Erika van Hell
Position
OIO
Grants
TI-Pharma
Project/aanstelling
01-04-2007 tot 01-04-2011
Project
The role of the endocannabinoid system in psychiatric disorders and symptoms: a pharmacological MRI study.
Content
The endogenous cannabinoid system is likely to be involved in several psychiatric disorders. Cognitive domains that may be regulated by the endocannabinoid system are for example reward, memory, attention, and emotion. The aim of this study is to determine whether and how the endocannabinoid system is involved in cognition. We test this by assessing the acute effects of THC, the psychoactive constituent of THC on brain functions and the brain systems that are known to be affected in several psychiatric disorders. Five groups of patients with a psychiatric disorder (schizophrenia, depression, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or addiction) will perform functional MRI tasks to measure brain activity during cognitive tasks. This will be done under the influence of placebo as well as THC.
Collaboration within UMC Utrecht
Louk Vanderschuren, TI-Pharma partner, Matthijs Vink and Bas Neggers
Collaboration outside UMC Utrecht
TI-Pharma partners of the VU Amsterdam, UMCG, AMC, CHDR (Center for Human Drug Reserach) Leiden, Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Steve Williams, Mitul Mehta (IOP Institute of Psychiatria, King’s College, Londen)
