Skip to main content

Abnormal fronto-limbic engagement in incarcerated stimulant users during moral processing

Psychopharmacology volume 233, pages 3077–3087 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Rationale

Stimulant use is a significant and prevalent problem, particularly in criminal populations. Previous studies found that cocaine and methamphetamine use is related to impairment in identifying emotions and empathy. Stimulant users also have abnormal neural structure and function of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), amygdala, and anterior (ACC) and posterior cingulate (PCC), regions implicated in moral decision-making. However, no research has studied the neural correlates of stimulant use and explicit moral processing in an incarcerated population.

Objectives

Here, we examine how stimulant use affects sociomoral processing that might contribute to antisocial behavior. We predicted that vmPFC, amygdala, PCC, and ACC would show abnormal neural response during a moral processing task in incarcerated methamphetamine and cocaine users.

Methods

Incarcerated adult males (N = 211) were scanned with a mobile MRI system while completing a moral decision-making task. Lifetime drug use was assessed. Neural responses during moral processing were compared between users and non-users. The relationship between duration of use and neural function was also examined.

Results

Incarcerated stimulant users showed less amygdala engagement than non-users during moral processing. Duration of stimulant use was negatively associated with activity in ACC and positively associated with vmPFC response during moral processing.

Conclusions

These results suggest a dynamic pattern of fronto-limbic moral processing related to stimulant use with deficits in both central motive and cognitive integration elements of biological moral processes theory. This increases our understanding of how drug use relates to moral processing in the brain in an ultra-high-risk population.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig 1

References

  • Aharoni E, Vincent GM, Harenski CL, Calhoun VD, Sinnott-Armstrong W, Gazzaniga MS, Kiehl KA (2013) Neuroprediction of future rearrest. Proc Natl Acad Sci 110:6223–6228

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Alia-Klein N, Parvaz MA, Woicik PA, Konova AB, Maloney T, Shumay E, Wang RL, Telang F, Biegon A, Wang GJ, Fowler JS, Tomasi D, Volkow ND, Goldstein RZ (2011) Gene x disease interaction on orbitofrontal gray matter in cocaine addiction. Arch Gen Psychiatry 68:283–294

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Aron JL, Paulus MP (2007) Location, location: using functional magnetic resonance imaging to pinpoint brain differences relevant to stimulant use. Addiction 102:33–43

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Banks SJ, Eddy KT, Angstadt M, Nathan PJ, Phan KL (2007) Amygdala–frontal connectivity during emotion regulation. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2:303–312

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Barbas H, Saha S, Rempel-Clower N, Ghashghaei T (2003) Serial pathways from primate prefrontal cortex to autonomic areas may influence emotional expression. BMC Neurosci 4:25

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bartzokis G, Beckson M, Lu PH, Edwards N, Rapoport R, Wiseman E, Bridge P (2000) Age-related brain volume reductions in amphetamine and cocaine addicts and normal controls: implications for addiction research. Psychiat Res-Neuroim 98:93–102

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bechara A, Damasio AR (2005) The somatic marker hypothesis: a neural theory of economic decision. Games and economic behavior 52:336–372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bechara A, Dolan S, Denburg N, Hindes A, Anderson SW, Nathan PE (2001) Decision-making deficits, linked to a dysfunctional ventromedial prefrontal cortex, revealed in alcohol and stimulant abusers. Neuropsychologia 39:376–389

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • BJS BoJS (2004) Drug use and dependence, state and federal prisoners

    Google Scholar 

  • Blair RJR (2007) The amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex in morality and psychopathy. Trends Cogn Sci 11:387–392

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bolla K, Eldreth D, London E, Kiehl K, Mouratidis M, Contoreggi C et al (2003) Orbitofrontal cortex dysfunction in abstinent cocaine abusers performing a decision-making task. Neuroimage 19:1085–1094

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Brodie JD, Figueroa E, Laska EM, Dewey SL (2005) Safety and efficacy of γ‐vinyl GABA (GVG) for the treatment of methamphetamine and/or cocaine addiction. Synapse 55:122–125

