The relationship between craving and insular morphometry in regular cocaine users: Does sex matter?

ABSTRACT: While it has been suggested that cocaine use and relapse in women is more strongly related to stress-relief craving, whereas cocaine use in men is more strongly related to reward craving, the neural mechanisms that underlie these differences are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate sex-dependent differences in insular morphometry and associations with craving, in a sample of regular cocaine users (CUs) and non-drug using controls (non-CUs). It was hypothesized that insular volume, thickness and surface area would be lower in CU women, compared with CU men and non-CUs. It was furthermore hypothesized that insular morphometry, particularly insular thickness, would be negatively associated to reward craving in CU men, while being negatively associated with stress-relief

SUBMITTER: Abdel Malek GS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9286054 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature