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Pfabigan DM, Rütgen M, Kroll SL, Riečanský I, Lamm C. The administration of the opioid buprenorphine decreases motivational error signals. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2021; 128:105199. [PMID: 33933894 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2020] [Revised: 02/07/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
While opioid addiction has reached pandemic proportions, we still lack a good understanding of how the administration of opioids interacts with cognitive functions. Error processing - the ability to detect erroneous actions and correct one's behaviour afterwards - is one such cognitive function that might be susceptible to opioidergic influences. Errors are hypothesised to induce aversive negative arousal, while opioids have been suggested to reduce aversive arousal induced by unpleasant and stressful stimuli. Thus, this study investigated whether the acute administration of an opioid would affect error processing. In a double-blind between-subject study, 42 male volunteers were recruited and received either 0.2 mg buprenorphine (a partial µ-opioid receptor agonist and κ-opioid receptor antagonist) or a placebo pill before they performed a stimulus-response task provoking errors. Electroencephalograms (EEG) were recorded while participants performed the task. We observed no group differences in terms of reaction times, error rates, and affective state ratings during the task between buprenorphine and control participants. Additional measures of adaptive control, however, showed interfering effects of buprenorphine administration. On the neural level, decreased Pe (Error Positivity) amplitudes were found in buprenorphine compared to control participants following error commission. Further, frontal delta oscillations were decreased in the buprenorphine group after all responses. Our neural results jointly demonstrate a general reduction in error processing in those participants who received an opioid before task completion, thereby suggesting that opioids might have indeed the potential to dampen motivational error signals. Importantly, the effects of the opioid were evident in more elaborate error processing stages, thereby impacting on processes of conscious error appraisal and evidence accumulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- D M Pfabigan
- Department of Behavioural Medicine, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Sognsvannsveien 9, 0372 Oslo, Norway; Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria.
| | - M Rütgen
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria.
| | - S L Kroll
- Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Psychiatry Building, Entrance 27, Floor 9, 581 85 Linköping, Sweden.
| | - I Riečanský
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria; Department of Behavioural Neuroscience, Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology, Centre of Experimental Medicine, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Sienkiewiczova 1, Bratislava 81371, Slovakia.
| | - C Lamm
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria.
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Pfabigan DM, Mielacher C, Dutheil F, Lamm C. ERP evidence suggests that confrontation with deterministic statements aligns subsequent other‐ and self‐relevant error processing. Psychophysiology 2020; 57:e13556. [DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2019] [Revised: 02/01/2020] [Accepted: 02/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Daniela M. Pfabigan
- Department of Behavioural Sciences in Medicine Institute for Basic Medical Science Faculty of Medicine University of Oslo Oslo Norway
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology Faculty of Psychology University of Vienna Vienna Austria
| | - Clemens Mielacher
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology Faculty of Psychology University of Vienna Vienna Austria
- Division of Medical Psychology University of Bonn Bonn Germany
| | - Frédéric Dutheil
- Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, LaPSCo, Physiological and Psychosocial Stress, University Hospital of Clermont–Ferrand, CHU Clermont–Ferrand, Preventive and Occupational Medicine, WittyFit Clermont–Ferrand France
| | - Claus Lamm
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology Faculty of Psychology University of Vienna Vienna Austria
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Abstract
The failure of traditional antidepressant medications to adequately target cognitive impairment is associated with poor treatment response, increased risk of relapse, and greater lifetime disability. Opioid receptor antagonists are currently under development as novel therapeutics for major depressive disorder (MDD) and other stress-related illnesses. Although it is known that dysregulation of the endogenous opioid system is observed in patients diagnosed with MDD, the impact of opioidergic neurotransmission on cognitive impairment has not been systematically evaluated. Here we review the literature indicating that opioid manipulations can alter cognitive functions in humans. Furthermore, we detail the preclinical studies that demonstrate the ability of mu-opioid receptor and kappa-opioid receptor ligands to modulate several cognitive processes. Specifically, this review focuses on domains within higher order cognitive processing, including attention and executive functioning, which can differentiate cognitive processes influenced by motivational state.
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More pain, more gain: Blocking the opioid system boosts adaptive cognitive control. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2017; 80:99-103. [PMID: 28324705 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2017] [Revised: 03/02/2017] [Accepted: 03/03/2017] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
The ability to adaptively increase cognitive control in response to cognitive challenges is crucial for goal-directed behavior. Recent findings suggest that aversive arousal triggers adaptive increases of control, but the neurochemical mechanisms underlying these effects remain unclear. Given the known contributions of the opioid system to hedonic states, we investigated whether blocking this system increases adaptive control modulations. To do so, we conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled psychopharmacological study (n=52 females) involving a Stroop-like task. Specifically, we assessed the effect of naltrexone, an opioid blocker most selective to the mu-opioid system, on two measures of adaptive control that are thought to depend differentially on aversive arousal: post-error slowing and conflict adaptation. Consistent with our hypothesis, relative to placebo, naltrexone increased post-error slowing without influencing conflict adaptation. This finding not only supports the view that aversive arousal triggers adaptive control but also reveals a novel role for the opioid system in modulating such effects.
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Pfabigan DM, Holzner MT, Lamm C. Performance monitoring during a minimal group manipulation. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2016; 11:1560-8. [PMID: 27217109 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsw071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2015] [Accepted: 05/13/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The on-going (self-)monitoring of our behaviour is inextricably intertwined with the surrounding social context. In this study, we investigated whether a minimal group paradigm assigning individuals to arbitrary group categories is powerful enough to induce changes in behavioural, psychophysiological and event-related potential correlates of performance monitoring. Following arbitrary group assignment based on ostensible task performance and a group identification task, 22 volunteers performed a flanker-task during both in-group and out-group contexts, while electroencephalography was performed. More errors were committed in the out-group compared with the in-group context. Error-related negativity amplitudes were larger for in-group compared with out-group errors. However, subsequent processing reflected in late Pe amplitudes and stimulus-driven conflict reflected in N2 amplitudes were not affected by the group context. Heart rate deceleration (during both correct and incorrect trials) tended to be more pronounced during the out-group compared with the in-group context. This surprising observation was corroborated by subjective ratings of performance satisfaction, in which participants reported higher satisfaction with their out-group performance. This study identified specific stimulus evaluation processes to be affected by a minimal group manipulation and demonstrated thereby transient top-down effects of a social context manipulation on performance monitoring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela M Pfabigan
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Marie-Theres Holzner
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Claus Lamm
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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