{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:36:43Z","timestamp":1787027803669,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,29]],"date-time":"2024-03-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1711670400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"FMABC University Center"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Brain Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Craving is one of the most important symptoms of cocaine use disorder (CUD) since it contributes to the relapse and persistence of such disorder. This systematic review aimed to investigate which brain regions are modulated during cocaine craving. The articles were obtained through searches in the Google Scholar, Regional BVS Portal, PubMed, and Scielo databases. Overall, there was a selection of 36 studies with 1574 individuals, the majority being participants with CUD, whereby about 61.56% were individuals with CUD and 38.44% were controls (mean age = 40.4 years). Besides the methodological points, the neurobiological investigations comprised fMRI (58.34%) and PET (38.89%). The induction of cocaine craving was studied using different methods: exposure to cocaine cues (69.45%), stressful stimuli, food cues, and methylphenidate. Brain activations demonstrated widespread activity across the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes, basal ganglia, diencephalon, brainstem, and the limbic system. In addition to abnormalities in prefrontal cortex activity, abnormalities in various other brain regions\u2019 activity contribute to the elucidation of the neurobiology of cocaine craving. Abnormalities in brain activity are justified not only by the dysfunction of dopaminergic pathways but also of the glutamatergic and noradrenergic pathways, and distinct ways of inducing craving demonstrated the involvement of distinct brain circuits and regions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci14040329","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,4]],"date-time":"2024-04-04T11:11:09Z","timestamp":1712229069000},"page":"329","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Mapping the Neural Substrates of Cocaine Craving: A Systematic Review"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1577-4183","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Let\u00edcia Silvestri","family":"Paludetto","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical School, FMABC University Center, Santo Andr\u00e9 09060-870, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5515-9236","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luiza Larrubia Alvares","family":"Florence","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Federal University of S\u00e3o Paulo (UNIFESP), S\u00e3o Paulo 04021-001, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3277-7036","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Julio","family":"Torales","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Psychology, School of Medical Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Asunci\u00f3n, San Lorenzo 111421, Paraguay"},{"name":"Regional Institute for Health Research, Universidad Nacional de Caaguaz\u00fa, Coronel Oviedo 050106, Paraguay"},{"name":"School of Medical Sciences, Universidad Sudamericana, Salto del Guair\u00e1 130112, Paraguay"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3934-7007","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonio","family":"Ventriglio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9621-2291","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o Maur\u00edcio","family":"Castaldelli-Maia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, FMABC University Center, Santo Andr\u00e9 09060-870, Brazil"},{"name":"Perdizes Institute of the Clinical Hospital (IPer-HCFMUSP), School of Medicine, University of S\u00e3o Paulo, S\u00e3o Paulo 01246-903, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2021). 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