Background and Aims Attentional bias has been demonstrated to a variety of substances. Evidence suggests that fixation time is a more direct measure of attentional bias than response time. The aims of this experiment were to demonstrate that fixation time during the visual probe task is a sensitive and stable measure of cocaine cue attentional bias in cocaine using adults compared to controls. Design A between-subject, repeated-measures experiment. Setting An outpatient research unit. Participants Fifteen cocaine using and fifteen non-cocaine-using adults recruited from the community. Measurements Participants completed a visual probe task with eye tracking and a modified Stroop during two experimental sessions. Findings A significant interaction between cue type and group (F = 13.5; P = 0.001) indicated that cocaine users, but not controls, displayed an attentional bias to cocaine-related images as measured by fixation time. There were no changes in the magnitude of attentional bias across sessions (F = 3.4; P = 0.08) and attentional bias correlated with self-reported lifetime cocaine use (r = 0.64, P = 0.01). Response time on the visual probe (F = 1.1; P = 0.3) as well as on the modified Stroop (F = 0.1; P = 0.72) failed to detect an attentional bias. Conclusions Fixation time on cocaine-related stimuli (propensity to remain focused on the stimulus) is a sensitive and stable measure of cocaine cue attentional bias in cocaine-using adults.

Background Stimuli associated with cocaine use capture attention. Evidence suggests that fixation time measured on the visual probe task is a valid measure of cocaine cue attentional bias. The aim of this experiment was to demonstrate the test-retest reliability of cocaine cue attentional bias as measured by fixation time during the visual probe task. Methods In a within-subject, repeated-measures design, thirty-six non-treatment seeking cocaine-using adults completed a visual probe task with eye tracking. Results Participants displayed an attentional bias to cocaine-related images as measured by fixation time across two occasions (F (1, 35) = 56.5, p < 0.0001). A Pearson correlation indicated significant test-retest reliability for this effect (r = 0.51, p = 0.001). Response time failed to detect an attentional bias and test-retest reliability was low (r = 0.24, p = 0.16). Conclusion Fixation time during the visual probe task is a reliable measure of cocaine cue attentional bias in cocaine-using adults across time.

Background Cocaine users show impaired inhibitory control on cued go/no-go tasks and attention bias to drug-related images in eye-tracking tasks. The results of a previous study suggested that there is a relationship between inhibitory control and attention bias in alcohol drinkers such that the presentation of alcohol-related images as a go cue in a cued go/no-go task significantly impaired inhibitory control compared to neutral images as a go cue. The present study determined the generality of these previous findings by assessing inhibitory control in cocaine users utilizing a modified cued go/no-go task with cocaine or neutral images as the cues. Methods Non-treatment seeking cocaine users (N=30) completed the modified task after completing detailed measures of demographics and drug use. Participants were matched on basic demographic factors and were assigned to groups in which they saw either a cocaine or neutral image as the go cue. Results Participants assigned to the cocaine image go cue condition had a significantly higher proportion of inhibitory failures to the no-go target than their counterparts assigned to the neutral cue condition, but there were no group differences on reaction time (i.e., accuracy was not traded for speed). Conclusions Cocaine users were less able to inhibit pre-potent responses when a cocaine-related image served as the go cue than when a neutral image served as the go cue, consistent with previous research in alcohol users. The outcomes suggest that cocaine-related cues produce disinhibition, perhaps contributing to the high incidence of relapse or continued cocaine use.

