Stress is likely involved in relapse to cocaine use. This project will investigate the role oxytocin may play in the stress response in cocaine-dependent men and women and examine how oxytocin may impact brain activity in individuals exposed to cocaine-related cues.
Stress is an important predictor of relapse, and targeting stress-activated pathways may lead to therapeutic advancements in the treatment of substance use disorders. Oxytocin has been shown to promote trust, social bonding, and calmness; however, its potential effects have not been explored in cocaine-dependent individuals. Oxytocin receptors have been localized to brain regions that are activated by drug-paired cues and preclinical studies have shown that oxytocin attenuates the acute and long-term behavioral effects of psychostimulants. However, little is known about the role of oxytocin in mediating the affective response to cocaine-paired cues and associated neural activity in cocaine-dependent men and women. This project is a direct evolution from our previous SCOR-supported research. Our work has progressed from characterizing sex/gender differences in response to social stressors and cocaine cues in cocaine-dependent men and women, to our on-going work evaluating whether stress potentiates cue-induced craving and the impact of hormones on this response. The proposed study will investigate the role of oxytocin in the sex/gender differences in stress response and craving in cocaine-dependent individuals and preliminarily explore its therapeutic potential.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
112
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina, United States
Subjective Stress Response TSST
Subjects rated stress levels on a 0-10 Likert Scale where 0 is Not at All and 10 is Extremely so that lower scores indicate lower stress levels.
Time frame: Subjects rated stress immediately following a Social Stress task on Day 1 of 3.
Subjective Stress Response MRI 1
Subjects rated stress levels on a 0-10 Likert Scale where 0 is Not at All and 10 is Extremely so that lower scores indicate lower stress levels
Time frame: Subjects rated Stress immediately following the first of two MRI scans on Day 2 of 3.
Subjective Stress Response MRI 2
Subjects rated stress levels on a 0-10 Likert Scale where 0 is Not at All and 10 is Extremely so that lower scores indicate lower stress levels.
Time frame: Subjects rated stress immediately following the second of two MRI scans on Day 3 of 3.
Subject Cocaine Craving TSST
Subjects rated craving on a 0-10 Likert Scale where 0 is Not at All and 10 is Extremely so that lower scores indicate lower craving.
Time frame: Subjects rated craving immediately following a Social Stress task on Day 1 of 3.
Subject Cocaine Craving MRI 1
Subjects rated craving on a 0-10 Likert Scale where 0 is Not at All and 10 is Extremely so that lower scores indicate lower craving.
Time frame: Subjects rated craving immediately following the first of two MRI scans on Day 2 of 3.
Subject Cocaine Craving MRI 2
Subjects rated craving on a 0-10 Likert Scale where 0 is Not at All and 10 is Extremely so that lower scores indicate lower craving.
Time frame: Subjects rated craving immediately following the second of two MRI scans on Day 3 of 3.
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