Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33318467›Full record

SynthesisTranslational psychiatry2020

How the harm of drugs and their availability affect brain reactions to drug cues: a meta-analysis of 64 neuroimaging activation studies.

F Devoto, L Zapparoli, G Spinelli, G Scotti, E Paulesu

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Translational psychiatry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 20% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Inactivation of NMDAR and CaMKII signaling within the prelimbic cortex blocks incubated cocaine- and sucrose-craving.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Neuroimaging Biomarkers in Addiction.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024
    Article
  13. N-acetylcysteine as a treatment for substance use cravings: A meta-analysis.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

F DevotoDepartment of Psychology and PhD Program in Neuroscience of the School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy. f.devoto@campus.unimib.it.ORCID 0000-0002-3240-2341
L ZapparoliDepartment of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-9210-942X
G SpinelliDepartment of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-3581-4752
G ScottiDepartment of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-2218-6200
E PaulesuDepartment of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy. eraldo.paulesu@unimib.it.ORCID 0000-0002-9224-754X
University of Milano-Bicocca · ITIstituto Ortopedico Galeazzi · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Visual drug cues are powerful triggers of craving in drug abusers contributing to enduring addiction. According to previous qualitative reviews, the response of the orbitofrontal cortex to such cues is sensitive to whether subjects are seeking treatment. Here we re-evaluate this proposal and assessed whether the nature of the drug matters. To this end, we performed a quantitative meta-analysis of 64 neuroimaging studies on drug-cue reactivity across legal (nicotine, alcohol) or illegal substances (cocaine, heroin). We used the ALE algorithm and a hierarchical clustering analysis followed by a cluster composition statistical analysis to assess the association of brain clusters with the nature of the substance, treatment status, and their interaction. Visual drug cues activate the mesocorticolimbic system and more so in abusers of illegal substances, suggesting that the illegal substances considered induce a deeper sensitization of the reward circuitry. Treatment status had a different modulatory role for legal and illegal substance abusers in anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal areas involved in inter-temporal decision making. The class of the substance and the treatment status are crucial and interacting factors that modulate the neural reactivity to drug cues. The orbitofrontal cortex is not sensitive to the treatment status per se, rather to the interaction of these factors. We discuss that these varying effects might be mediated by internal predispositions such as the intention to quit from drugs and external contingencies such as the daily life environmental availability of the drugs, the ease of getting them and the time frame of potential reward through drug consumption.

Indexed as

CuesPharmaceutical PreparationsBrainHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingNeuroimagingRewardPharmaceutical Preparations

Identifiers

PMID33318467
PMCPMC7736294
OpenAlexW3112894132

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.