Craving is a key element of the cannabis withdrawal syndrome that has been associated with continued use and relapse. Although cue-induced cannabis craving has been established in single laboratory sessions, procedures to sustain craving over multiple sessions are needed. The purpose of the present study was to determine if cue-induced craving responses could be elicited in the same subjects across multiple sessions. It was hypothesized that exposure to cannabis cues would produce more robust craving responses than exposure to neutral cues and that elicited craving responses will be sustained across multiple cue exposures. Five experimental cue exposure sessions (1 neutral and 4 cannabis) were conducted. Craving was assessed with the Marijuana Craving Questionnaire (MCQ) Short Form, Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Subject-Rated Physiological Questionnaire, blood pressure, and heart rate. Results revealed significant effects of initial cannabis cue exposure on VAS craving responses and Subject-Rated Physiological measures relative to the neutral cue exposure condition. No significant differences were found on MCQ composite scores or physiological measures. Craving responses following initial cannabis cue exposure were not maintained across sessions. There is a need for a better understanding of the factors that contribute to continued drug use despite quit attempts.

Introdução: O transtorno por uso abusivo de crack é um dos maiores problemas de saúde pública em todo o mundo. Sabe-se que o exercício físico está associado a uma melhora nos sintomas de ansiedade, esses sintomas também são observados em usuários com transtorno por abuso de substância, no entanto não há evidências dos efeitos do exercício físico nos sintomas ansiosos e de craving em indivíduos usuários de crack em um episódio de craving. Objetivo: Verificar se uma única sessão de exercício aeróbio moderado é uma estratégia terapêutica no manejo do craving em usuários internados para desintoxicação. Metodologia: Este é um experimento controlado, no qual foram recrutados 13 sujeitos, randomicamente alocados em um grupo que realizou uma sessão de exercício aeróbio moderado (GE=05) e um grupo controle que visualizou imagens neutras (GC=08). Durante o protocolo foram avaliadas a frequência cardíaca (FC), Escala análogo visual (EAV), Cocaine Craving Questionnaire –Brief (CCQ-B) e o Inventário Beck de Ansiedade (BAI) em 3 momentos: pré indução do craving, pós indução do craving e pós intervenção. Resultados e discussão: Foi encontrada diferença estatística na redução do escore da EAV entre os grupos após a intervenção em relação ao estado pós craving, nas demais variáveis não foram encontradas uma diferença estatística, mas pode-se observar uma tendência de maior redução em todos o escores avaliados no grupo que realizou exercício. Conclusão: Foi encontrada uma tendência de que o exercício pode auxiliar no manejo do craving e dos sintomas de ansiedade em usuários com transtorno por abuso de crack, todavia mais estudos devem ser realizados com outros tipos de exercício em diferentes intensidades e duração. / Introduction: The disorder of crack use is one of the biggest public health problems in the world. It is known that physical exercise is associated with a good mental health condition for people who have anxiety symptoms, these symptoms are also observed in drug addicted individuals, however there is no scientific evidence of the effects of physical exercise on anxious symptoms in people who use crack and are in a craving episode. Objective: To verify if a single session of moderate aerobic exercise can be consider a therapeutic strategy for handling with craving for users who are hospitalized for detoxification. Methodology: This is a controlled experiment in which 13 subjects were randomly assigned to a group that performed a moderate aerobic exercise session (GE = 05) and a control group that watched neutral images (GC = 08). During the protocol, we evaluated heart rate (HR), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Cocaine Craving Questionnaire -Brief (CCQ-B) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) in 3 moments: pre-induction of craving, post-induction of craving and post-intervention. Results and discussion: A statistical difference was found in the reduction of VAS score between the groups after an intervention in relation to the post-craving stage; in the other variables, a statistical difference was not found, but a trend of greater reduction in all scores of the exercising group can be observed. Conclusion: A trend has been found that exercise may help in the handling of craving and anxiety symptoms in users with crack abuse disorder, but further studies should be done with other types of exercise at different intensities and duration.

