Control Systems Approach to Predicting Individualized Dynamics of Nicotine Cravings

Summary

Nicotine is the most common drug of abuse in the United States, and has addiction strength comparable to cocaine, heroin, and alcohol. It is the primary addictive component of tobacco, and its use markedly increases risk for cancer, heart disease, asthma, miscarriage, and infant mortality. Addiction is thought to be caused primarily by the intersection of two components: 1) the impact of drug pharmacokinetics on the dynamics of dopamine response, and 2) dysregulation of the brain's reward circuit. While the term 'dysregulated' tends to be used qualitatively within the neuroscience literature, regulation has a precise and testable meaning in control systems engineering, which has yet to be addressed in a quantitative manner by current neuroimaging methods or models of addiction. Current approaches to neuroimaging have primarily focused on identifying nodes and causal connections within the meso-circuit of interest, but have yet to take the next step in treating these nodes and connection as a self-interacting dynamical system evolving over time. Such an approach is critical for improving our understanding, and therefore prediction, of trajectories for addiction as well as recovery.

Timeline

Start

2015-09

Primary completion

2017-06

Completion

2017-12

Publications

• Background Koob GF, Volkow ND. Neurocircuitry of addiction. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2010 Jan;35(1):217-38. doi: 10.1038/npp.2009.110.
• Background Koob GF. Addiction is a Reward Deficit and Stress Surfeit Disorder. Front Psychiatry. 2013 Aug 1;4:72. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2013.00072. eCollection 2013.
• Background Volkow ND, Fowler JS, Wang GJ. The addicted human brain viewed in the light of imaging studies: brain circuits and treatment strategies. Neuropharmacology. 2004;47 Suppl 1:3-13. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2004.07.019.
• Background Fagerstrom KO. Measuring degree of physical dependence to tobacco smoking with reference to individualization of treatment. Addict Behav. 1978;3(3-4):235-41. doi: 10.1016/0306-4603(78)90024-2. No abstract available.
• Background Heatherton TF, Kozlowski LT, Frecker RC, Fagerstrom KO. The Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence: a revision of the Fagerstrom Tolerance Questionnaire. Br J Addict. 1991 Sep;86(9):1119-27. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1991.tb01879.x.
• Background Mujica-Parodi LR, Strey HH, Frederick B, Savoy R, Cox D, Botanov Y, Tolkunov D, Rubin D, Weber J. Chemosensory cues to conspecific emotional stress activate amygdala in humans. PLoS One. 2009 Jul 29;4(7):e6415. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0006415.

Drugs

Indications