Compulsivity and inhibitory control deficits in abstinent heroin addicts and their biological siblings compared with unrelated healthy controls.

BACKGROUND: Compulsivity represents the performance of persistent and repetitive acts despite the negative consequences, considered one of the critical mechanisms for drug addiction. Although compulsivity-related neurocognitive impairments are linked to addiction, it remains unclear whether these deficits might have predated drug abuse as potential familial susceptibilities.

METHODS: A large sample of 213 adult subjects were recruited, including 70 abstinent heroin addicts (HAs), 69 unaffected biological siblings of the HAs (Siblings), and 74 unrelated healthy controls (HCs). Compulsivity-related neurocognitive functions were evaluated using the Intra-Extra Dimensional Set Shift task and a Probabilistic Reversal Learning task. Compulsive traits were measured by the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised. Inhibitory control was assessed using the Stop-Signal Task and Stroop Color-Word Task. Network models for group recognition were conducted using Multilayer Perceptron Neural Networks.

RESULTS: Data indicated that both HAs and Siblings performed worse than HCs on compulsivity- related aspects (i.e., shifting and reversal learning functions) and inhibitory control, with higher levels of self-reported compulsive traits. Neural models further revealed that a possible three-facet clustering of neurocognitive deficits was linked to both HAs and Siblings.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggested that deficits in shift-reversal and inhibitory control aspects and elevated compulsive traits, shared by heroin addicts and their unaffected siblings, might putatively represent the conceivable markers associated with familial vulnerabilities implicated in the development of heroin dependence.