Brain Imaging of Tobacco Craving Using fMRI

描述：（由申请人提供）在过去的十年中， 渴望在理解成瘾的神经生物学基础中的意义 以及开发专门针对渴望的新疗法的努力 随着NIDA颁布的特别供资倡议和 NIAAA。一些研究人员已经开始进行神经影像学研究， 确定大脑区域调解的主观和行为 渴望的表现。此应用程序的目的是利用 良好的图像技术的启发渴望， 香烟结合功能磁共振成像来识别特定的大脑区域， 其激活模式与渴望有关。的一个特征 建议的研究是使用图像程序，其中吸烟的冲动， 材料是在一个背景下，也产生积极的，消极的，或 在生动性方面相匹配的中性情绪状态。那些 与渴望相关的大脑激活模式，并且独立于 情感背景，是特别感兴趣的。先前的研究表明， 在药物渴求期间边缘系统激活的重要性 指导我们的研究。然而，本设计允许确定 对物质的渴望所引发的情绪基调是否在 确定大脑活动的模式。这项研究的结果将 为研究潜在的行为和药理学提供技术 使用自我报告的渴望和fMRI模式的治疗干预， 大脑活动作为终点。此外，开发可靠和有效的 自我报告和功能磁共振成像技术研究神经相关的渴望 将允许未来的研究检查变量如何调节自我报告 渴望的测量改变了大脑激活的模式。的那些区域 大脑活动与大脑中的 自我报告的渴望是最有可能的功能意义， 因此是药理学干预的潜在重要终点。 最后，由于尼古丁依赖是一种典型的成瘾，这项研究 应该为其他药物依赖性的类似研究提供一个模型。

DESCRIPTION: (provided by applicant) Over this last decade, research on the significance of craving in understanding the neurobiological basis of addiction and for developing new therapies that specifically target craving has increased exponentially with special funding initiatives promulgated by both NIDA and NIAAA. Several investigators have embarked upon neuroimaging studies to identify the brain regions mediating the subjective and behavioral manifestations of craving. The purpose of this application is to utilize well-established imagery techniques for the elicitation of craving for cigarettes in conjunction with fMRI to identify the specific brain regions whose pattern of activation is associated with craving. One feature of the proposed research is the use of imagery procedures in which smoking-urge material is presented in a context that also produces positive, negative or neutral emotional mood states that are matched in terms of vividness. Those patterns of brain activation associated with craving, and independent of the emotional context, are of special interest. Prior research indicating the importance of limbic system activation during periods of drug craving will guide our research. However, the present design allows the determination of whether the emotional tone provoked by craving material is important in determining the pattern of brain activation. The results of this research will provide techniques for studying potential behavioral and pharmacological treatment interventions using both self-report of craving and fMRI patterns of brain activation as end points. Further, the development of reliable and valid self-report and fMRI techniques for studying the neural correlates of craving will permit future research examining how variables that modulate self-reported measures of craving change the pattern of brain activation. Those areas of brain activation that are most strongly associated with variations in self-reports of craving are most likely to be of functional significance and therefore potentially important end points for pharmacological interventions. Finally, because nicotine dependence is a prototypic addiction, this research should provide a model for similar research with other drug dependencies.