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bzdok D, Schilbach L, Vogeley K, Schneider K, Laird AR, Langner R, Eickhoff SB (2012) Parsing the neural correlates of moral cognition: ALE meta-analysis on morality, theory of mind, and empathy. Brain Struct Funct 217:783–796

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell BM, Harenski CL, Harenski KA, Fede SJ, Steele VR, Koenigs MR, Kiehl KA (2015) Abnormal frontostriatal activity in recently abstinent cocaine users during implicit moral processing. Front Hum Neurosci 9:565

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ciaramelli E, Muccioli M, Ladavas E, di Pellegrino G (2007) Selective deficit in personal moral judgment following damage to ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2:84–92

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Clark VP, Beatty GK, Anderson RE, Kodituwakku P, Phillips JP, Lane TD, Kiehl KA, Calhoun VD (2014) Reduced fMRI activity predicts relapse in patients recovering from stimulant dependence. Hum Brain Mapp 35:414–428

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Crunelle CL, Veltman DJ, Booij J, van Emmerik-van Oortmerssen K, van den Brink W (2012) Substrates of neuropsychological functioning in stimulant dependence: a review of functional neuroimaging research. Brain Behav 2:499–523

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham WA, Johnson MK, Raye CL, Gatenby JC, Gore JC, Banaji MR (2004) Separable neural components in the processing of black and white faces. Psychol Sci 15:806–813

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Darke S, Hall W (1995) Levels and correlates of polydrug use among heroin users and regular amphetamine users. Drug Alcohol Depend 39:231–235

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Daumann J, Koester P, Becker B, Wagner D, Imperati D, Gouzoulis-Mayfrank E, Tittgemeyer M (2011) Medial prefrontal gray matter volume reductions in users of amphetamine-type stimulants revealed by combined tract-based spatial statistics and voxel-based morphometry. Neuroimage 54:794–801

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dixon SD, Bejar R (1989) Echoencephalographic findings in neonates associated with maternal cocaine and methamphetamine use: incidence and clinical correlates. J Pediatr 115:770–778

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ersche KD, Barnes A, Jones PS, Morein-Zamir S, Robbins TW, Bullmore ET (2011) Abnormal structure of frontostriatal brain systems is associated with aspects of impulsivity and compulsivity in cocaine dependence. Brain 134:2013–2024

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ersche KD, Jones PS, Williams GB, Turton AJ, Robbins TW, Bullmore ET (2012) Abnormal brain structure implicated in stimulant drug addiction. Science 335:601–604

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ersche KD, Williams GB, Robbins TW, Bullmore ET (2013) Meta-analysis of structural brain abnormalities associated with stimulant drug dependence and neuroimaging of addiction vulnerability and resilience. Curr Opin Neurobiol 23:615–624

  • Ferrari V, Smeraldi E, Bottero G, Politi E (2014) Addiction and empathy: a preliminary analysis. Neurol Sci 35:855–859

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • First M, Spitzer R, Williams J, Gibbon M (1997) Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID), 1997. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher PC, Happe F, Frith U, Baker SC, Dolan RJ, Frackowiak RSJ, Frith CD (1995) Other minds in the brain—a functional imaging study of theory of mind in story comprehension. Cognition 57:109–128

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fox HC, Axelrod SR, Paliwal P, Sleeper J, Sinha R (2007) Difficulties in emotion regulation and impulse control during cocaine abstinence. Drug Alcohol Depen 89:298–301

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fox HC, Bergquist KL, Casey J, Hong KA, Sinha R (2011) Selective cocaine-related difficulties in emotional intelligence: relationship to stress and impulse control. Am J Addiction 20:151–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Franklin TR, Acton PD, Maldjian JA, Gray JD, Croft JR, Dackis CA, O’Brien CP, Childress AR (2002) Decreased gray matter concentration in the insular, orbitofrontal, cingulate, and temporal cortices of cocaine patients. Biol Psychiatry 51:134–142

