Home » Brain Stimulation and Psychotherapy study for Opiate Use Disorders

What we do

The research in Dr. Neacsiu's lab focuses on developing novel treatments and improving existing psychotherapies for transdiagnostic difficulties with emotions using affective neuroscience, neuro-modulation, psychophysiology and mobile technology.

Affiliations

Cognitive Behavioral Research and Therapy Program

Center for Misophonia and Emotion Regulation

Behavioral Tech

ISITDBT

Brain Stimulation and Psychotherapy study for Opiate Use Disorders

BRAIN STIMULATION AND EMOTION REGULATION STUDY FOR OPIATE ADDICTION

Duke eIRB # Pro00103230

Thank you for your interest in our study! If you would like to see if you may be eligible, please click here or read below for more information.

You might be eligible for this study if you:

  • Are between 18-55 years old
    • Are addicted to opiates

Here are some further details about the study that may interest you:

This is a study to develop novel interventions to help those who are addicted to opiates and have difficulty managing emotional experience. We are testing the combination of two successful interventions (noninvasive brain stimulation and cognitive therapy) aimed to help opiate addicted adults calm down easier after they become emotionally distressed. The study involves 3-4 visits that are 3-4 hours long. Two visits will involve an MRI scan and one will involve neurostimulation. You will be paid depending on your time and participation in different parts of the study. You may have to wait until the end of the study to be paid.

Here’s how the process goes:
Once you complete the online survey by clicking this link , you will be contacted by phone by one of our study staff. If you are eligible for the study, we’ll set up an assessment appointment for you in our clinic at Duke. When you come to Duke for the assessment, you will receive a full description of the study and choose whether or not you would like to consent to participate. If you do agree to participate, you will fill out questionnaires and speak with an interviewer. This assessment day will last between 1 and 4 hours. The interviewer will ask you about many aspects of your life, including how you cope with stress, ways in which you tend to think about yourself, and how you get along with others. We will also ask questions about your personality, intelligence, and specific mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, and substance use.

Based on that interview, we’ll make the final decision about whether or not this study is a good fit for you. If you are not eligible for the study, you will receive $10 plus a parking pass or bus pass to cover your transportation. If it is a good fit, an interviewer will ask you to describe in detail several stressful experiences and several positive experiences you have had over the past few weeks and in your lifetime. You will also be asked to write them down, review them with the interviewer, and answer some questions about them.

You will then participate in a brain imaging session. During the brain imaging session, you will be asked to think differently about some of your stressors and positive memories to modulate how intensely you feel when remembering them. Next, you will be asked to return to the research office for the neurostimulation procedure. We will then teach you how to think differently in emotional situation so it’s easier to calm down and to feel positive emotions more intensely. We will then identify the dose of neurostimulation that is safe for you using a standardized procedure, and will expose you to different types of repetitive brain stimulation. You will hear some of your stressful and positive situations played back to you using headphones and will be prompted to use cognitive restructuring to change your emotional experience while concurrently receiving different types of neurostimulation. You will then return for a follow up brain imaging session and an exit interview.

If you choose not to answer any questions you do not wish to answer. This will not affect your access to current or future health care at Duke. Your research data (answers to the online survey questions) will not be stored or be connected to any of your Duke University Health Care information. We will keep the answers to all of these screening questions as part of our research. We will destroy all identifying information such as your name and phone number at the end of the study. Only your answers to the questions, without your identifying data, will be used for research studies. This data will be kept indefinitely.

Click here to begin the online survey for the Emotion Regulation and Brain Stimulation study:

Note: If you do not have regular access to a computer or you would prefer to do these questions over the phone with one of our study staff, you may contact us directly at (919) 684-6714.

If you have any questions about participating in this study, please contact Andrada D. Neacsiu, PhD at 684-6714 or email her at andrada.neacsiu@ duke.edu.