Studies of Reward Processing and Impulsivity in Nicotine Addiction and Obesity

应聘者描述(由应聘者提供)：应聘者的长期职业目标是研究冲动和奖励处理的神经机制，并评估它们对吸烟和暴饮暴食等负面健康相关行为的影响。冲动与对直接回报的偏好有关，尽管这会带来负面的长期后果，这反过来可能导致与健康相关的糟糕决策。为了实现她的职业目标，候选人需要加强她的神经成像技能，并扩大她的科学背景，将成瘾和肥胖的临床经验包括在内。通过K99/R00机制，她将接受必要的培训，成为翻译认知神经科学研究中具有竞争力的独立研究员，因为它与成瘾和肥胖有关。这位候选人的直接目标是检查尼古丁成瘾者、肥胖者和健康人群对奖惩的神经反应。利用功能磁共振成像(FMRI)，这项有指导的研究提案使用金钱奖励和自我报告的冲动来阐明尼古丁成瘾和肥胖在奖励神经系统中分享机制的程度。候选人还将研究不同水平的冲动是否会对尼古丁成瘾和肥胖的奖励处理产生不同的影响。在独立研究阶段，候选人将研究当这些相同的小组在较小的即时可用奖励和较大的延迟奖励之间做出选择时，大脑的反应。独立研究阶段还将包括一组肥胖的尼古丁成瘾者，以进一步调查负面健康相关行为的共同机制。这些研究经验将为候选人的职业生涯奠定基础，作为一名独立调查员，在与健康相关的决策中进行冲动和回报的神经成像转换研究。 公共卫生相关性：拟议的有指导和独立的研究对成瘾和肥胖具有重要的临床意义。研究结果将阐明冲动、上瘾和肥胖对奖励处理和决策的影响，最终可能会有临床应用，比如开发个性化的治疗方案。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The candidate's long-term career goal is to examine the neural mechanisms associated with impulsivity and reward processing, and evaluate their impacts on negative health-related behaviors such as smoking and overeating. Impulsivity is associated with a preference for immediate rewards despite negative long-term consequences, which in turn can lead to poor health-related decision-making. To meet her career goal, the candidate needs to strengthen her neuroimaging skills and expand her scientific background to include clinical experiences in addiction and obesity. Through the K99/R00 mechanism she will receive the training necessary to become a competitive independent investigator in translational cognitive neuroscience research as it relates to addiction and obesity. The candidate's immediate goal is to examine neural responses to rewards and punishments in nicotine addicted, obese and healthy groups. Employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the mentored research proposal uses monetary rewards and self-reported impulsivity to clarify the degree to which nicotine addiction and obesity share mechanisms in the neural systems of reward. The candidate will also examine whether varying levels of impulsivity differentially impact reward processing in nicotine addiction and obesity. During the independent research phase, the candidate will examine how the brain responds when these same groups choose between smaller immediately available rewards compared to larger delayed rewards. The independent research phase will also include a group of obese nicotine addicted individuals to further investigate shared mechanisms of negative health-related behaviors. These research experiences will lay the groundwork for the candidate's career as an independent investigator conducting translational research in neuroimaging of impulsivity and reward in health-related decision making. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed mentored and independent research has important clinical implications concerning addiction and obesity. The results will shed light on how impulsivity, addiction and obesity impact reward processing and decision-making, which may ultimately have clinical applications such as the development of personally, tailored treatment programs.