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Freire L, Roche A, Mangin J-F (2002) What is the best similarity measure for motion correction in fMRI time series? Medical Imaging, IEEE Transactions on 21:470–484

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garavan H, Pankiewicz J, Bloom A, Cho J-K, Sperry L, Ross TJ, Salmeron BJ, Risinger R, Kelley D, Stein EA (2000) Cue-induced cocaine craving: neuroanatomical specificity for drug users and drug stimuli. Am J Psychiat 157:1789–1798

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greene JD, Nystrom LE, Engell AD, Darley JM, Cohen JD (2004) The neural bases of cognitive conflict and control in moral judgment. Neuron 44:389–400

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hare RD (2003) Manual for the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. Multi-Health Systems, Toronto

    Google Scholar 

  • Heatherton TF, Kozlowski LT, Frecker RC, Fagerstrom KO (1991) The Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence: a revision of the Fagerstrom Tolerance Questionnaire. Br J Addict 86:1119–1127

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hemphill JF, Hart SD, Hare RD (1994) Psychopathy and substance use. J Pers Disord 8:169–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henry JD, Mazur M, Rendell PG (2009) Social-cognitive difficulties in former users of methamphetamine. Brit J Clin Psychol 48:323–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman WF, Schwartz DL, Huckans MS, McFarland BH, Meiri G, Stevens AA, Mitchell SH (2008) Cortical activation during delay discounting in abstinent methamphetamine dependent individuals. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 201:183–193

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hser Y-I, Huang D, Brecht M-L, Li L, Evans E (2008) Contrasting trajectories of heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine use. J Addict Dis 27:13–21

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Huang B, Dawson DA, Stinson FS, Hasin DS, Ruan W, Saha TD, Smith SM, Goldstein RB and Grant BF (2006) Prevalence, correlates, and comorbidity of nonmedical prescription drug use and drug use disorders in the United States: results of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. J Clin Psychiatry 67:1062–1073

  • Johansen-Berg H, Gutman D, Behrens T, Matthews P, Rushworth M, Katz E, Lozano A, Mayberg H (2008) Anatomical connectivity of the subgenual cingulate region targeted with deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression. Cereb Cortex 18:1374–1383

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson MK, Raye CL, Mitchell KJ, Touryan SR, Greene EJ, Nolen-Hoeksema S (2006) Dissociating medial frontal and posterior cingulate activity during self-reflection. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 1:56–64

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Johnstone T, van Reekum CM, Urry HL, Kalin NH, Davidson RJ (2007) Failure to regulate: counterproductive recruitment of top-down prefrontal-subcortical circuitry in major depression. J Neurosci 27:8877–8884

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kemmis L, Hall JK, Kingston R, Morgan MJ (2007) Impaired fear recognition in regular recreational cocaine users. Psychopharmacology 194:151–159

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kiehl KA, Bates AT, Laurens KR, Hare RD, Liddle PF (2006) Brain potentials implicate temporal lobe abnormalities in criminal psychopaths. J Abnorm Psychol 115:443

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kim SJ, Lyoo IK, Hwang J, Chung A, Hoon Sung Y, Kim J, Kwon D-H, Chang KH, Renshaw PF (2006) Prefrontal grey-matter changes in short-term and long-term abstinent methamphetamine abusers. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 9:221–228

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kim YT, Lee JJ, Song HJ, Kim JH, Kwon DH, Kim MN, Yoo DS, Lee HJ, Kim HJ, Chang Y (2010) Alterations in cortical activity of male methamphetamine abusers performing an empathy task: fMRI study. Hum Psychopharm Clin 25:63–70

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim YT, Kwon DH and Chang YM (2011a) Impairments of facial emotion recognition and theory of mind in methamphetamine abusers. Psychiat Res 186:80–84.

  • Kim MJ, Loucks RA, Palmer AL, Brown AC, Solomon KM, Marchante AN and Whalen PJ (2011b) The structural and functional connectivity of the amygdala: from normal emotion to pathological anxiety. Behav Brain Res 223:403–410.

