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SUMMARY:Impulsivity and neurocognitive functioning in substance addiction 
 - Antonio Garcia (Department of Clinical Psychology & Institute of Neurosc
 ience\, University of Granada)
DTSTART:20091116T160000Z
DTEND:20091116T173000Z
UID:TALK20499@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Mandy Carter
DESCRIPTION:Both animal and human neuropsychological models suggest that a
 ddiction is characterized by alterations in two complementary systems: (i)
  the impulsive system\, which promotes rapid\, unplanned\, strongly automa
 tized drug-seeking responses\; and (ii) the reflective-executive system\, 
 which fails to exert context-mediated inhibitory control over these respon
 ses\, thus neglecting more adaptive goals. Nonetheless\, the study of the 
 link between impulsivity and human addiction raises important research cha
 llenges\, including: (i) the fact that impulsivity is a poorly understood 
 mulfaceted construct that can be approached from very different views with
 in personality and neuropsychology\; (ii) the fact that altered impulse co
 ntrol may both predate drug use initiation and result from drug exposure\;
  and (iii) the fact that emotional states play a key but neglected role on
  the association between impulsivity and addiction. Here I will present re
 sults from a number of studies using neuropsychological and personality me
 asures of impulsivity in samples of cannabis\, psychostimulant and opioid 
 polysubstance abusers. These studies provide empirical evidence of altered
  performance of different groups of drug abusers on a number of neuropsych
 ological measures of impulsivity (including response inhibition\, delay-di
 scounting\, reflection impulsivity and decision-making paradigms)\, and of
  the link between emotional states\, impulsive behavior and severity of ad
 diction\; negative emotion-driven impulsivity importantly predicts the sev
 erity of alcohol and drug use\, employment\, legal and social problems in 
 polysubstance abusers. These results can be understood in terms of a somat
 ic-marker model of addiction\, which propose that developmentally or drug-
 shaped altered emotional signaling contribute to impulsive decision-making
  in drug abusers. 
LOCATION:Department of Experimental Psychology Seminar Room
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