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Contribution of cocaine-related cues to concurrent monetary choice in humans

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Abstract

Rationale

Theoretical accounts highlight the importance of drug-related cues for the development and persistence of drug-taking behavior. Few studies have evaluated the ability of spatially contiguous drug cues to bias decisions between two concurrently presented non-drug reinforcers.

Objective

Evaluate the contribution of spatially contiguous cocaine cues to choice between two concurrently presented monetary reinforcers

Methods

Participants with cocaine use disorder completed a cued concurrent choice task. Two cues (one cocaine and one control image) were presented side-by-side followed by concurrent monetary offers below each image. Concurrent choice was measured for cocaine-side advantageous, equal, and disadvantageous concurrent monetary offers. The primary dependent measure was bias for selecting cocaine-cued monetary reinforcers. Three experiments tested selectivity of cocaine-cued bias in individuals with a cocaine use history (Experiment 1), replication when including additional control trials (Experiment 2), and a potential attentional mechanism evaluated using eye-tracking technology (Experiment 3).

Results

Significant and robust cocaine-cued bias at equal monetary value was observed in three experiments (mean percent choice = 65–77%) and higher Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST) scores were associated with greater cocaine-choice bias. These experiments demonstrated that cocaine-cued bias was (1) selective to individuals with a cocaine use history, (2) specific to trials involving a cocaine cue, and (3) partially associated with attentional bias.

Conclusions

These experiments provide evidence that drug-related cues can influence choice and potentially promote maladaptive decision making during concurrent choice events. Future research evaluating prospective associations of drug-cued bias with drug-associated behaviors will help reveal the clinical relevance for substance use disorder.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the staff of the University of Kentucky Laboratory of Human Behavioral Pharmacology for technical assistance.

Funding

The study received financial support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health (R21 DA035376; R01 DA036550) and the National Science Foundation (1247392). These funding agencies had no role in study design, data collection or analysis, or preparation and submission of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, 171 Funkhouser Drive, Lexington, KY, 40506-0044, USA

    Justin C. Strickland, Joshua S. Beckmann, Joshua A. Lile, Craig R. Rush & William W. Stoops

  2. Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center, 1100 Veterans Drive, Medical Behavioral Science Building Room 140, Lexington, KY, 40536-0086, USA

    Katherine R. Marks, Joshua A. Lile, Craig R. Rush & William W. Stoops

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, 3470 Blazer Parkway, Lexington, KY, 40509-1810, USA

    Joshua A. Lile, Craig R. Rush & William W. Stoops

  4. Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, 845 Angliana Ave, Lexington, KY, 40508, USA

    William W. Stoops

Authors
  1. Justin C. Strickland
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  2. Katherine R. Marks
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  3. Joshua S. Beckmann
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  4. Joshua A. Lile
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  5. Craig R. Rush
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  6. William W. Stoops
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to William W. Stoops.

Ethics declarations

The Institutional Review Board of the University of Kentucky approved all procedures. Participants provided written informed consent.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or National Science Foundation.

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Strickland, J.C., Marks, K.R., Beckmann, J.S. et al. Contribution of cocaine-related cues to concurrent monetary choice in humans. Psychopharmacology 235, 2871–2881 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-018-4978-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-018-4978-5

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