Analysis of Effects of Opioid Use on Affective and Cognitive Empathy

Research pertaining to the relationship between opioid use and the state of the study participant's anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). The ACC contributes to a person's capacity for affective/cognitive empathy, impulse control, and decision making. The ACC is broken into a left and right Rostral ACC and a left and right Dorsal ACC. This study found that participants who had used prescription opioids had lower demonstrated connectivity between the left and right rostral ACC. No data collected was significant enough to draw a conclusion on the effects of opioid use on the connectivity between the left and right dorsal ACC. The supressed connection between the left and right rostral ACC in participants who reported opioid use provides data that supports the assertion that opioid use affects a person's capacity got affective/cognitive empathy, impulse control, and decision making processes.