Pillar

Pillar - Non-Invasive Identification of Craving Biomarkers (Not Open to Enrollment)

Study Basics

Are you over the age of 18 and diagnosed with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) or have an implanted Percept DBS System? If so, you may be eligible to participate in a study to identify non-invasive areas of craving in the brain.

Study Purpose

Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) are a major public health problem. Craving often comes before and motivates relapse. This study aims to use brain Electroencephalogram (EEG), MRI, and other methods to find a brain signal (biomarker) involved in craving. There is no current objective biomarker for craving and finding one could help diagnose and treat SUDs in the future. Additionally the study team will recruit participants with DBS electrodes implanted in the brain to record neural signal along with brain EEG. This will allow us to validate our methods to assess deep neural signals from scalp EEG.

Could this study be right for you?

Eligible participants are:

Cohort 1:

  • Between the ages of 18 and 55 years old  
  • Diagnosed with Substance Use Disorder (SUD)

Cohort 2:

  • Between the ages of 18 and 75 years old
  • Have an implanted Percept DBS System

What participants can expect

Cohort 1: You would be in this study for about 2-3 weeks and visit the research site at UCSF Mission Bay 2 times in addition to 1 virtual visit. During the second and third clinic visits, you will complete a series of non-invasive testing may including brain MRI, EEG, questionnaires, cognitive and behavioral tasks while wearing the EEG head web. The HD-EEG cap is a 280-channel head web that will allow the study team to see how your brain activity changes while participating in tasks.

Cohort 2: You would be in this study for about 2 weeks and visit the research site at UCSF Mission Bay once in addition to 1 virtual visit. You will be asked to complete the cognitive and behavioral tasks while wearing the HD-EEG head web. The HD-EEG cap is a 280-channel head web that will allow the study team to see how your brain activity changes while participating in tasks. Additionally, local field potentials (LFPs) from your DBS recordings will be measured while you wear the HD-EEG head web. This will allow the study team to compare the HD-EEG activity to known LFPs generated by the DBS device. 

Study participants will be compensated for their time and effort.

IRB: 24-41884 - Non-Invasive Identification of Craving Biomarkers

Learn More about HD-EEG

Contact the Research Team if you are interested in participating

Cohort 1: Study Contact Form

COHORT 2: Study contact form

Study Personnel

Khaled Moussawi, MD, PhD

Principal Investigator

 

Associate Professor in Residence in the departments of Neurology and Psychiatry at UCSF with extensive experience in substance use disorders and neuromodulation. Dr. Moussawi is board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Catherine Borror, BS, CCRP

Senior Clinical Research Coordinator

 

Catherine Borror is a Certified Clinical Research Professional (CCRP) through the Society of Clinical Research Associates (SOCRA) with experience in study design and coordination at UCSF working in the Neurology Department.

Sierra Brandts, BS

Clinical Research Coordinator

 

Sierra Brandts is a Clinical Research Coordinator with experience in neurophysiology from the University of the South. 

 

Ananya Madhusudhan

Clinical Research Coordinator

 

Ananya Madhusudhan is a Clinical Research Coordinator with experience in Biomedical Engineering from Northeastern University.

 

Ru Zhang, PhD

Assistant Researcher

 

Ru Zhang is an assistant professional researcher with a background in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. She received her PhD in mathematical and computational cognitive science from Purdue University