Prelude
to Passion: Limbic Activation by “Unseen” Drug and Sexual
Cues
Source: PLoS ONE
From CDC press
release:
Using a brain imaging technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI), scientists have discovered that cocaine-related images trigger the
emotional centers of the brains of patients addicted to drugs — even when the
subjects are unaware they’ve seen anything. The study, published Jan. 30 in the
journal PLoS One, was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA),
part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
A team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, led by Dr. Anna Rose
Childress and Dr. Charles O’Brien, showed cocaine patients photos of
drug-related cues like crack pipes and chunks of cocaine. The images flashed by
in just 33 milliseconds — so quickly that the patients were not consciously
aware of seeing them. Nonetheless, the unseen images stimulated activity in the
limbic system, a brain network involved in emotion and reward, which has been
implicated in drug-seeking and craving.
“This is the first evidence that cues outside one’s awareness can trigger
rapid activation of the circuits driving drug-seeking behavior,” said NIDA
director Dr. Nora Volkow. “Patients often can’t pinpoint when or why they start
craving drugs. Understanding how the brain initiates that overwhelming desire
for drugs is essential to treating addiction.”