The lab’s research currently focuses on the following areas and questions, with the majority of studies spanning two or more areas. Scoll to the bottom for the methodological approaches we use to address these questions.
Reward Cues and Cue Reactivity
Reward-paired cues can powerfully influence behavior. In people suffering from addictions, addiction-related cues (such as drug paraphernalia or casino lights and sounds) can trigger addictive behavior and relapse. My earlier work has addressed the effects of reward-paired cues on cost-benefit decision making as one candidate mechanism whereby cue exposure might translate into these harmful outcomes (Cherkasova et al JNeurosci, 2018, DOI:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1171-18.2018).
Some of our current work is continuing to examine the effects of reward cues on decision making. We also have multiple projects focused on cue-reactivity, which employ a variety of approaches including, behavioral experiments addressing individual differences, EEG, TMS and fMRI.
Individual Differences in the Attribution of Incentive Salience to Cues
Cue reactivity, or amplified response to addiction-related cues, is an important predictor of the course of addictive disorders as well as relapse. However, cue reactivity is typically observed after an addiction develops. Could there also be a trait-like predisposition to attributing motivational value to cues that confers addiction vulnerability? Research in rodents tells us that there is trait-like individual variation in the tendency to attribute motivational value (incentive salience) to reward cues expressed as types of Pavlovian conditioned approach behavior (“sign-tracking” and “goal-tracking”). Animal-to-human translation of this constructs has been a major focus of the lab over the last several years, with several projects focused on Pavlovian conditioned approach behaviors in humans and their associations with addiction-relevant responses and behaviors such as cue-reactivity, risky decision making and impulsivity.
Gambling & Problem Gambling
Slot machines - whether in casinos or online - are gambling products associated with some of the most serious harms. What is it about slot machines that makes them such a risky form of gambling? Our lab’s research aims to better understand the role of slot machine design features such as reinforcement schedules and sensory reward cues (flashing lights, money imagery, and “bells and whistles”) in promoting problematic gambling patterns. This work is funded by the International Center for Responsible Gambling and is being done in collaboration with the Centre for Gambling Research at the University of British Columbia. Other related work addresses the effects of sensory reward cues on risky decision making in people with problematic gambling behaviors.
Cue-reactivity in people who smoke and/or vape nicotine
This work examines individual differences in cue-reactivity in e-cigarette users (who can also be smokers). It aims to relate sign-tracking and goal-tracking propensity (see above) to vaping and smoking cue-induced cravings, decision-making biases, and brain activity measured using EEG. Other work, supported by the WVCTSI (see below) investigates a novel method of potentially optimizing rTMS for reducing smoking cravings in people who smoke cigarettes. The ultimate goal is to increase the efficacy of rTMS as a smoking cessation treatment.
Neuromodulation
The lab is currently working on two repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) studies.
One is examining the effects of rTMS-concurrent behavioral priming on the anti-craving effects and neuromodulatory effects of rTMS. This study is supported by the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute (WVCTSI) Research Scholars Program (National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number U54GM104942).
The second study, led by Kat Muksuris, is examining rTMS to mitigate impulse control disorders induced by dopamine replacement therapy in Parkinson’s disease.
If interested in participating, please see the PARTICIPATE page.
