Brain functional connectivity after cognitive-bias modification and behavioral changes in abstinent alcohol-use disorder patients

Publication date: Available online 22 October 2019Source: International Journal of PsychophysiologyAuthor(s): Andrés Martínez-Maldonado, Rosa Jurado-Barba, Ana Sion, Isabel Domínguez-Centeno, Gabriela Castillo-Parra, Julio Prieto-Montalvo, Gabriel RubioAbstractThe use of the cognitive-bias modification (CBM) method has emerged as a therapeutic complement in the treatment of alcoholism, producing changes at behavioral and brain level. Nevertheless, the impact of the CBM procedure could be improved by the memory retrieval-extinction process (REP). Different studies have demonstrated that the retrieval of drug memories before extinction training later reduced the reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior. The main aim of this work was to study the effect of the CBM procedure itself, as well as in combination with the activation of alcohol-related memories, on the brain oscillatory activity of abstinent patients with alcohol-use disorder. The study sample comprised 33 patients divided into three groups: A-CBM (alcohol-related memory activation + CBM), N-CBM (neutral memory activation + CBM) and N-INT (no-intervention) groups. A resting-state EEG was obtained before and after each protocol, along with the assessment of the automatic action tendencies. A-CBM group showed a general alpha synchronization increase after the protocol, while the other groups did not show any significant change. Besides, A-CBM group showed significant intra and inter-group differences in the auto...
Source: International Journal of Psychophysiology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research