Substance Abuse in Emerging Adults: The Role of Neuromelanin and Ventral Striatal Response to Social and Monetary Rewards.

ABSTRACT: Perturbations in dopamine system function may increase risk of substance use disorder (SUD). We recently demonstrated that neuromelanin (NM) MRI signal in the substantia nigra, a non-invasive index of dopamine system function, is elevated in long term cocaine users (Cassidy et al., 2020). However, it is unclear whether elevated NM-MRI signal is linked to risk of SUD, or is a byproduct of long-term drug use. Our prior work failed to show relations between NM-MRI signal and functional engagement of ventral striatum during a monetary reward task. However, social experiences are commonly linked to drug use and relapse. Given that, NM-MRI signal may be more closely linked to ventral striatal engagement during social, rather than monetary reward processing. Emerging adults (n = 33, 21.88

SUBMITTER: Jarcho JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8946041 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature