRI (both pre and post initiation of treatment), and were compared to nine healthy controls (HCs) (n = 16; Albuquerque, NM; years 2009–2012). Evoked BOLD signal and resting state functional connectivity were compared (HC vs. AUD; Scan 1 vs. Scan 2). AUD demonstrated hyperactivity and altered connectivity in the cognitive control network compared to HC, but treatment did not normalize function.