Spatial Localization of Cognitive Impairments in Addiction Recovery: ERP and LORETA Findings in College Students
Disciplines
Cognition and Perception | Psychology | Substance Abuse and Addiction
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Previous findings regarding adult in-patient addiction recovery have revealed impairments in their responses to relevant stimuli while inhibiting irrelevant stimuli, represented by reduced P3 amplitudes quantified by event-related potentials (ERP). However, these findings are confined to adults & lack spatial localization due to the limitations of evoked response potentials. This study investigated differences in ERP among college students in addiction recovery relative to control participants who report no addiction. ERPs were measured during a cognitive task requiring distinction between irrelevant and relevant stimuli (the common oddball task). Using low-resolution electromagnetic tomography software (LORETA), we addressed EEG’s common pitfall, the inverse problem, by localizing electric current sources in the brain. Independent t-test analyses for each stimulus group (common foil, rare foil, and target) revealed significant ERP differences between the control and recovery groups, primarily in Brodmann areas 6 (common foil and target) and 39 (rare foil), associated with the frontal and parietal lobes. fMRI studies often link these regions with motor control, attention allocation, and decision assessments during response inhibition tasks. Our findings highlight that the control group displays higher activity in these regions, suggesting that the recovery group exhibits lower activity in Brodmann areas 6 and 39. These findings indicate diminished cognitive control and stimulus inhibition in individuals recovering from addiction, represented by their responses to relevant and irrelevant stimuli. By localizing these impairments in time (ERP) and space (LORETA), the findings expand on previous addiction recovery research, revealing attention and inhibition disruptions among college students in addiction recovery.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
RCHSS - Psychological Science
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Dr. Tim Martin
Owenby RCHSS Talk Presentation
Spatial Localization of Cognitive Impairments in Addiction Recovery: ERP and LORETA Findings in College Students
Previous findings regarding adult in-patient addiction recovery have revealed impairments in their responses to relevant stimuli while inhibiting irrelevant stimuli, represented by reduced P3 amplitudes quantified by event-related potentials (ERP). However, these findings are confined to adults & lack spatial localization due to the limitations of evoked response potentials. This study investigated differences in ERP among college students in addiction recovery relative to control participants who report no addiction. ERPs were measured during a cognitive task requiring distinction between irrelevant and relevant stimuli (the common oddball task). Using low-resolution electromagnetic tomography software (LORETA), we addressed EEG’s common pitfall, the inverse problem, by localizing electric current sources in the brain. Independent t-test analyses for each stimulus group (common foil, rare foil, and target) revealed significant ERP differences between the control and recovery groups, primarily in Brodmann areas 6 (common foil and target) and 39 (rare foil), associated with the frontal and parietal lobes. fMRI studies often link these regions with motor control, attention allocation, and decision assessments during response inhibition tasks. Our findings highlight that the control group displays higher activity in these regions, suggesting that the recovery group exhibits lower activity in Brodmann areas 6 and 39. These findings indicate diminished cognitive control and stimulus inhibition in individuals recovering from addiction, represented by their responses to relevant and irrelevant stimuli. By localizing these impairments in time (ERP) and space (LORETA), the findings expand on previous addiction recovery research, revealing attention and inhibition disruptions among college students in addiction recovery.