A Study of Neural Circuit Responses to Catechol-O-methyl Transferase (COMT) Inhibitors
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2018-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
In this study, we seek to understand the effects of tolcapone, an FDA-approved COMT
inhibitor, on reward choice and response inhibition, two measures we have previously shown to
be altered in subjects with alcoholism. We now plan to test the hypothesis that COMT
regulation of cortical dopamine levels is critical for regulation financial choices.
Specifically, we propose that the lower levels of cortical dopamine present in individuals
with the val158val COMT genotype reduces the inhibitory effect of frontal cortical areas on
impulsive choice; an idea that extends previous hypotheses about the negative consequences of
decreased prefrontal dopamine levels on inhibitory control. Moreover, this hypothesis
suggests that inhibiting COMT may slow the degradation of dopamine and thereby decrease
impulsivity.
Phase:
N/A
Details
Lead Sponsor:
University of California, San Francisco
Collaborators:
United States Department of Defense University of California, Berkeley