Hippocampal Alteration in Methamphetamine Misuse (HAMM)
Led by Dr. Hillary SchwarbUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln
Study Overview:
This study seeks to characterize dissociable microstructural changes in the structure of the hippocampus, a part of the brain that supports memory, and associated memory deficits among individuals who use methamphetamine. The project applies high resolution neuroimaging tools and sensitive behavioral measures designed to capture and quantify the natural variability in memory performance in methamphetamine users and matched non-users.
Specific Aims:
(Aim 1): To assess disruptions in the integrity of the structure of the hippocampus and identify impairments in its substructures, in methamphetamine users using magnetic resonance elastography.
(Aim 2): To determine the impact of these methamphetamine-induced structural disruptions on hippocampal-dependent memory.
Study Sample Population:
This study will recruit 60 active methamphetamine users from the greater Lincoln community and 60 matched, non-using comparison participants.
Unique Study Procedures:
This project leverages Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) to capture microstructural changes in brain in memory-related neural structures like the hippocampus. MRE is an emerging, noninvasive technology that is sensitive to small-scall alterations in cytoarchitecture. Dr. Schwarb and her colleagues have pioneered the use of this technology to the study of cognition. This project also uses sensitive behavioral paradigms and eye tracking technology to capture the range of spared and impaired memory outcomes with methamphetamine misuse.
Long-Term Goals:
To use the detailed characterization of hippocampal changes with methamphetamine misuse from this project to assessing change over time both with continued use and/or through recovery. Predicting outcomes particularly related to community (re)integration is a primary long-term goal of this project.
Dr. Hillary SchwarbPROJECT Director
Dr. Hillary Schwarb is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. She received her Ph.D. in cognition and brain science from the Georgia Institute of Technology and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in neuroscience at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Schwarb directs the Translational Cognitive Neuroscience and Memory Lab where her team uses converging cognitive neuroscience methods to study the nature of human learning and memory and its organization in the brain in both functional and dysfunctional systems. She takes a collaborative approach to these investigations, leveraging the benefits of cross-disciplinary team-based science.