Neuroeconomics of Drug Addiction

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The nascent interdisciplinary field of Neuroeconomics harnesses the computational rigor of economics and the technological advances of modern biology to advance discovery in the decision sciences. Since pathologies of decision making are endemic to addiction-they serve a causal role in its development, they exacerbate the biological and social consequences of the disorder, and they impair remediation and treatment ~ the National Institutes of Health has recognized Neuroeconomics as fundamental to solving this important societal problem. Here we propose a National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) P30 Core Center uniting two areas of institutional strength at Duke, Neuroeconomics/Cognitive Neuroscience and Interdisciplinary Addiction Research, to support hiring two new faculty, each in partnership with the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences (DIBS) and an academic department: Duke is an internationally recognized leader in both of these fields, yet their collective strengths have not yet been brought to bear on core problems of decision making in addiction. There are several areas of existing institutional strength in these areas that include the Center for Neuroeconomic Studies (CNS), the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience (CCN), the NIDA-supported Translational Prevention Research Center (TPRC), the Duke Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research (CNSCR), The Fuqua School of Business, and the strong behavioral neuroscience groups within the Departments of Neurobiology, Psychiatry, and Psychology and Neuroscience. Despite these strengths, fundamental gaps remain. The proposed Core Center will fill important gaps in the Duke decision-making research community, will bring important and cutting-edge research competencies, and will strengthen Duke's position as one of the leading institutions in this important research area. It will bring new teaching capabilities to the undergraduate neuroscience major and to graduate training more broadly. Finally, it will provide an important new link for DIBS to socially relevant applications for neuroscience, consistent with Duke's strategic goal of "Knowledge in the Sen/ice of Society". A NIDA P30 Core Center will give Duke the leverage to immediately fill these gaps and catalyze integration of these disparate groups by hiring two new faculties that each brings new expertise bridging current Neuroeconomics and Addiction research at Duke.