  • Koenigs M, Young L, Adolphs R, Tranel D, Cushman F, Hauser M, Damasio A (2007) Damage to the prefrontal cortex increases utilitarian moral judgements. Nature 446:908–911

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kohno M, Morales AM, Ghahremani DG, Hellemann G, London ED (2014) Risky decision making, prefrontal cortex, and mesocorticolimbic functional connectivity in methamphetamine dependence. JAMA Psychiatry 71:812–820

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kohno M, Okita K, Morales AM, Robertson CL, Dean AC, Ghahremani DG, Sabb FW, Rawson RA, Mandelkern MA, Bilder RM, London ED (2016) Midbrain functional connectivity and ventral striatal dopamine D2-type receptors: link to impulsivity in methamphetamine users. Mol Psychiatry. doi:10.1038/mp.2015.223

  • Koob GF (1999) The role of the striatopallidal and extended amygdala systems in drug addiction. Ann N Y Acad Sci 877:445–460

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • London ED, Kohno M, Morales AM, Ballard ME (2015) Chronic methamphetamine abuse and corticostriatal deficits revealed by neuroimaging. Brain Res 1628:174–185

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mackey S, Paulus M (2013) Are there volumetric brain differences associated with the use of cocaine and amphetamine-type stimulants? Neurosci Biobehav Rev 37:300–316

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Makris N, Gasic GP, Seidman LJ, Goldstein JM, Gastfriend DR, Elman I, Albaugh MD, Hodge SM, Ziegler DA, Sheahan FS, Caviness VS, Tsuang MT, Kennedy DN, Hyman SE, Rosen BR, Breiter HC (2004) Decreased absolute amygdala volume in cocaine addicts. Neuron 44:729–740

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maldjian JA, Laurienti PJ, Kraft RA, Burdette JH (2003) An automated method for neuroanatomic and cytoarchitectonic atlas-based interrogation of fMRI data sets. Neuroimage 19:1233–1239

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maldjian JA, Laurienti PJ, Burdette JH (2004) Precentral gyrus discrepancy in electronic versions of the Talairach atlas. Neuroimage 21:450–455

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Matochik JA, London ED, Eldreth DA, Cadet J-L, Bolla KI (2003) Frontal cortical tissue composition in abstinent cocaine abusers: a magnetic resonance imaging study. Neuroimage 19:1095–1102

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mazaika PK, Hoeft F, Glover G, Reiss AL (2009) Methods and software for fMRI analysis of clinical subjects. Neuroimage 47:S58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLellan AT, Kushner H, Metzger D, Peters R, Smith I, Grissom G, Pettinati H, Argeriou M (1992) The fifth edition of the Addiction Severity Index. J Subst Abuse Treat 9:199–213

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller GA, Chapman JP (2001) Misunderstanding analysis of covariance. J Abnorm Psychol 110:40

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moll J, Zahn R, de Oliveira-Souza R, Krueger F, Grafman J (2005) The neural basis of human moral cognition. Nat Rev Neurosci 6:799–809

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Monterosso JR, Ainslie G, Xu J, Cordova X, Domier CP, London ED (2007) Frontoparietal cortical activity of methamphetamine‐dependent and comparison subjects performing a delay discounting task. Hum Brain Mapp 28:383–393

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morales AM, Lee B, Hellemann G, O’Neill J, London ED (2012) Gray-matter volume in methamphetamine dependence: cigarette smoking and changes with abstinence from methamphetamine. Drug Alcohol Depend 125:230–238

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno-Lopez L, Catena A, Fernandez-Serrano MJ, Delgado-Rico E, Stamatakis EA, Perez-Garcia M, Verdejo-Garcia A (2012) Trait impulsivity and prefrontal gray matter reductions in cocaine dependent individuals. Drug Alcohol Depen 125:208–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moretto G, Ladavas E, Mattioli F, di Pellegrino G (2010) A psychophysiological investigation of moral judgment after ventromedial prefrontal damage. J Cogn Neurosci 22:1888–1899

