Linking fMRI to Mobile Technologies in Addiction Research: Pathophysiology of Executive Deficits, Craving and Substance Use
Condition: Addiction
MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders; Behavior, Addictive
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      120 individuals with alcohol, cannabis or nicotine dependence as well as healthy controls
      will be administered a whole-brain imaging exam. The current research project constitutes a
      highly novel approach to understanding the pathophysiology of addiction through its
      combination of neuroimaging with state-of-the-art information concerning the real-time
      expression of risk factors.
    

Detailed description: 
      -  Background : Despite the availability of both pharmacological and psychosocial
           treatments, most affected individuals will experience addiction as a chronic illness
           with severe consequences for health outcome. A fundamental challenge to researchers in
           this domain is therefore to understand the mechanisms leading to relapse. Among the key
           vulnerability factors associated with addiction chronicity, increasing attention has
           focused on deficits in executive functions and associated traits (impulsivity, risk
           taking) that are likely to explain why many individuals with addiction are unable to
           avoid high-risk contexts or to manage the experience of craving. Research concerning
           this vulnerability to relapse has been hindered by the manner in which cognitive
           deficits are traditionally assessed in clinical research. Most commonly, they are
           thought to represent stable risk factors that show little or no variation within a given
           individual. However, executive functioning may fluctuate rapidly over time (as does
           attention, memory, or other key cognitive functions), and therefore comparisons of
           overall or 'mean' cognitive deficits between healthy and substance-dependent individuals
           may show no significant differences despite powerful effects of this vulnerability.
           Therefore, the absence of measurement or characterization of this important relapse
           mechanism prevents any further research concerning its underlying pathophysiology.

        -  Purpose : Deficits in executive functioning may explain why many individuals with
           addiction are unable to avoid high-risk contexts or manage the experience of craving
           that lead to substance use. The principal objective of this project is to acquire
           resting state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging
           (DTI) data on patients with current addiction who will then complete (through a distinct
           protocol) mobile assessments of daily life executive fluctuations, craving, and
           substance use.

        -  Detailed description: 120 individuals with alcohol, cannabis or nicotine dependence as
           well as healthy controls will be administered a whole-brain imaging exam. The current
           research project constitutes a highly novel approach to understanding the
           pathophysiology of addiction through its combination of neuroimaging with
           state-of-the-art information collected through an independent investigation concerning
           the real-time expression of risk factors.
    

Intervention name(s): Brain MRI
Intervention type(s): Other
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Other
Keywords: MRI; Executive Deficits