冰毒戒除者加工人脸表情的障碍及其机制

Recently, methamphetamine has become one of the most popular illegal drugs abused world-wide. Therefore, how to prevent the abuse of this drug has been the hot-zone in the research area. Currently, relevant research has mainly been focused on neuro-cognitive functions in methamphetamine abusers and relatively little has concerned the effect of this drug on social cognition functions (Halkitis, 2009; Homer et al., 2008). Based on this, this project intends to investigate the following three key questions by focusing on the process of emotional facial expressions (i.e. an important function of social cognition) on abstinent methamphetamine abusers: (1) if methamphetamine abusers entail deficits on processing emotional facial expressions? (2) if such deficts exist, whether the methamphetamine abusers only have deficits of emotional facial expression recognition? (3) whether methamphetamine abusers' deficits in emotional facial expression processing can be improved along with the extension of abstinence period? In sum, this project is the first to our knowledge investigating the cognitive, bahavioural, and neurological mechanism of the emotional facial expression processing on methamphetamine abusers based on reaction-time paradigms as well as to explore the impact of the length of abstinence on the improvement of these deficits. The results will not only facilitate the understanding of the relationship between methamphetamine abuse and social cognition, but will also provide practical guidance for the development of more targeted treatments for methamphetamine abusers.

近年来，冰毒逐渐成为全世界范围内主流的非法药物之一，冰毒滥用防治问题成为当前交叉学科的研究热点。过去的相关研究主要聚焦于冰毒滥用者的神经认知功能，而较少关注冰毒滥用对社会认知功能的影响(Halkitis, 2009; Homer et al., 2008)。据此，本项目拟通过10个实验，以人脸表情加工(社会认知核心能力之一)为切入口，围绕以下3个问题展开研究：(1)冰毒滥用者是否存在人脸表情加工障碍；(2)冰毒滥用者人脸表情加工障碍是否仅仅表现为再认障碍？(3)冰毒滥用者的人脸表情加工障碍会否随戒除期的延长而改善？本研究首次以基于反应时的人脸表情加工任务，在认知、行为和神经三个层面揭示冰毒戒除者对人脸表情的加工机制，探索冰毒滥用对社会认知功能的影响及其与戒除时相的关联。所得研究结果不仅能加深理解冰毒滥用与社会认知的关系，且可为开发更具针对性的矫治方案提出实践指导意见。

近年来，冰毒作为一种新型成瘾性物质，逐渐成为全世界范围内主流的非法药物之一。长期滥用冰毒的一个严重后果是导致滥用者不良社会行为的增多，而这往往与个体社会认知能力受损密切相关。因此，探明冰毒滥用与社会认知能力的关系，有助于深入理解冰毒滥用者异常社会行为的成因。然而，在过去的几十年中，大量研究均聚焦于冰毒对认知功能的影响，而忽视了对于冰毒滥用者社会认知能力的探讨。.据此，本项目通过9 个实验，以人脸表情加工(社会认知核心能力之一)为切入口，围绕以下3个问题展开研究：(1)冰毒滥用者是否存在人脸表情加工障碍；(2)冰毒滥用者人脸表情加工障碍是否仅仅表现为再认障碍？(3)冰毒滥用者的人脸表情加工障碍会否随戒除期的延长而改善？.本项目获得以下主要结论：(1)冰毒戒除者存在人脸表情加工的再认障碍，提示了冰毒滥用可能会对社会认知能力产生不利影响。(2)冰毒戒除者人脸表情加工异常不仅仅表现为再认障碍，且在多个认知加工阶段均出现了异常。包括：人脸表情加工早期阶段对于负性表情人脸的注意偏向、对人脸表情阈下知觉的负性化偏向和多个人脸表情加工的负性化偏向。(3)冰毒戒除者在人脸表情认知加工过程中表现出对于厌恶表情的异常加工。(4)冰毒戒除者人脸表情加工异常并不随戒除期的延长而改善。.本研究首次以基于反应时的人脸表情加工任务，在认知、行为多个层面揭示冰毒戒除者对人脸表情的加工机制，探索冰毒滥用对社会认知功能的影响及其与戒除时相的关联。所得研究结果不仅能加深理解冰毒滥用与社会认知的关系，且可为开发更具针对性的矫治方案提出实践指导意见。