Project title:
Neural and cognitive studies of reward sensitivity and its influence on cognitive control performance.
Investigators:
Ms. Kathleen Charles-Walsh, Ms. Alice Crole, Ms Sophie Curtis, Ms. Rebekah Street, Dr. Daniel Upton, A.Prof. Robert Hester. School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne
Potential Participants:
We are seeking individuals who occasionally smoke cigarettes and have never smoked on a daily basis.
Project description:
The current study examines the influence of nicotine use on the ability to control responses to rewarding stimuli. We will examine how different brain areas respond during the requirement to control the impulse for reward, and the relationship between these responses and subsequent post-feedback behaviour changes. The study will include a longitudinal component to examine cigarette use at different time points.
Participation:
Participation in this project will involve three sessions on different days. There will also be a follow-up session that will occur in approximately two years to assess any changes in nicotine use.
Session one will take between 2 – 2.5 hours, located in the Redmond Barry Building at the University of Melbourne. This session will include a demographic and substance use interview and two computer-based cognitive tasks. Sessions two and three will take around 2 hours. You will complete some questionnaires and then do the cognitive tasks from session one inside an MRI scanner. The scanning sessions will take place at the Royal Children’s Hospital.
Reimbursement:
You will be reimbursed $10 per hour for your time during session one, and $20 per hour during sessions two and three. You will also receive additional payments commensurate with performance in monetary reward task conditions.
Contact:
For more information, or to volunteer to take part in the study, please contact:
Ms. Kathleen Charles-Walsh, E-mail: kathleen.charles@unimelb.edu.au
Ms. Alice Crole, Email: alice.crole@unimelb.edu.au
Ms. Sophie Curtis, Email: sacurtis@student.unimelb.edu.au
Ms. Rebekah Street , Email: rebekahstreet@gmail.com
Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne.