Addiction Psychiatry

Biography

Michio Nomura, Ph.D., is Associate Professor at the Kyoto University. He graduated from the Faculty of Technology at the Nagoya University. He contributed to the identified neural mechanisms of processing subliminally presented emotional stimuli with fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) when he was a graduate student at Nagoya University. He began research on the molecular mechanisms of the brain reward system, including serotonergic systems, at Nagoya University in 2002 and continued this research at Hiroshima University (2008-2010) and the Kyoto University (2010-present). He has served as an Executive Member of the Japanese Society of Neuropsychopharmacology (JSNP) since 2009. He was awarded the Japanese Brain Science Society Young Investigator Award in 2007, the CINP Presentation Award from the JSNP in 2010, and 2011. He serves as Academic Editor of several journals, including Frontiers in Integrative Physiology, Frontiers in Psychology and Interdisciplinary Education and Psychology.

 

 

Abstract

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can modulate mind wandering, which is a shift in the contents of thought away from an ongoing task and/or from events in the external environment to self-generated thoughts and feelings. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated the causal relationships among tDCS, stimulation-induced directed connection alterations within the DMN, and is part of the default mode network (DMN) that enables modulation of the internal mind wandering, perhaps facilitating rumination about drug use in addicted participants (Naqvi and Bechara, 2010). The anodal tDCS on the right IPL decreased the afferent connections of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) from the right IPL and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Furthermore, mediation analysis revealed that the changes in the connections from the right IPL and mPFC correlated with the facilitation and inhibition of mind wandering, respectively. These effects are the result of the heterogeneous function of effective connectivity: the connection from the right IPL to the PCC inhibits mind wandering, whereas the connection from the mPFC to the PCC facilitates mind-wandering.  Then I will present the function of different styles of meditation, Focused Attention meditation (FA) and Open Monitoring meditation (OM). We found that FA and OM would are associated with different functional connectivity between the striatum and DMN regions. Finally, I will summarize the emerging body of knowledge that suggests the benefits of mindfulness meditation on treating addiction, and different types of meditation exercises.