Megan L Bertholomey, Camryn Forbes, Bryan D McElroy, Mary M Torregrossa
{"title":"Sex specific effects of ketamine, but not other glutamate receptor modulators, on ethanol self-administration and reinstatement of ethanol seeking in rats.","authors":"Megan L Bertholomey, Camryn Forbes, Bryan D McElroy, Mary M Torregrossa","doi":"10.1007/s00213-025-06782-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-025-06782-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Rationale: </strong>Alcohol use and major depressive disorder are frequently comorbid, with individuals diagnosed with a substance use disorder being nearly three times as likely to have major depression. Poor treatment responses are found for both disorders and are further complicated when they co-occur, underscoring the need for better therapies. One potential candidate is ketamine, which has been shown to have rapid and long-lasting effects in individuals with treatment-resistant depression and, in some studies, reduces drinking in alcohol use disorder. However, though women are more likely to have this comorbidity, few studies have examined sex-specific effects of ketamine on alcohol drinking, nor have studies assessed the potential for ketamine to reduce reinstatement of alcohol seeking.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The primary goal of the present studies was to determine the effects of ketamine on alcohol-motivated behaviors in male and female rats, including in a model of stress + cue-induced reinstatement of alcohol seeking using yohimbine (YOH).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We found a selective reduction in alcohol self-administration and YOH + cue-induced reinstatement in females, but not males at a dose of 10 mg/kg ketamine. However, the same dose of ketamine was effective in reducing YOH + cue-induced reinstatement of saccharin seeking in both sexes. In addition, a different NMDAR antagonist, memantine, was effective in reducing alcohol seeking in both sexes, while the ketamine metabolite hydroxynorketamine (HNK) had no effects.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In summary, these data suggest that antagonism of NMDARs may be effective in reducing stress-related alcohol seeking, but that ketamine has unique properties that lead to female-specific effects on alcohol seeking.</p>","PeriodicalId":20783,"journal":{"name":"Psychopharmacology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143812135","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Comment on the study \"the efficacy and safety of zuranolone for treatment of depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis\".","authors":"Mohammad Umer, Zaofasha Zaheer, Aiman Naveed","doi":"10.1007/s00213-025-06776-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-025-06776-0","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20783,"journal":{"name":"Psychopharmacology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143812134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Colin McKenzie, Bart Sloot, Felippe Espinelli Amorim, Trevor W Robbins, Amy L Milton
{"title":"Agonism at mGluR2 receptors reduces dysfunctional checking on a rodent analogue of compulsive-like checking in obsessive compulsive disorder.","authors":"Colin McKenzie, Bart Sloot, Felippe Espinelli Amorim, Trevor W Robbins, Amy L Milton","doi":"10.1007/s00213-025-06774-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-025-06774-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Rationale: </strong>Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects 1-3% of the population. Current therapies, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, are not universally effective in managing OCD. Recent discoveries indicating hyperactivation of key regions within the corticostriatal thalamic circuitry that supports OCD, and alterations in the ratio of glutamate: GABA in regions such as the anterior cingulate cortex, suggest that drugs targeting glutamatergic signalling may be effective in reducing OCD symptoms.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This study sought to determine whether two drugs targeting metabotropic glutamate receptors could reduce excessive checking behaviour in a rodent analogue of compulsive-like checking in OCD, the Observing Response Task (ORT).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Rats were trained on the ORT and separately classified on a pavlovian autoshaping task to identify the subpopulation of sign-trackers, which show higher levels of excessive checking. Once responding had stabilised, rats received systemic administration of different doses of the mGluR2 positive allosteric modulator AZD-8529 and its vehicle in a Latin square design, and the effects on ORT performance were assessed. Following completion of AZD-8529 dosing, a subset of rats received administration of different doses of the mGluR2/3 agonist LY404039 and its vehicle in a Latin square design, and ORT performance assessed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Both AZD-8529 and LY404039 produced dose-dependent reductions in checking behaviour, including at doses that did not impair generalised measures of task performance.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The similarity in effect of AZD-8529 and LY404039 suggests that the capacity of these drugs to reduce checking is mediated by mGluR2s, which may provide a promising target for future treatment development for OCD.</p>","PeriodicalId":20783,"journal":{"name":"Psychopharmacology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143773267","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xin Su, Xiaoyan Mo, Jun Kan, Fan Yang, Bei Zhang, Yuanyuan Huang
