Improving mood to help decision-making in adults recovering from methamphetamine use
Official title: Modulating explore-exploit biases by improving mood in adults with amphetamine use disorder
Funded at Laureate Institute for Brain Research · NIH-11145212 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses positive personal memory recall to lift mood and help adults recovering from methamphetamine use make better, less drug-focused choices.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Laureate Institute for Brain Research NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Tulsa, United States) |
| Project start | September 15, 2017 |
| Project end | June 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $249,759 |
| NIH project number | 5P20GM121312-08 |
| Project ID | NIH-11145212 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults (21+) who are currently abstinent from methamphetamine and have a history of methamphetamine use disorder would be the intended participants.
✕Less likely to help
People who are not abstinent, who have active heavy use of other substances, or who have severe uncontrolled psychiatric or medical conditions may not benefit or be eligible.
What this research studies
If you are an adult who is abstinent from methamphetamine, researchers will ask you to recall positive personal memories to try to improve your mood. While you do decision-making tasks, including a three-arm bandit game and a reinforcement-learning task, the team will measure your choices and brain activity using fMRI. The study focuses on brain areas linked to mood and decision-making, such as the insula, anterior cingulate, and striatum. The goal is to see whether better mood leads to more balanced exploration of choices and fewer drug-focused decisions.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could help people in recovery make healthier choices and lower the chance of relapse by improving mood-driven decision-making.
How similar studies have gone: Memory-based mood interventions have shown promise for improving mood and decision-making in other conditions like depression, but applying this approach to methamphetamine recovery with fMRI measurements is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Laureate Institute for Brain Research
Tulsa, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Gueguen, Maëlle Camille Marie — Laureate Institute for Brain Research
- Study coordinator: Gueguen, Maëlle Camille Marie
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.