Assessing cocaine motivational value: Comparison of brain reactivity bias toward cocaine cues and cocaine demand.

Abstract

The behavioral economic measure drug demand and the neural measure late positive potential (LPP) are two measures of motivational value that have been associated with drug relapse risk and treatment outcomes. Despite having overlapping themes, no studies have directly compared drug demand and LPP. Participants (N = 59) included treatment-seeking individuals with cocaine use disorder that had completed both a baseline cocaine demand task and an electroencephalogram (EEG) picture-viewing task of drug-related and pleasant picture cues. Associations between the LPP difference score amplitude (drug − pleasant) and five demand indices (Q 0 , essential value [EV], O max , P max , and breakpoint [BP]) were evaluated via Bayesian generalized linear modeling. Positive associations (posterior probabilities ≥75%) were found between LPP amplitude and four demand indices (Q 0 , EV, O max , BP). These results suggest that individuals who attach greater relevance to cocaine cues also exhibit greater valuation of cocaine reward. Implications for incorporating methodology from behavioral science and brain imaging are discussed. Public Health SignificanceThis study found that higher brain reactivity toward cocaine cues compared to nondrug rewards was related to greater motivation to purchase and consume cocaine despite increasing cost of drug. These results highlight a potential avenue for future interventions to target the motivational value of drug reward, which could potentially lead to a decrease in cocaine demand.

Correspondence between the alcohol‐P3 event‐related potential and alcohol reward phenotypes among young adults

“…Behavioral economic research has demonstrated that self‐reports of alcohol demand show robust associations with harmful alcohol use. However, little is known about the correspondence between these self‐report indices and electrophysiological indices of incentive‐motivational value (Webber, Yoon, et al., 2022). Further, no studies have examined neural reactivity to images depicting natural, social rewards among heavy‐drinking emerging adults.…”