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Acoustic startle reduction in cocaine dependence persists for 1 year of abstinence

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Abstract

Rationale

Chronic cocaine use results in long-lasting neurochemical changes that persist beyond the acute withdrawal period. Previous work from our group reported a profound reduction in the acoustic startle response (ASR) in chronic cocaine-dependent subjects in early abstinence compared to healthy controls that may be related to long-lasting neuroadaptations following withdrawal from chronic cocaine use.

Objectives

This study aims to investigate the persistence and time course of the decrements in the ASR of cocaine-dependent subjects during prolonged abstinence.

Methods

Seventy-six cocaine-dependent (COC) subjects and 30 controls (CONT) were tested, the former after a period of heavy cocaine dependence. COC subjects were retested sequentially for 1 year of abstinence or until relapse. ASR testing was conducted at 3-dB levels and the eye-blink component of the startle response was quantified with electromyographic recording of the orbicularis oculi muscle.

Results

While there was no difference in startle magnitude between CONT and COC in early abstinence, by day 40 of abstinence COC subjects exhibited a statistically significant decline (p = 0.0057) in ASR magnitude as compared with CONT and this decrement persisted for up to 1 year of abstinence (p = 0.0165). In addition, startle latency was slower in COC subjects as compared with CONT at all stages of abstinence.

Conclusions

These results replicate and expand upon the earlier finding that chronic cocaine use impairs the ASR in a manner that persists beyond the acute withdrawal period. This phenomenon may represent a biological measure of long-term neural changes accompanying cocaine dependence and subsequent withdrawal.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Michael Davis and Marina Wheeler for their helpful discussions and comments, and Karen Drexler for her assistance with subject recruitment. Infrastructure support from the Mental Health and the Research and Development Service Lines at the Atlanta VA Medical Center and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Emory University School of Medicine is gratefully acknowledged.

Conflict of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mental Health Service, Atlanta VA Medical Center, Decatur, GA, USA

    Sarah Corcoran, Seth D. Norrholm, Bruce Cuthbert, Jeff Hollis & Erica Duncan

  2. Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Sarah Corcoran, Seth D. Norrholm, Bruce Cuthbert, Jeff Hollis & Erica Duncan

  3. Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Seth D. Norrholm & Erica Duncan

  4. Biostatistics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Maya Sternberg

  5. Atlanta VAMC, 1670 Clairmont Road, MHSL 116A, Decatur, GA, 30033, USA

    Sarah Corcoran

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  1. Sarah Corcoran
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  2. Seth D. Norrholm
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  3. Bruce Cuthbert
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  4. Maya Sternberg
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  6. Erica Duncan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah Corcoran.

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Funding

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse Grant 5RO1DA018294; E Duncan, S Corcoran is a postdoctoral fellow supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse Institutional Training Grant T32 DA15040.

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Corcoran, S., Norrholm, S.D., Cuthbert, B. et al. Acoustic startle reduction in cocaine dependence persists for 1 year of abstinence. Psychopharmacology 215, 93–103 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-010-2114-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-010-2114-2

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