Patterns of cortical activation following motor tasks and psychological-inducing movie cues in heroin users: an fMRI study.

OBJECTIVE

Drug abuse and addiction are worldwide health problems. However, few studies have used fMRI to investigate the effect of chronic heroin use on brain activation. This is a study along this line.

METHOD: fMRI positive sites in the brain were recorded during different motor and sensory activities.

RESULTS

Following motor activities, heroin users had more sites globally activated in the brain than in normal volunteers, with ex-heroin users being least reactive. Conversely, a "heroin puffing" movie produced more activation in ongoing-heroin and ex-heroin users than in the normal individuals, whereas a movie with explicit sexual content was less stimulatory in both groups of heroin users compared to normal individuals.

CONCLUSIONS

These significant findings relative to the function of specific brain nuclei are discussed.