{"title":"Decoding the genetic links between substance use disorder and cancer vulnerability.","authors":"Xin Su, Xiaoyan Mo, Jun Kan, Fan Yang, Bei Zhang, Yuanyuan Huang","doi":"10.1007/s00213-025-06781-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-025-06781-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Cancer remains a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide, imposing a significant public health burden. While cannabis and opioids are widely used in cancer pain management, their potential for abuse and addiction has raised concerns regarding their long-term health effects, including possible associations with cancer risk. However, the relationship between substance use disorders (SUDs) and cancer susceptibility remains controversial. This Mendelian randomization (MR) study aimed to investigate the potential causal effects of cannabis use disorder (CUD) and opioids use disorder (OUD) on cancer vulnerability.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a two-sample MR study using summary statistics from genome-wide association studies, including data from FinnGen and UK Biobank. The primary analytical approach was the inverse-variance weighted (IVW), complemented by a range of sensitivity analyses to assess the robustness of the findings.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>IVW analysis identified a causal association between OUD and bladder cancer (OR = 1.040, 95% CI 1.004-1.078, P = 0.029, adj. P = 0.125), acute myeloid leukemia (OR = 0.931, 95% CI 0.885-0.978, P = 0.005, adj. P = 0.061) and ovarian cancer (OR = 0.937, 95% CI 0.891-0.984, P = 0.010, adj. P = 0.064). Sensitivity analysis yielded directionally consistent results. Reverse MR analysis provided no statistically significant evidence supporting a causal effect of these cancers on OUD (all P > 0.05). Additionally, no evidence of a significant causal relationship was observed between CUD and any cancer type (P > 0.05).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study suggests a potential causal link between OUD and increased susceptibility to bladder cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, and ovarian cancer, warranting further investigation in larger, multi-ethnic population studies. These results contribute to the ongoing discourse on the long-term health impacts of substance use disorders and highlight the need for further research to elucidate their potential oncogenic effects.</p>","PeriodicalId":20783,"journal":{"name":"Psychopharmacology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143773272","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PsychopharmacologyPub Date : 2025-04-01Epub Date: 2024-11-23DOI: 10.1007/s00213-024-06721-7
Karine Renard, Daisuke Nishihara, Johan Nilsson, Sylvain Larroque, Javier Martinez, Lesley Giles
{"title":"Characterization of the nicotine uptake and safety of Nordic spirit tobacco-free oral nicotine pouches: A randomized cross-over study.","authors":"Karine Renard, Daisuke Nishihara, Johan Nilsson, Sylvain Larroque, Javier Martinez, Lesley Giles","doi":"10.1007/s00213-024-06721-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00213-024-06721-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Rationale: </strong>Given the nascency of tobacco-free oral nicotine pouches (NPs) and the heterogeneity of commercially available NP brands, there is a need for scientific evaluation of different NP formulations. Nordic Spirit, novel NPs are distinguished by their unique composition.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To characterize blood nicotine delivery, pharmacokinetics (PK), subjective and physiological effects and to monitor safety of three Nordic Spirit NPs (6 mg, 9 mg and 11.2 mg/pouch) compared with LD tobacco snus (11.2 mg/pouch) and Nicorette® gum (4 mg/unit) following single 30 min use.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This was a randomized, open-label, ten-sequence, single-use, cross-over clinical study with 30 healthy adult Swedish snus users.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Peak nicotine concentrations (C<sub>max</sub>) ranged from 10.92 to 17.32 ng/mL for the three Nordic Spirit NPs, with a trend toward dose proportionality, and 8.18 ng/mL and 9.23 ng/mL for the LD snus and Nicorette® gum comparators, respectively. Peak concentration for Nordic Spirit NPs was reached (T<sub>max</sub>) after 30 to 38 min, and after 45 min for LD snus and Nicorette® gum. No notable safety concerns were observed after single use for any of the study products.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Delivery of nicotine from the three Nordic Spirit NPs appeared to be nicotine content-dependent, based on C<sub>max</sub> and AUC. The amount of nicotine extracted showed positive correlation with the reported C<sub>max</sub> and AUC. For Nordic Spirit NPs, T<sub>max</sub> was immediately after end of use. The characteristics of Nordic Spirit NPs were found to be favourable for profiling NP nicotine delivery and safety in human use, and for further product development. ISRCTN registry study no. ISRCTN75583947.</p>","PeriodicalId":20783,"journal":{"name":"Psychopharmacology","volume":" ","pages":"855-865"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11890228/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142693475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Poly ADP-ribosylation regulates Arc expression and promotes adaptive stress-coping.","authors":"Eliyahu Dahan, Leah Pergamenshik, Tze'ela Taub, Arthur Vovk, Jade Manier, Raphael Avneri, Elad Lax","doi":"10.1007/s00213-025-06744-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00213-025-06744-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Rationale: </strong>Rapid adaptation to stressful events is essential for survival and requires acute stress response and stress-coping strategy. However, the molecular mechanisms that govern this coping strategy have yet to be fully discovered.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This study aims to investigate the effects of poly ADP-ribosylation (PARylation) on stress-coping strategies following acute stress and to identify the target genes influenced by Parp1-induced histone PARylation.