Aberrant Synaptic Plasticity in Cocaine Use Disorder: A 11C-UCB-J PET Study

Healthy controls (HC) will be studied as outpatients and undergo one MRI and one 11C-UCB-J PET scan, along with neurocognitive tasks. Individuals with Cocaine Use Disorder (CUD) will complete the study as inpatients on our unit and undergo one MRI and two 11C-UCB-J PET scans, along with neurocognitive tasks. Participants will complete sleep studies (to evaluate sleep architecture); the first two nights after admission and the last two nights before discharge. Cocaine users will be asked to complete outpatient follow-ups twice a week for up to nine weeks following their inpatient stay.

Inclusion criteria

• Age 21-60 years
• Physically healthy by medical history, physical, neurological, ECG and laboratory examinations
• For females, a negative serum pregnancy test
• For CUD: DSM-5 criteria for Cocaine Use Disorder and positive urine toxicology showing recent use
• For HC: Negative urine toxicology

Exclusion criteria

• DSM-5 criteria for other substance use disorders (e.g., alcohol, opiates, sedative hypnotics), except for nicotine
• A primary DSM-5 Axis I major psychiatric disorder (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, etc.) as determined by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5)
• A history of significant and/or uncontrolled medical or neurological illness
• Current use of psychotropic and/or potentially psychoactive prescription medications
• Medical contraindications to MRI procedure