Role of Pavlovian mechanisms for control over substance use (TRR 265, Project B03))

funded by DFG grant 402170461 [TRR 265]

Project Summary

Individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) have to cope with drug-related cues and contexts, which can affect instrumental drug seeking as shown with Pavlovian to instrumental transfer (PIT) paradigms in animals and humans. During the first funding period, we investigated the impact of acute and chronic stress on PIT and how PIT it is associated with cognitive control abilities. Moreover, we developed a novel full transfer task that allows assessing both, general and specific PIT to investigate whether specific PIT differs between alcohol use disorder (AUD) and control subjects.

In the second funding period, our project aims to accomplish several objectives related to PIT in individuals with SUD. Work package 1(WP1) will investigate how much of our understanding of PIT mechanisms can be generalized to other drugs of abuse, especially to cannabis and stimulants (e.g. methamphetamine) and how this can be compared to alcohol. WP2 will investigate how experimentally induced social exclusion impacts alcohol-specific and general PIT effects in participants with AUD and control participants. WP3 will examine whether PIT reflects more a controlled goal-directed process, or a more automatic, habitual process. WP4 will develop a PIT task that is suitable for repeated assessment to study how Pavlovian mechanisms influence the acquisition of instrumental behavior. Lastly, WP5 intends to create a gamified task that can be used for repeated PIT assessments via smartphone.

Principle Investigators

Prof. Dr. Dr. Andreas Heinz, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Prof. Dr. Maximilian Pilhatsch, Technische Universität Dresden
Prof. Dr. Michael N. Smolka, Technische Universität Dresden

Staff

Dr. rer. nat. Hao Chen, Technische Universität Dresden
M.Sc. Julia Göstl, Technische Universität Dresden

Key Publications

Belanger MJ, Chen H, Hentschel A, Garbusow M, Ebrahimi C, Knorr FG, Zech HG, Pilhatsch M, Heinz A & Smolka MN (2022) Development of novel tasks to assess outcome-specific and general pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer in humans. Neuropsychobiology 81(5):370-86. https://doi.org/10.1159/000526774
Chen H, Belanger MJ, Garbusow M, Kuitunen‐Paul S, Huys QJ, Heinz A, Rapp MA & Smolka MN (2023) Susceptibility to interference between pavlovian and instrumental control predisposes risky alcohol use developmental trajectory from ages 18 to 24. Addiction biology 28(2):e13263. https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.13263
Chen H, Nebe S, Mojtahedzadeh N, Kuitunen‐Paul S, Garbusow M, Schad DJ, Rapp MA, Huys QJ, Heinz A & Smolka MN (2021) Susceptibility to interference between pavlovian and instrumental control is associated with early hazardous alcohol use. Addiction biology 26(4):e12983. https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.12983
Chen K, Schlagenhauf F, Sebold M, Kuitunen-Paul S, Chen H, Huys QJ, Heinz A, Smolka MN, Zimmermann US & Garbusow M (2023) The association of non–drug-related pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer effect in nucleus accumbens with relapse in alcohol dependence: A replication. Biological psychiatry 93(6):558-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.09.017
Garbusow M, Ebrahimi C, Riemerschmid C, Daldrup L, Rothkirch M, Chen K, Chen H, Belanger MJ, Hentschel A & Smolka MN (2022) Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer across mental disorders: A review. Neuropsychobiology 81(5):418-37. https://doi.org/10.1159/000525579

Link

FP1 - Domain B: Collaborative Research Centre TRR 265: Losing and Regaining Control over Drug Intake

FP2 - Domain B: Collaborative Research Centre TRR 265: Losing and Regaining Control over Drug Intake