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan MJ, Marshall JP (2013) Deficient fear recognition in regular cocaine users is not attributable to elevated impulsivity or conduct disorder prior to cocaine use. J Psychopharmacol 27:526–532

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Motzkin JC, Philippi CL, Wolf RC, Baskaya MK, Koenigs M (2015) Ventromedial prefrontal cortex is critical for the regulation of amygdala activity in humans. Biol Psychiat 77:276–284

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nakama H, Chang LD, Fein G, Shimotsu R, Jiang CS, Ernst T (2011) Methamphetamine users show greater than normal age-related cortical gray matter loss. Addiction 106:1474–1483

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • NIDA NIoDA (2014) Trends & statistics.

  • Pace-Schott EF, Morgan PT, Malison RT, Hart CL, Edgar C, Walker M, Stickgold R (2008) Cocaine users differ from normals on cognitive tasks which show poorer performance during drug abstinence. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse 34:109–121

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paulus MP, Hozack NE, Zauscher BE, Frank L, Brown GG, Braff DL, Schuckit MA (2002) Behavioral and functional neuroimaging evidence for prefrontal dysfunction in methamphetamine-dependent subjects. Neuropsychopharmacol 26:53–63

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Payer DE, Lieberman MD, Monterosso JR, Xu J, Fong TW, London ED (2008) Differences in cortical activity between methamphetamine-dependent and healthy individuals performing a facial affect matching task. Drug Alcohol Depend 93:93–102

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Payer DE, Lieberman MD, London ED (2011) Neural correlates of affect processing and aggression in methamphetamine dependence. Arch Gen Psychiatry 68:271–282

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Peters RH, Greenbaum PE, Edens JF, Carter CR, Ortiz MM (1998) Prevalence of DSM-IV substance abuse and dependence disorders among prison inmates. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse 24:573–587

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Preller KH, Hulka LM, Vonmoos M, Jenni D, Baumgartner MR, Seifritz E, Dziobek I, Quednow BB (2014) Impaired emotional empathy and related social network deficits in cocaine users. Addict Biol 19:452–466

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rando K, Tuit K, Hannestad J, Guarnaccia J, Sinha R (2013) Sex differences in decreased limbic and cortical grey matter volume in cocaine dependence: a voxel-based morphometric study. Addict Biol 18:147–160

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rawson R, Huber A, Brethen P, Obert J, Gulati V, Shoptaw S, Ling W (2000) Methamphetamine and cocaine users: differences in characteristics and treatment retention. J Psychoactive Drugs 32:233–238

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roy AK, Shehzad Z, Margulies DS, Kelly AC, Uddin LQ, Gotimer K, Biswal BB, Castellanos FX, Milham MP (2009) Functional connectivity of the human amygdala using resting state fMRI. Neuroimage 45:614–626

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan JJ, Lopez SJ, Werth TR (1999) Development and preliminary validation of a Satz-Mogel short form of the WAIS-III in a sample of persons with substance abuse disorders. Int J Neurosci 98:131–140

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • SAMSHA SAaMHSA (2011) Results from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: summary of national findings. In: NSDUH Series H-41. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Rockville

    Google Scholar 

  • SAMSHA SAaMHSA (2014) Results from the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: summary of national findings. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaich Borg J, Sinnott-Armstrong W, Calhoun VD, Kiehl KA (2011) Neural basis of moral verdict and moral deliberation. Soc Neurosci 6:398–413

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shackman AJ, Salomons TV, Slagter HA, Fox AS, Winter JJ, Davidson RJ (2011) The integration of negative affect, pain and cognitive control in the cingulate cortex. Nat Rev Neurosci 12:154–167

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sim ME, Lyoo IK, Streeter CC, Covell J, Sarid-Segal O, Ciraulo DA, Kim MJ, Kaufman MJ, Yurgelun-Todd DA, Renshaw PF (2007) Cerebellar gray matter volume correlates with duration of cocaine use in cocaine-dependent subjects. Neuropsychopharmacol 32:2229–2237

