The last two decades have seen prodigious growth in the application of brain imaging methods to questions of substance abuse and addiction. Despite considerable advances in our understanding of the central effects of drugs provided by preclinical data, relatively little direct evidence was known of how substances of abuse affect the brain and other eNS processes in humans. Brain imaging techniques have allowed access to the human brain and enabled the asking of questions never before imagined. The positron emission tomography (PET) data ofVolkow and her colleagues in the late 1980s, showing the uptake and time course of cocaine's binding in the human brain, revealed for the first time the distinct sites of action of this drug. This work was extremely important because it showed clearly, through imaging a drug in the brain of a living human, that the time course of its action paralleled the behavioral state of "high. " This study marked a turning point in our understanding of drug-brain-behav ior interactions in humans. Many more investigations of drug effects on the structure and function of the human brain were soon to follow, leading to much better insights into brain systems. Brain imaging allowed for the direct assessment of structural and functional anatomy, biology, and chemistry in substance abusers.
With the growing availability and decreasing cost of brain imaging technologies, it has become possible for researchers, physicians, forensics experts, and legal professionals to study brain changes in humans associated with substance abuse. In Brain Imaging in Substance Abuse: Research, Clinical, and Forensic Applications, highly experienced clinical researchers from diverse fields describe the use of electroencephalography, emission tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging to study the neural effects of substance abuse. The authors detail the effects of drugs, including alcohol, benzodiazepines, marijuana, opiates, cocaine, amphetamines, hallucinogens, and solvents on brain electrical activity, metabolism, hemodynamics, receptor and neurotransmitter levels, neurochemistry, and structure. The striking findings they report emerge from more than 1350 articles in some 320 journals, and are organized by method, abused substance and drug use state. The book examines the most commonly used neuropsychological tests and highlights associations between neuroimaging findings and behavior. Comprehensive and readily accessible, Brain Imaging in Substance Abuse: Research, Clinical, and Forensic Applications offers psychiatrists, radiologists, neurologists, pharmacologists, physiologists, psychologists, substance abuse specialists, and legal professionals a broad yet thoroughly integrated understanding of the methods and results obtained with clinical neuroimaging studies of substance abuse today.
Foreword by Joseph Frascella, National Institute on Drug Abuse
"This book is directed to a broad audience, including clinical researchers, physicians, forensic experts, and lawyers. The format and information is most applicable to neuroscience researchers and subspecialists investigating substance abuse. The author is an expert in the field, with an appointment from Harvard medical school....A section is dedicated to the relationship of neuroimaging findings to behavior in substance abuse patients. An intriguing chapter discusses the legal context of using these techniques in court. The exhaustive bibliography on substance abuse research is provided as a reference, useful for future clinical investigation. ...The glossary is appropriate for the audience and essential to comprehending the material....This is a robust text for the investigation of neuroimaging applications in substance abuse research. Explanation of the basic technical details for mainstream neuroimaging modalities are clearly written."- Doody's Health Sciences Book Review Journal
"As the editor states in his preface, this book deals with all aspects of brain imaging in the study of substance abuse and dependence. ... The chapters are followed by a glossary and by an extensive bibliography ( 140 pages!) structured by technique and by substance abuse topic. The index of 25 pages is very detailed and at the same time easy to use. A list of the chosen figures (including 12 colour plates) and tables is included at the beginning of the book. ... This book is aimed at anyone interested in the neurosciences in substance abuse. I especially recommend this book to specialists in forensic medicine. Each library or department should certainly have this book on its shelf." - European Radiology
"This book provides a comprehensive review of the use of brain imaging techniques in the evaluation of brain changes associated with acute and chronic substance abuse." - Acta Radiologica
"As the editor states in his preface this books deals with all aspects of brain imaging in the study of substance abuse and dependence. Thirteen authors, most of them experienced psychiatrists, have contributed to the eight chapters...This book is aimed at anyone interested in the neurosciences in substance abuse. I especially recommend this book to specialists in forensic medicine. Each library or department should certainly have this book on its shelf." - European Radiology