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Mice were subjected to a forced swim test, a well-established acute stress paradigm, to evaluate cortical PARylation and assess the expression of activity-dependent genes. The pharmacological inhibition of Parp1 was conducted using ABT888 (Veliparib) to determine its effects on stress-coping behavior and related molecular changes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The forced swim test increased cortical PARylation and upregulated the expression of activity-dependent genes. Systemic inhibition of Parp1 with ABT888 led to impaired stress-coping behavior, evidenced by a reduced immobility response during a subsequent forced swim test done 24 hours later. This impairment was associated with decreased chromatin PARylation and histone H4 acetylation at the Arc promoter and reduced Arc expression observed one hour after Parp1 inhibition.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our findings indicate that chromatin PARylation at the Arc promoters regulates histone H4 acetylation and Arc gene expression, and a subsequent impact on successful stress-coping behavior in response to acute stress.</p>","PeriodicalId":20783,"journal":{"name":"Psychopharmacology","volume":" ","pages":"741-750"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11890342/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142979869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PsychopharmacologyPub Date : 2025-04-01Epub Date: 2025-02-04DOI: 10.1007/s00213-025-06749-3
Bryan D McElroy, Chen Li, Nicholas S McCloskey, Amber R Alberici, Lynn G Kirby
{"title":"Exploring the effects of adolescent social isolation stress on the serotonin system and ethanol-motivated behaviors.","authors":"Bryan D McElroy, Chen Li, Nicholas S McCloskey, Amber R Alberici, Lynn G Kirby","doi":"10.1007/s00213-025-06749-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00213-025-06749-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Rationale: </strong>Alcohol is one of the most frequently used drugs of abuse and has a major impact on human health worldwide. People assigned female at birth and those with adverse childhood experiences are stress-vulnerable and more likely to report drinking as a means of \"self-medication.\" Prior studies in our laboratory showed that adolescent social isolation stress (SIS) increases vulnerability to ethanol (EtOH) intake and consumption despite negative consequences in female rats.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Here, we explored modulation of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN)-serotonin (5-HT) system, a sexually dimorphic neurotransmitter system involved in stress-reward interactions, to determine its contribution to EtOH-motivated behaviors in rats that have undergone SIS.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We employed electrophysiological and functional neuroanatomy strategies to show that both SIS and EtOH exposure induce persistent hypofunction of the DRN 5-HT system, particularly in females. Chemogenetic activation of DRN 5-HT neurons attenuated reward value for both EtOH and sucrose and elevated punished responding for EtOH in a stress-dependent manner.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our results highlight an inverse relationship between EtOH consumption and the 5-HT system, the sex- and stress-dependent nature of this relationship, and a connection between DRN 5-HT signaling and acute responding to rewards and punishment. These data support the DRN 5-HT system as a potential target to treat aberrant alcohol consumption and drinking despite negative consequences in stress-vulnerable populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":20783,"journal":{"name":"Psychopharmacology","volume":" ","pages":"763-781"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11890253/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143190301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PsychopharmacologyPub Date : 2025-04-01Epub Date: 2025-02-08DOI: 10.1007/s00213-025-06750-w
Marlaina R Stocco, Mari Purpura, Philip A Vieira, Kira Wallquist, Sijia Wang, Julia Adams, Karen K Szumlinski, Tod E Kippin
{"title":"Time to choose: impact of intertrial interval on selecting between methamphetamine and food reinforcement in male and female rats.","authors":"Marlaina R Stocco, Mari Purpura, Philip A Vieira, Kira Wallquist, Sijia Wang, Julia Adams, Karen K Szumlinski, Tod E Kippin","doi":"10.1007/s00213-025-06750-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00213-025-06750-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Rationale: </strong>A central component of substance use disorder is the maladaptive choice of the drug over natural reinforcers. Compared to other drugs of abuse, methamphetamine (METH) choice has received limited study.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>We sought to characterize the role of intertrial interval on METH choice behavior.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We examined the choice of METH versus food, across multiple METH doses (0.05-0.2 mg/kg/infusion), between male and female rats, employing a fixed ratio (FR1) reinforcement schedule with intertrial intervals (ITIs) of 20 and 600 s. Rats learned to lever-press for either the METH or the food reinforcer during separate, alternating training sessions. Rats then underwent choice testing, where both levers were presented for 25 discreet trials per session. Lastly, under a progressive ratio (PR) schedule, breakpoints for METH and food were assessed during separate, alternating sessions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>METH choice was substantially higher when using the 20 s versus 600 s ITI. When the 20 s ITI was used, choice was dose- but not sex-dependent. When using the 600 s ITI, choice was influenced by dose and sex, with female rats in the higher dose group choosing METH more than other groups. PR breakpoints were higher for METH than for food, and this effect was more pronounced among female rats. METH choice was positively correlated with the ratio of METH/food breakpoints.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Reinforcement schedule parameters, namely ITI, during discrete choice testing can markedly influence METH choice behavior; thus, this should be carefully considered during experiment design and selected based on overarching study aims.</p>","PeriodicalId":20783,"journal":{"name":"Psychopharmacology","volume":" ","pages":"693-702"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11890418/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143371089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PsychopharmacologyPub Date : 2025-04-01Epub Date: 2025-02-18DOI: 10.1007/s00213-025-06759-1
