***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: Using fMRI , our group previously found that after a sip of alcohol and exposure to alcohol beverage pictures , alcoholics compared to social drinkers had increased differential brain activity in the prefrontal cortex and anterior thalamus . This study extends this earlier work with several improvements including imaging the entire brain ( rather than the anterior half previously ) and recording craving , while the subjects viewed images within the scanner . In a Philips 1.5 T MRI scanner , 10 nontreatment-seeking alcoholics and 10 age-matched healthy social drinkers were given a sip of alcohol before viewing a 12 min r and omized presentation of pictures of alcoholic beverages , nonalcoholic beverages , and two different visual control tasks . During picture presentation , changes in regional brain activity were measured in 15 transverse T2 * -weighted blood oxygen level dependent slices . Subjects rated their urge to drink after each picture sequence . After a sip of alcohol , while viewing alcohol cues compared to viewing other beverage cues , the alcoholics , but not social drinkers , reported higher craving ratings and had increased activity in the prefrontal cortex and anterior limbic regions . Brain activity in the left nucleus accumbens , anterior cingulate , and left orbitofrontal cortex significantly correlated with subjective craving ratings in alcohol subjects but not in control subjects . This study suggests , as did our earlier study , that alcoholics and not social drinkers , when exposed to alcohol cues , have increased brain activity in areas that reportedly subserve craving for other addictive substances This pilot study tested the efficacy of a brief intervention using motivational interviewing ( MI ) plus mindfulness meditation ( MM ) to reduce marijuana use among young adult females . Thirty-four female marijuana users between the ages of 18 and 29 were r and omized to either the intervention group ( n = 22 ) , consisting of two sessions of MI-MM , or an assessment -only control group ( n = 12 ) . The participants ' marijuana use was assessed at baseline and at 1 , 2 , and 3 months posttreatment . Fixed-effects regression modeling was used to analyze treatment effects . Participants r and omized to the intervention group were found to use marijuana on 6.15 ( z = -2.42 , p = .015 ) , 7.81 ( z = -2.78 , p = .005 ) , and 6.83 ( z = -2.23 , p = .026 ) fewer days at Months 1 , 2 , and 3 , respectively , than controls . Findings from this pilot study provide preliminary evidence for the feasibility and effectiveness of a brief MI-MM for young adult female marijuana users BACKGROUND In alcohol-dependent patients , alcohol-associated cues elicit brain activation in mesocorticolimbic networks involved in relapse mechanisms . Cue-exposure based extinction training ( CET ) has been shown to be efficacious in the treatment of alcoholism ; however , it has remained unexplored whether CET mediates its therapeutic effects via changes of activity in mesolimbic networks in response to alcohol cues . In this study , we assessed CET treatment effects on cue-induced responses using functional magnetic resonance imaging ( fMRI ) . METHODS In a r and omized controlled trial , abstinent alcohol-dependent patients were r and omly assigned to a CET group ( n = 15 ) or a control group ( n = 15 ) . All patients underwent an extended detoxification treatment comprising medically supervised detoxification , health education , and supportive therapy . The CET patients additionally received nine CET sessions over 3 weeks , exposing the patient to his/her preferred alcoholic beverage .  Cue-induced fMRI activation to alcohol cues was measured at pretreatment and posttreatment . RESULTS Compared with pretreatment , fMRI cue-reactivity reduction was greater in the CET relative to the control group , especially in the anterior cingulate gyrus and the insula , as well as limbic and frontal regions . Before treatment , increased cue-induced fMRI activation was found in limbic and reward-related brain regions and in visual areas . After treatment , the CET group showed less activation than the control group in the left ventral striatum . CONCLUSIONS The study provides first evidence that an exposure-based psychotherapeutic intervention in the treatment of alcoholism impacts on brain areas relevant for addiction memory and attentional focus to alcohol-associated cues and affects mesocorticolimbic reward pathways suggested to be pathophysiologically involved in addiction 
    Output:
    
METHODS We performed a systematic review of empirical research via PubMed and Google Scholar with keywords including ' addiction '  , ' exteroception ' , ' precuneus ' , and ' self-awareness ' , to identify human behavioral and neuroimaging studies that report mechanisms of self-awareness in healthy population s , and altered self-awareness processes , specifically exteroception , in addicted population s. RESULTS Results demonstrate that exteroceptive processes play a critical role in conditioned cue response in addiction and serve as targets for interventions such as mindfulness training .
Further , a hub of the default mode network , namely , the precuneus , is ( i ) consistently implicated in exteroceptive processes , and ( ii ) widely demonstrated to have increased activation and connectivity in addicted population s. CONCLUSION Heightened exteroceptive processes may underlie cue-elicited craving , which in turn may lead to the maintenance and worsening of substance use disorders .