Name of Project: Brain Changes in Drug Dependence:
Clinical Implications
Principal Investigator: Thomas Newton, M.D.
Funding Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
(NIDA)
Funding Period: July 1999-June 2004.
Scope of Project: The prevalence of amphetamine
abuse and dependence
has increased dramatically in Western states, particularly
in California. The increasing prevalence of abuse has
focused attention on the neuropsychiatric sequelae of
stimulant dependence, both as a medical concern and
because of potential effects on treatment outcome. The
effects of amphetamines, including amphetamine and
methamphetamine (MeAmp), on the central nervous
system have been studied extensively in animals, but
studies of the effects of MeAmp on humans are extremely
limited. A critically important related question is whether
MeAmp-related brain changes alter the subjective and
physiologic responses in humans to MeAmp. We address
these questions by studying MeAmp-dependent subjects
using PET and 11CWIN35,428 (WIN, a probe for the
dopamine transporter DAT) and 18FDG, a measure of
brain metabolic activity. Non-treatment-seeking subjects
will then enter the human pharmacology laboratory at
UCLA. Analysis will determine (1) the availability of the
DAT in MeAmp dependence in humans and (2) the
association between brain metabolic activity and
subjective and physiologic responses to MeAmp
challenge.
For more information, contact Thomas
Newton.
Last updated - 08/07/2003
Last reviewed - 08/4/03