OBJECTIVE:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to test whether brain activation was detectable in regions previously associated with cocaine cue-induced craving.

METHOD:

Blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) functional activation was measured during presentation of audiovisual stimuli containing alternating intervals of drug-related and neutral scenes to six male subjects with a history of crack cocaine use and six male comparison subjects.

RESULTS:

Significant activation was detected in the anterior cingulate and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the cocaine-using group. In addition, a correlation between self-reported levels of craving and activation in these regions was found.

CONCLUSIONS:

These results suggest that functional MRI may be a useful tool to study the neurobiological basis of cue-induced craving.