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas BC, Croft KE, Tranel D (2011) Harming kin to save strangers: further evidence for abnormally utilitarian moral judgments after ventromedial prefrontal damage. J Cogn Neurosci 23:2186–2196

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson PM, Hayashi KM, Simon SL, Geaga JA, Hong MS, Sui YH, Lee JY, Toga AW, Ling W, London ED (2004) Structural abnormalities in the brains of human subjects who use methamphetamine. J Neurosci 24:6028–6036

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Psychological Software Tools (2012) E-Prime. Psychological Software Tools, Pittsburgh

    Google Scholar 

  • Urry HL, Van Reekum CM, Johnstone T, Kalin NH, Thurow ME, Schaefer HS, Jackson CA, Frye CJ, Greischar LL, Alexander AL (2006) Amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex are inversely coupled during regulation of negative affect and predict the diurnal pattern of cortisol secretion among older adults. J Neurosci 26:4415–4425

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van der Plas EA, Crone EA, van den Wildenberg WP, Tranel D, Bechara A (2009) Executive control deficits in substance-dependent individuals: a comparison of alcohol, cocaine, and methamphetamine and of men and women. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 31:706–719

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Verdejo-Garcia A, Contreras-Rodríguez O, Fonseca F, Cuenca A, Soriano-Mas C, Rodriguez J, Pardo-Lozano R, Blanco-Hinojo L, de Sola LS, Farré M, Torrens M, Pujol J, de la Torre R (2014) Functional alteration in frontolimbic systems relevant to moral judgment in cocaine-dependent subjects. Addict Biol 19:272–281

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vogt BA, Finch DM, Olson CR (1992) Functional heterogeneity in cingulate cortex: the anterior executive and posterior evaluative regions. Cereb Cortex 2:435–443

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walsh Z, Allen LC, Kosson DS (2007) Beyond social deviance: substance use disorders and the dimensions of psychopathy. J Pers Disord 21:273–288

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler D (1997) WAIS-III: administration and scoring manual: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Psychological Corporation, San Antonio, TX

  • Williams LM, Das P, Liddell BJ, Kemp AH, Rennie CJ, Gordon E (2006) Mode of functional connectivity in amygdala pathways dissociates level of awareness for signals of fear. J Neurosci 26:9264–9271

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health and National Institute on Drug Abuse under R01MH070539, R01DA026964, and R01DA026505 to Kent A. Kiehl. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Samantha J. Fede, Vince D. Calhoun & Kent A. Kiehl

  2. Mind Research Network, 1101 Yale Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87106, USA

    Samantha J. Fede, Carla L. Harenski, Vikram Rao, Brendan M. Caldwell, Prashanth K. Nyalakanti, Vince D. Calhoun & Kent A. Kiehl

  3. Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Jana Schaich Borg & Walter Sinnott-Armstrong

  4. University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

    Michael R. Koenigs

  5. University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Jean Decety

Authors
  1. Samantha J. Fede
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Carla L. Harenski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jana Schaich Borg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Vikram Rao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Brendan M. Caldwell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Prashanth K. Nyalakanti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Michael R. Koenigs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Jean Decety
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Vince D. Calhoun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Kent A. Kiehl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Samantha J. Fede.

Ethics declarations

All participants provided written, informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study and were compensated at an hourly rate comparable to pay rates for work within the facilities. All procedures and materials were approved by the University of New Mexico Institutional Review Board (IRB) and thus have been performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Conflict of interest

The authors do not have any financial conflicts of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fede, S.J., Harenski, C.L., Schaich Borg, J. et al. Abnormal fronto-limbic engagement in incarcerated stimulant users during moral processing. Psychopharmacology 233, 3077–3087 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-016-4344-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-016-4344-4

Keywords

  • Morality
  • fMRI
  • Cocaine
  • Methamphetamine
  • Stimulant
  • vmPFC
  • ACC
  • Limbic