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The visual probe task with eye tracking is a sensitive measure of cocaine and alcohol cue attentional bias. Despite the high comorbidity between cocaine and alcohol dependence, attentional bias studies have examined the influence of cocaine and alcohol-related cues separately. The aim of this experiment was to directly compare the magnitude of cocaine and alcohol cue attentional bias in individuals dependent on cocaine or cocaine and alcohol. Individuals who met criteria for cocaine dependence (n=20) or both cocaine and alcohol dependence (n=20) completed a visual probe task with eye tracking. Cocaine-dependent participants displayed an attentional bias towards cocaine, but not alcohol. In contrast, cocaine-alcohol dependent participants displayed an attentional bias to both cocaine and alcohol, and the magnitude of these biases did not differ. The magnitude of cocaine cue attentional bias, however, was significantly smaller in the cocaine-alcohol dependent group compared to the cocaine-dependent group. These results suggest that fixation time during the visual probe task is sensitive to clinically relevant differences in substance use disorders. The incentive value of cocaine-related cues, however, may differ for individuals who are also dependent on alcohol.

Naltrexone and bupropion, when administered alone in clinical trials, modestly reduce amphetamine use. Whether combining these drugs would result in greater reductions in methamphetamine taking relative to either drug alone is undetermined. This study examined the influence of naltrexone, bupropion and a naltrexone-bupropion combination on methamphetamine self-administration in humans. Seven subjects reporting recent illicit stimulant use completed a placebo-controlled, crossover, double-blind study in which the reinforcing, subject-rated and physiological effects of intranasal methamphetamine (0, 10 and 30 mg) were assessed during maintenance on placebo, naltrexone (50 mg), bupropion (300 mg/day), and naltrexone combined with bupropion. Methamphetamine maintained responding and produced prototypic subjective and physiological effects (e.g., increased ratings of Good Effects, elevated systolic blood pressure). Maintenance doses were well tolerated and generally devoid of effects. No maintenance condition reduced methamphetamine self-administration or systematically altered the subject-rated effects of methamphetamine. These outcomes demonstrate the robust behavioral effects of methamphetamine that could make it resistant to pharmacological manipulation. Although these outcomes indicate that this combination may be ineffective for managing methamphetamine use disorder, future work should evaluate longer maintenance dosing, individuals with different levels of amphetamine use, adding this combination to a behavioral platform and other pharmacotherapy combinations for reducing methamphetamine use.

Background Alcohol consumption is a known antecedent to cocaine relapse. Through associative conditioning, it is hypothesized that alcohol increases incentive motivation for cocaine and thus the salience of cocaine-related cues, which are important in maintaining drug-taking behavior. Cocaine-using individuals display a robust cocaine cue attentional bias as measured by fixation time during the visual probe task. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the influence of alcohol administration on cocaine cue attentional bias using eye-tracking technology to directly measure attentional allocation. Methods Twenty current cocaine users completed a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subjects study that tested the effect of three doses of alcohol (0.00, 0.325, 0.65 g/kg alcohol) on cocaine cue attentional bias using the visual probe task with eye-tracking technology. The participant-rated and physiological effects of alcohol were also assessed. Results Participants displayed a robust cocaine cue attentional bias following both placebo and alcohol administration as measured by fixation time, but not response time. Alcohol administration did not influence cocaine cue attentional bias, but increased craving for cocaine in a dose dependent manner. Alcohol produced prototypic psychomotor and participant-rated effects. Conclusions Alcohol administration increases cocaine craving but not cocaine cue attentional bias. Alcohol-induced cocaine craving suggests that alcohol increases incentive motivation for cocaine but not the salience of cocaine-related cues.

Rural women are at risk for health consequences (such as HIV) associated with substance misuse, but targeted interventions are limited for this population. Jails provide an underutilized opportunity for outreach to high-risk women in rural Appalachian communities. Rural women were randomized to either the NIDA Standard education intervention (n = 201) or the NIDA Standard plus motivational interviewing (MI-HIV; n = 199) while in jail. Outcomes focused on HIV risk behaviors 3 months post-release from jail. Decreases in HIV risk behaviors were observed at follow-up across conditions. Although participants in the MI-HIV group showed reductions in outcomes compared to the NIDA Standard group (OR = 0.82-0.93), these estimates did not reach significance (p values > .57). HIV education interventions can be associated with risk-reduction behaviors. These findings support the need for increased access to prevention education in criminal justice venues, particularly in rural communities.