Introdução: O transtorno por uso abusivo de crack é um dos maiores problemas de saúde pública em todo o mundo. Sabe-se que o exercício físico está associado a uma melhora nos sintomas de ansiedade, esses sintomas também são observados em usuários com transtorno por abuso de substância, no entanto não há evidências dos efeitos do exercício físico nos sintomas ansiosos e de craving em indivíduos usuários de crack em um episódio de craving. Objetivo: Verificar se uma única sessão de exercício aeróbio moderado é uma estratégia terapêutica no manejo do craving em usuários internados para desintoxicação. Metodologia: Este é um experimento controlado, no qual foram recrutados 13 sujeitos, randomicamente alocados em um grupo que realizou uma sessão de exercício aeróbio moderado (GE=05) e um grupo controle que visualizou imagens neutras (GC=08). Durante o protocolo foram avaliadas a frequência cardíaca (FC), Escala análogo visual (EAV), Cocaine Craving Questionnaire –Brief (CCQ-B) e o Inventário Beck de Ansiedade (BAI) em 3 momentos: pré indução do craving, pós indução do craving e pós intervenção. Resultados e discussão: Foi encontrada diferença estatística na redução do escore da EAV entre os grupos após a intervenção em relação ao estado pós craving, nas demais variáveis não foram encontradas uma diferença estatística, mas pode-se observar uma tendência de maior redução em todos o escores avaliados no grupo que realizou exercício. Conclusão: Foi encontrada uma tendência de que o exercício pode auxiliar no manejo do craving e dos sintomas de ansiedade em usuários com transtorno por abuso de crack, todavia mais estudos devem ser realizados com outros tipos de exercício em diferentes intensidades e duração. / Introduction: The disorder of crack use is one of the biggest public health problems in the world. It is known that physical exercise is associated with a good mental health condition for people who have anxiety symptoms, these symptoms are also observed in drug addicted individuals, however there is no scientific evidence of the effects of physical exercise on anxious symptoms in people who use crack and are in a craving episode. Objective: To verify if a single session of moderate aerobic exercise can be consider a therapeutic strategy for handling with craving for users who are hospitalized for detoxification. Methodology: This is a controlled experiment in which 13 subjects were randomly assigned to a group that performed a moderate aerobic exercise session (GE = 05) and a control group that watched neutral images (GC = 08). During the protocol, we evaluated heart rate (HR), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Cocaine Craving Questionnaire -Brief (CCQ-B) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) in 3 moments: pre-induction of craving, post-induction of craving and post-intervention. Results and discussion: A statistical difference was found in the reduction of VAS score between the groups after an intervention in relation to the post-craving stage; in the other variables, a statistical difference was not found, but a trend of greater reduction in all scores of the exercising group can be observed. Conclusion: A trend has been found that exercise may help in the handling of craving and anxiety symptoms in users with crack abuse disorder, but further studies should be done with other types of exercise at different intensities and duration.

Prior research found that female smokers with elevated dietary restraint (“high-restrainers”) smoked more after a disinhibiting food event (Kovacs, Correa, & Brandon, 2014). The current study aimed to determine if high-restrainers smoked merely to distract themselves from eating, or if the appetite/weight-control aspects of smoking played a role. Female smokers (N = 128) attended a laboratory session and were randomized to receive a milkshake prime (Prime condition) or not (No-Prime condition). All participants then received ad-lib access to tempting foods, cigarettes, and a computer tablet with internet access. Our main aims were to test the effect of the prime on smoking and eating behavior in the presence of an alternative distractor (i.e. the tablet). We expected high-restrainers in the Prime condition to demonstrate preference for cigarettes even in the presence of an alternative distractor. Primary analyses utilized hierarchical regression models with condition and several moderators as predictors of consumption behavior. Condition was predictive of total cigarette smoked (p’s<.02), indicating that those in the Prime condition smoked more. Regardless of condition, several expectancy measures predicted cigarette consumption (p’s < .05), and higher level of dietary restraint predicted shorter latency to smoke (p= .017). Additionally, lower levels of trait mindfulness were associated with elevated dietary restraint, cigarette craving at baseline and expectancies about cigarettes’ weight control properties. Importantly, latency to use the tablet was not predicted by level of dietary restraint or expectancies. Although dietary restraint and expectancies did not interact with condition to predict levels of smoking, the overall findings suggest that :1. The traditional priming effect was apparently mitigated in the presence of appealing distracting stimuli ;and 2. Dietary restrainers attempt to prevent food consumption by turning to cigarettes, choosing to utilize cigarettes above and beyond preference for other salient distracting stimuli. Therefore, smoking appears to be more than just a distractor from eating, and is also associated with strong beliefs about weight and appetite control. These findings may inform interventions aimed at the high-risk population of young adult female smokers, and mindfulness-based strategies may prove especially useful.

