Systematic Review of Opiate Use Disorder in Connection to Social Salience Attribution

Abstract

Opiate Use Disorder (OUD) is an increasingly prevalent disorder in the United States as more individuals begin using opiates and experience addiction. A major hallmark of OUD include progressive erosion of social ties as an addicted individual’s life is hijacked by obtaining, using, and recovering from drug use despite and without regards to disadvantageous consequences. There are multiple factors that account for the development of addiction, such as genetic and biological variables; therefore, the development of OUD is rather complex. Multiple therapeutic modalities, including pharmaceutical and psychological treatments, along with various rehabilitation programs, have been developed to tackle the growing opioid epidemic. Diagnostic imaging has emerged as a potential method to engage in risk assessment and evaluate and predict which individuals would be most prone to the development of OUD, so that proper actions and interventions can be implemented to reduce such risk. Particularly, positron emission tomography (PET) and function magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have the potential to visualize the changes in the human brain in relation to opiate addiction. Existing literature on Substance Use Disorder (SUD) have utilized task-based neuroimaging techniques to investigate the molecular underpinnings of addiction, but comparative studies on neural activation towards drug cues versus social attachment cues has yet to be examined. The identified knowledge gap focuses on using technological methodologies such as fMRI as a means of predicting which treatment modalities could be the most efficacious; identifying a potential biomarker encapsulating the shift in saliency in addicted individuals to: refine existing treatment for addiction; bridge existing gaps of knowledge in neuroscientific approaches to addiction; and improve future clinical and translational addiction research.