Optimizing multi-modal neuroimaging methods and re-training interventions to examine and improve cognitive control functioning in addiction

Addiction is a very complex and heterogeneous disorder. It is increasingly evident that addiction is fundamentally a disorder of neural and cognitive mechanisms that implement reward-related learning, but individual differences in the transition to addiction remain largely unexplored. Understanding such differences is critical for the development of therapies that are tailored appropriately for different subpopulations of substance abusers. To address this issue, many experts encourage the development of multimodal neuroimaging approaches for understanding individual variations in cognitive function and dysfunction in addiction. The proposed project accords with this 'up and coming' approach and will investigate how complex reward representations (effort, saliency, motivation) are functionally connected and organized in the brain, how these contribute to individual differences in cognitive function and dysfunction, and whether such dysfunction can be rehabilitated. Specifically, combined functional and diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging will be used to identify the functional and structural connectivity underlying complex neural representations related to effort and salience in both healthy and nicotine dependent individuals. Then, these methods will be utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of a craving-control behavioral intervention (aimed to restore the balance between the relative impulsive processes and reflective/control processes), in combination with transcranial magnetic current stimulation (aimed at stimulating the cognitive systems mediating complex reward processing). Success in these efforts will accelerate our understanding of individual differences in cognitive vulnerabilities related to addiction and facilitate the development of science-based treatment interventions.