Previous research has shown that alcohol abuse may cause a deficit in frontal lobe functioning, specifically, areas of the frontal lobe that are related to executive function. Additionally, problems with executive function have been related to increased difficulty in managing cravings to addictive substances. The current study explored the relationship between alcohol use and performance on measures of executive functioning in a sample of 121 traditional college students. Students were given 5 measures of executive function designed to explore mental set shifting, updating, inhibition, sustained attention, and planning. These measures were used to examine the relationship between executive function and craving as measured by the Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale. Levels of alcohol use were also examined using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test in relation to executive function performance and family history of alcohol abuse.

No description available.

Opioid use disorder is a chronic, relapsing disease, with more than 85% of individuals experiencing a relapse episode within one year. One common reason patients relapse is due to intense cravings, which are defined as the compulsive urge to use the drug. In fact, craving was recently added to the DSM criteria for substance use disorder diagnosis. Counterintuitively, cravings intensify over the course of extended abstinence, especially in response to drug-paired cues, a phenomenon known as “incubation of craving”. This contributes to difficulty in maintaining long-term sobriety. The mesocorticolimbic reward pathway facilitates self-administration and cue-induced incubation of craving for drugs of abuse and natural rewards, such as sucrose. In particular, the shell sub-region of the nucleus accumbens is a critical brain region involved in context/cue-mediated reward seeking. In the experiments described here, we utilized an incubation of craving model, in which male and female rats self-administered opioids (morphine or heroin) or sucrose for 10 days. Sucrose served as an important control for delineating drug-induced changes from those caused in response to natural rewards, which are not the intended target of potential treatments. Reward delivery was paired with a cue light that was later used to elicit craving. After self-administration, rats underwent brief (one day) or extended (30 days) forced abstinence. One or 30 days later, they were returned to the chambers for a “cue test”, in which responses on the previously reward-associated lever triggered cue presentation, but no contingent reward. We used this model to further delineate behavioral and affective changes that accompany increased opioid craving in late abstinence, as well as molecular alterations underlying craving in rats that did not undergo a cue test. We found an opioid-specific behavioral signature in which peak opioid craving is accompanied by decreased grooming and hyperactivity in both sexes. We tracked the female estrous cycle throughout, as these fluctuations in reproductive hormones (akin to the menstrual cycle) are shown to affect cocaine- and nicotine-related behaviors. We found no differences between females in different phases of the estrous cycle in terms of self-administration, nor craving. RNA sequencing of the nucleus accumbens shell revealed robust changes in gene expression that occurred across extended abstinence, though the genes themselves were altered in a sex- and reinforcer-specific manner. In general, we found many behavioral and molecular changes that were unique to sex and reinforcer (sucrose versus opioids). This is promising in terms of identifying opioid-specific targets that are unlikely to affect the natural reward system in both sexes. Changes in gene expression in the brain are mediated in part by epigenetic processes that influence access of transcriptional machinery to DNA. Acetylation of histone tails, the proteins around which DNA is wrapped and packaged in the nucleus, have been identified as permissive marks that facilitate long-lasting changes in transcriptomics in response to environmental insults. Opioids promote increased acetylation, which may contribute to some of the reported changes here. We tested the efficacy of JQ1, a treatment that interferes with the read-out of opioid-induced acetylated marks, at attenuating heroin self-administration. When administered as an intracerebroventricular microinjection on self-administration day 11, JQ1 had no effect on subsequent heroin taking in either sex, suggesting that it may not be suitable as a systemic treatment at the dose given. These studies lay the groundwork for future studies to administer other treatments throughout abstinence, based on the opioid-specific genes and pathways identified here, to reduce cue-induced heroin craving and the accompanying suite of behaviors in males and females. / Psychology

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