Abstract

This lecture will focus on the utility of the impulsivity and compulsivity constructs for addiction, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder OCD ), based on analyses of their neuropsychological and neurochemical basis in humans and in other species. Evidence will be reviewed for striatal and prefrontal cortical components of these potential neural endophenotypes, as well as their differential chemical modulation by the ascending arousal systems, including the monoamines and acetylcholine. Evidence will be drawn from studies using techniques ranging from functional and structural MR, positron emission tomography, selective lesions, intra-cerebral infusions and systemic psychopharmacology. These methods are used to study performance in tasks measuring different forms of impulsivity, including the stop-signal task, as well as tests of compulsivity including reversal learning and extra-dimensional set-shifting. The overall theme of the lecture is to illustrate how work in basic cognitive and behavioural neuroscience may be translated into the clinical context.

References

Everitt BJ, Robbins TW (2005) Neural systems of reinforcement for drug addiction: from actions to habits to compulsion. Nature Neuroscience 8, 1481-1489

Robbins TW (2007). Shifting and stopping: fronto-striatal substrates, neurochemical modulation and clinical implications. Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society B, 362, 917-932