Abstract
Negative urgency (NUR), the tendency to act rashly in the face of negative emotion, is a unique predictor of alcohol and substance use. Over the past two decades, researchers have assiduously investigated underlying neural correlates associated with NUR to better inform possible treatment. This chapter reviews research that shows that NUR plays a role in alcohol use throughout the life span and at all stages of addiction, from children and adolescents during initiation of alcohol consumption through college-aged adults who are both social and binge drinkers, active AUD populations, and during abstinence and treatment. These findings have prompted numerous investigations into neural mechanisms linked to both NUR and alcohol use disorder (AUD), revealing distinct structures and activity underlying both trait impulsivity and alcohol consumption. This review highlights regions of the brain associated with top-down inhibitory control, detection of and orientation to salient environmental and internal stimuli, introspection, and reward evaluation. The primary goal of this chapter is to identify effects of NUR across the multiple stages of addiction and in healthy participants, as well as contributing neural mechanisms. Identifying how the influence of particular neurotransmitter systems or brain regions on NUR and AUD may evolve over time would inform best stage-based treatment practices.
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Abbreviations
- (rs)fMRI:
-
(Resting state) Functional magnetic resonance imaging
- 5HT:
-
Serotonin
- 5HTTLPR:
-
Serotonin transporter linked promoter region
- ACC:
-
Anterior cingulate cortex
- AIC:
-
Anterior insular cortex
- ALFF:
-
Amplitude of low frequency fluctuations
- AMG:
-
Amygdala
- AUD:
-
Alcohol use disorder
- BOLD:
-
Blood oxygenation level density
- CRF:
-
Corticotrophin releasing factor
- DA:
-
Dopamine
- dlPFC:
-
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
- DMN:
-
Default mode network
- dmPFC:
-
Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex
- DRD2:
-
Dopamine receptor D2
- FC:
-
Functional connectivity
- GABA:
-
γ-aminobutyric acid
- GABRA2:
-
γ-aminobutyric acid receptor A2
- GD:
-
Gambling disorder
- HPA:
-
Hypothalamus pituitary adrenal
- IFG:
-
Inferior frontal gyrus
- IGT:
-
Iowa gambling task
- IPL:
-
Inferior parietal lobe
- MAO:
-
Monoamine oxidase
- mOFC:
-
Medial orbitofrontal cortex
- MSN:
-
Medium spiny neurons
- NAcc:
-
Nucleus accumbens
- NT:
-
Neurotransmitter
- NUR:
-
Negative urgency
- OFC:
-
Orbitofrontal cortex
- PCC:
-
Posterior cortex
- PFC:
-
Prefrontal cortex
- PTSD:
-
Post-traumatic stress disorder
- RECN:
-
Right executive control network
- SAL:
-
Salience
- SERT:
-
Serotonin transporter
- SSRT:
-
Serial reaction time task
- SUD:
-
Substance use disorder
- vmPFC:
-
Ventromedial prefrontal cortex
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Halcomb, M., Yoder, K., Cyders, M. (2022). Linking the Neural Correlates of Addiction and Negative Urgency. In: Patel, V.B., Preedy, V.R. (eds) Handbook of Substance Misuse and Addictions. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92392-1_30
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