|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Director, Division of Substance Dependence
Professor, Department of Psychiatry
UCD
Department of Psychiatry
4200 E. 9th Ave., C249-35
Denver, CO 80262
Email: Thomas.Crowley@uchsc.edu
Office: 303-315-7573
Fax: 303-315-0394
|
|
Research Interests
Dr. Crowley’s group has established a program, unique in the nation, to simultaneously treat and study adolescents with substance dependence (SD) and conduct disorder (CD). These conditions, highly associated among adolescents, both reflect “behavioral disinhibition” – a failure to desist from rewarding but risky behaviors as the chance of punishing outcomes increases. Biologic, genetic mechanisms contribute to the expression of CD, SD, and behavioral disinhibition, and in a preliminary study it was found that among patients subtle variations from anatomic normality in frontal lobes and their connections. Failures to desist from risky behavior could result from biological differences in brain processing of reward, punishment, or decision-making. It is now possible to assess the behavioral disinhibition in patients with CD and SD using simple computer tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Event-related tasks designed in Dr.Crowley’s lab discriminates brain activity during decision-making, reward, and punishment.
Curriculum Vitae
Publications via PubMed
More about Substance Abuse Research
|
|
