Descrizione del progetto
Modellizzazione dei cannabinoidi: impatto sul cervello e sul corpo
Esistono prove scientifiche significative del fatto che i cannabinoidi influiscono sul nostro cervello e sul nostro corpo e aiutano a trattare disturbi dell’umore, dipendenze, dolore e affaticamento cronici e malattie infiammatorie. Si sa però ben poco di come questi composti influiscono sui processi neurali o alla base delle sensazioni consapevoli di emozione, dolore o motivazione. Il progetto CANNABODIES, finanziato dall’UE, svilupperà un nuovo quadro interocettivo di auto-inferenza, studiando i meccanismi computazionali con cui i cannabinoidi influiscono su ognuno di questi domini. In particolare, svelerà le base computazionali degli effetti dei cannabinoidi sul cervello e sul comportamento e metterà a fuoco i precisi effetti fenomenologici di questi farmaci.
Obiettivo
The world is in the midst of a cannabis craze. After decades of criminalization, cannabinoids such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are suddenly everywhere – in new medicines, in the media, and even in food and cosmetics. But how do cannabinoids influence our brain and body? Much of what we currently know about these compounds comes from neurobiological studies of the endocannabinoid system in animals. Additionally, clinical research suggests that cannabinoids offer promising new treatments for mood and affective disorders, addiction, chronic pain and fatigue, and inflammatory illnesses. However, little is known about how these compounds influence the neural or embodied processes which underlie conscious feelings of emotion, pain, or motivation. This not only limits our ability to design effective cannabinoid-based treatments, but also to negotiate the rising influence of cannabis in our society. To address this gap, in this project I will develop a novel interoceptive self-inference framework which explains how cannabinoids alter the neural mechanisms underlying our embodied and affective selves. To do so, I will use a combination of computational modelling, neuroimaging, subjective measures, and physiological recordings to map the influence of cannabinoids on brain-body interaction in four key psychological domains: interoception, emotion, motivation, and pain. This will enable me to reveal the computational mechanisms by which cannabinoids influence each of these domains. Further, by pooling data across all projects, I will deliver the largest single neuroimaging study of cannabinoid mechanisms to date.
This project will answer questions such as: what is the computational basis of cannabinoid effects on brain and behavior? Do THC and CBD exert opposing or complementary effects on neural and visceral signals? What are the exact phenomenological effects of these drugs, and do they depend on idiosyncrasies in brain-body dynamics?
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-STG - Starting GrantIstituzione ospitante
8000 Aarhus C
Danimarca