Jodie Feil - Experimental Neuropsychology Research Unit

Substance Dependence: The inability to inhibit compulsive patterns of drug use.

Extensive research has been conducted to better understand the brain circuitry involved in the transition from casual substance use to compulsive patterns of drug seeking. Recently, researchers have begun to design experiments to assess the involvement of the brain regions implicated in inhibitory regulation to explore the compulsive urge to consume drugs regardless of risk. However, until the recent advances in non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, it has been a difficult challenge to find appropriate technology to assess these pathways in human studies. To meet this challenge, a collaborative study between the Weizmann Institute, Monash University and the Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre has been established to explore these inhibitory deficits within substance dependent populations. This study will involve the administration of computerized cognitive tasks to assess inhibitory dysfunction. Furthermore, in assessing the implicated brain regions, this study will also be using newly developed technology, such as, deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, and the use of Electroencephalography to monitor brain activity stimulated via Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.  It is anticipated that the results of this study will be able to support whether the brain pathways involved in cognitive inhibition are indeed damaged within a substance dependent population. Therefore, the central objective of this study is to assess the relationship between substance dependence, cognitive inhibition, dysfunctional circuitry and relapse.