Neurocognitive Decision Task for Stimulant Abuse
What You Need to Know Before You Apply
What is the purpose of this trial?
This trial explores how stimulant abuse affects moral decision-making and brain function in incarcerated women, building on previous studies with men. Researchers focus on differences among those with varying levels of stimulant use and psychopathic traits, a personality disorder marked by enduring antisocial behavior, diminished empathy, and remorse. The trial uses decision tasks to assess decision-making and examine how these factors might relate to future relapse or antisocial behavior. Women who have experienced stimulant abuse and identify with psychopathic traits may qualify, provided they meet specific criteria such as a minimum reading level and no major medical conditions. As an unphased trial, this study offers a unique opportunity to contribute to groundbreaking research that could shape future treatments and interventions.
Will I have to stop taking my current medications?
The trial does not specify if you need to stop taking your current medications, but if you are a healthy control, you cannot be currently taking psychotropic medications (drugs that affect your mood, thoughts, or behavior).
What prior data suggests that this decision task is safe for participants?
Research has shown that decision tasks, often used in studies on stimulant use and psychopathic traits, are generally safe for participants. These tasks involve making choices to help researchers understand decision-making processes. They do not require taking medications or undergoing medical procedures.
Studies have found that while individuals who use many stimulants or exhibit psychopathic traits might make different choices in these tasks, the tasks themselves do not cause harm. For example, one study found that stimulant users had different brain responses when making decisions, but the task remained safe.
Participants typically complete these tasks on a computer, and no negative effects are known. This makes decision tasks a well-tolerated method for studying complex behaviors and thinking processes.12345Why are researchers excited about this trial?
Researchers are excited about this trial because it explores how decision-making tasks might reveal neurocognitive differences in women with varying levels of stimulant abuse and psychopathic traits. Unlike traditional treatments that focus on medication or behavioral therapies, this approach uses tasks designed to assess decision-making as a way to understand cognitive abnormalities. This could lead to new insights into the brain's functioning in those affected by stimulant abuse, potentially paving the way for innovative interventions targeting cognitive processes rather than just symptoms. By understanding these differences, researchers hope to develop more precise and effective strategies for managing stimulant abuse in high-risk populations.
What evidence suggests that this decision task is effective for understanding substance use disorders and psychopathy?
Research has shown that people with stimulant use disorder often struggle with decision-making due to changes in brain function, which affect how they evaluate choices and consequences. This trial will assess participants using decision-making tasks to highlight these cognitive issues. For example, individuals who use methamphetamine (a type of stimulant) frequently make decisions without properly considering risks and rewards. Understanding these patterns can help predict the likelihood of relapse. Overall, decision-making tasks offer a promising approach to understanding and addressing the cognitive challenges in stimulant abuse.678910
Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?
Inclusion Criteria
Timeline for a Trial Participant
Screening
Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial
MRI Procedure
Participants undergo anatomical and functional MRI scanning while completing multi-modal decision-making tasks
Follow-up
Participants are monitored for relapse to stimulant use and antisocial behavior post-release
What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?
Interventions
- Decision task
How Is the Trial Designed?
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Treatment groups
Experimental Treatment
Find a Clinic Near You
Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?
The Mind Research Network
Lead Sponsor
Citations
Decision-making task performance and patterns of ...
Chronic MA use leads to compulsive intake, intense cravings and inability to limit intake (Scott et al., 2007). Research on people with MA use disorder shows ...
Reduced brain connectivity underlying value-based ...
Patients with stimulant use disorder (SUD) show impairments when making value-based choices that are associated with disruptions in neural processing across ...
Decision-making Processes as Predictors of Relapse and ...
In an individual with a substance use disorder, the decision to use a drug following treatment would appear to reflect a deficit in the appropriate assessment ...
Decision-Making by Patients With Methamphetamine Use ...
Pretesting with a decision-making task, such as the IGT, may help in matching cognitive therapies to clients with MA Use Disorder. Introduction.
Modulation of dlPFC function and decision-making ...
Prior studies have compared the application of these two models in assessing decision-making in patients with amphetamine use disorder [38].
Callous-Unemotional Traits Modulate Brain Drug Craving ...
This investigation tested hypotheses about differences in the neural responses associated with drug craving among high-risk young offenders.
Social decision-making in highly psychopathic offenders
Analyses revealed that individuals higher on psychopathic traits only had a slightly stronger tendency to endorse utilitarian decisions and to inflict harm on ...
A novel cost-benefit decision-making task involving cued ...
In humans, stimulant drug use is associated with blunted neural responses to monetary loss in gambling tasks [27, 28]. In rodents, prolonged.
Decision-making in stimulant and opiate addicts ...
These results suggest that some decision-making deficits persist in protracted abstinence and may be mediated by different mechanisms in opiate and stimulant ...
Effects of methamphetamine on human effort task ...
Stimulant drugs increase objective indices of reward-related behavior, including willingness to expend effort for reward, and also produce ...
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