Allostatic dysregulation of natural reward processing in prescription opioid misuse: Autonomic and attentional evidence

作者：Garland Eric L^*; Froeliger Brett; Howard Matthew O

来源：Biological Psychology, 2015, 105: 124-129.

DOI：10.1016/j.biopsycho.2015.01.005

• Opioid misuse
• Heart rate variability
• Attentional bias
• Reward processing
• Chronic pain

Chronic pain patients who misuse prescription opioids may suffer from allostatic dysregulation of natural reward processing. Hence, this study examined whether prescription opioid misusers with chronic pain (n = 72) evidenced decreased natural reward responsiveness relative to non-misusers with chronic pain (n = 26). Subjects completed a dot probe task containing pain-related, opioid-related, and natural reward stimuli while attentional bias (AB) scores and heart rate variability (HRV) responses were assessed. Compared to non-misusers, misusers evidenced significantly more attenuated HRV responses to opioid, pain, and natural reward cues presented during the dot probe task. These significant between-groups differences in HRV were largest during attention to natural reward cues, but became non-significant in a sensitivity analysis controlling for opioid dosing. In addition, non-misusers evidenced an AB toward natural reward cues, whereas misusers did not. Findings suggest that opioid misusers exhibit attentional and autonomic deficits during reward processing.

• 出版日期2015-2