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Category: Project

Description: Diffusion tractography allows identification and measurement of structural tracts in the human brain previously associated with motivated behavior in animal models. Recent findings indicate that the coherence of a tract connecting the midbrain to Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc) is associated with a diagnosis of stimulant use disorder (SUD), but not relapse. Here, we used diffusion tractography in a sample of patients treated for SUD (n=60) to determine whether qualities of tracts projecting from medial prefrontal, anterior insular, and amygdalar cortices to NAcc might instead foreshadow relapse. Reduced coherence of a tract projecting from the right anterior insula to the NAcc was associated with subsequent relapse to stimulant use, but not previous diagnosis. These findings highlight a new structural target for predicting relapse to stimulant use, and further suggest that distinct connections to the NAcc may modulate relapse versus diagnosis.