Brain mechanisms of reducing polysubstance use following a novel body-mind intervention

烟草使用是癌症的主要原因，也是可预防的主要死亡原因。饮酒是 在美国，每年约有88，000人死亡，并且是癌症的另一个主要可预防原因。的 大麻政策的变化和过去十年大麻使用量增加了8%， 对现有治疗工作的挑战。我们最近对TTU大学生的研究表明， 在过去一个月内报告酒精中毒、烟草使用或大麻使用的人中， 在两种或两种以上的这些物质（酒精，烟草和大麻- ATC）。越来越多的证据表明， 多种物质的使用与大学入学的许多有害后果有关， 这些人是成年人，但他们往往没有动力戒烟或减少吸毒。因此，迫切需要解决 这是一个严重的公共卫生问题，即高危大学生广泛使用多种物质。尽管多次 治疗努力，结果远非最佳，因为治疗往往未能利用重要的目标， 与成瘾结果相关的领域。研究表明，ATC的一个目标域（机制）涉及 自我控制网络的缺陷，包括前额叶皮层（PFC），前扣带皮层（ACC）， ACC-纹状体回路根据我们团队和其他人之前的研究，自我控制缺陷 与SUD有关，可以通过正念冥想（MM）和/或EEG改善 神经反馈（NF），两者都针对自我控制网络，并有可能减少负面影响 自我控制能力不足导致的后果。虽然MM在提高自我控制方面表现出了承诺 和减少ATC的使用，许多人在治疗的早期就很难进行正念练习。很有希望， 最近的研究表明，将NF与MM相结合可能会提高正念练习的参与度， 与单独使用MM相比，ATC的使用量减少更大。这个项目的目标是了解大脑 研究了短暂IBMT后ATC降低的机制，并通过脑电神经反馈（NF）优化IBMT。我们 将评估自我控制缺陷和ATC的使用，并检查IBMT和/或NF对改善自我的影响， 控制和减少TTU大学生的ATC使用。我们的研究将首次揭示大脑 结合正念干预和EEG神经反馈治疗多种物质使用的机制， 并可能为IBMT+NF调制的自我控制网络提供初步证据 与临床益处相关，如高风险大学生的渴望和ATC减少。

Tobacco use is the leading cause of cancer and the leading preventable cause of death. Alcohol use is responsible for ~88,000 deaths each year in the U.S. and is another primary preventable cause of cancer. The changing cannabis policies and the 8% increase in cannabis use in the last decade have brought new challenges for existing treatment efforts. Our recent studies among TTU college students indicate that over 50% of those who reported alcohol intoxication, tobacco use, or cannabis use in the past month were involved in two or more of these substances (alcohol, tobacco and cannabis - ATC). Growing evidence has shown that polysubstance use is associated with numerous and deleterious consequences for college-attending emerging adults, but they are often unmotivated to quit or reduce drug use. Therefore, there is an urgent need to address this critical public health issue of widespread polysubstance use in high risk college students. Despite multiple treatment efforts, outcomes are far from optimal since treatments often fail to capitalize on important target domains linked to addiction outcomes. Research shows that one target domain (mechanism) for ATC involves deficits in self-control networks including the prefrontal cortex (PFC), the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and the ACC-Striatum circuit. Based on previous research conducted by our team and others, self-control deficits have been linked to SUDs, and could be ameliorated through mindfulness meditation (MM) and/or EEG neurofeedback (NF), both of which target self-control networks and have the potential to minimize negative outcomes resulting from deficits in self-control. Although MM has shown promises in improving self- control and reducing ATC use, many struggle to engage in the mindfulness practice early in treatment. Promisingly, recent studies suggest that combining NF with MM may improve engagement with mindfulness practice and produce larger reductions in ATC use compared to MM alone. The goal of this project is to understand brain mechanisms of ATC reduction following brief IBMT, and optimize IBMT through EEG Neurofeedback (NF). We will assess self-control deficits and ATC use and examine the effects of IBMT and/or NF on improving self- control and reducing ATC use among TTU college students. Our study will be the first to reveal the brain mechanisms of combining mindfulness intervention and EEG neurofeedback for treating polysubstance use, and potentially provide preliminary evidence that the modulated self-control networks by IBMT+NF are associated with clinical benefits such as craving and ATC reduction in high risk college students.