Maria Anastasia Parlantza, Nikolaos Pitsikas
{"title":"Involvement of the GABAergic and the serotonergic systems in the anxiolytic effects expressed by the nitric oxide (NO) donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) in the male rat.","authors":"Maria Anastasia Parlantza, Nikolaos Pitsikas","doi":"10.1007/s00213-025-06759-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00213-025-06759-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Rationale: </strong>Anxiety is a chronic severe psychiatric disorder. In a series of studies, the implication of the gaseous molecule nitric oxide (NO) in anxiety has been evidenced. Further, the outcome of preclinical research suggests that different NO donors, including sodium nitroprusside (SNP), have expressed an anxiolytic profile revealed in animal models of anxiety. Regardless of this, it is not yet clarified the mechanism(s) of action by which SNP induces its beneficial effects on anxiety. In this context, it has been hypothesized that these effects might be attributed to a potential interaction of this NO donor with the GABA type A and the 5-HT<sub>1A</sub> serotonergic receptors.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The current study was designed to investigate this issue in the male rat.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>To this end, the light/dark box and the open field tests were utilized.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>SNP (1 mg/kg, i.p.) applied acutely induced an anti-anxiety-like effect evidenced either in the light/dark box or in the open field test. Either the GABA<sub>A</sub> receptor antagonist flumazenil (10 mg/kg, i.p.) or the 5-HT<sub>1A</sub> serotonin receptor agonist 8-OH-DPAT (0.25 mg/kg, i.p.) suppressed the above reported anxiolytic effects of SNP.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The results here reported propose a functional interaction between SNP with the GABAergic and the serotonergic systems on anxiety and thus, might offer a plausible explanation for SNP's anxiolytic effects.</p>","PeriodicalId":20783,"journal":{"name":"Psychopharmacology","volume":" ","pages":"793-801"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11890370/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143441833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PsychopharmacologyPub Date : 2025-04-01Epub Date: 2025-02-10DOI: 10.1007/s00213-025-06746-6
Will Lawn, Xuejun Hao, Anna B Konova, Margaret Haney, Ziva D Cooper, Nicholas Van Dam, Paul Glimcher, Gillinder Bedi
{"title":"Value signals guiding choices for cannabis versus non-drug rewards in people who use cannabis near-daily.","authors":"Will Lawn, Xuejun Hao, Anna B Konova, Margaret Haney, Ziva D Cooper, Nicholas Van Dam, Paul Glimcher, Gillinder Bedi","doi":"10.1007/s00213-025-06746-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00213-025-06746-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Rationale: </strong>Despite the critical role of choice processes in substance use disorders, the neurobehavioral mechanisms guiding human decisions about drugs remain poorly understood.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>We aimed to characterize the neural encoding of subjective value (SV) for cannabis versus non-drug rewards (snacks) in people who use cannabis on a near-daily/daily frequency (PWUCF) and assessed the impact of cannabis and snack stimuli ('cues') on SV encoding.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Twenty-one non-treatment-seeking PWUCF (≥4 days/week; 1 female) participated in an inpatient, crossover experiment with four counterbalanced conditions: 1. neutral cues/cannabis choices; 2. cannabis cues/cannabis choices; 3. neutral cues/snack choices; and 4. snack cues/snack choices. In each condition, participants were exposed to cues before an fMRI scan during which they repeatedly chose between 0-6 cannabis puffs/snacks and a set monetary amount, with randomly-selected choices implemented. The SV signal was operationalized as the neural correlates of the strength of preference for cannabis/snack choices. fMRI data were analyzed for twenty participants.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Despite equivalent choice behavior, SV signals for cannabis, but not snacks, were observed in regions known to encode SV for various rewards (ventromedial prefrontal cortex, vmPFC; ventral striatum; dorsal posterior cingulate cortex, dPCC). SV encoding in vmPFC was stronger for cannabis than snacks. In the dPCC, the impact of cues on SV signals was moderated by reward type.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>PWUCF had expected neural value encoding for cannabis but disrupted non-drug SV encoding, despite equivalent choice behavior. This provides tentative support for theories that highlight dysregulated neural valuation of non-drug rewards as a hallmark of problematic cannabis use.</p>","PeriodicalId":20783,"journal":{"name":"Psychopharmacology","volume":" ","pages":"681-691"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11890362/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143383068","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}