Intrusive drug memories and cocaine craving with Amelie Zacher and Boris Quednow

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to Dr Amelie Zacher and Professor Boris B Quednow. Amelie is a postdoctoral researcher and Boris is a professor, both from the Department of Adult Psychiatry, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland. The interview covers Amelie and Boris’s research article on drug-related intrusive memories in cocaine use disorder.

• What is an addiction memory? [01:20]
• Examples of addiction memories intruding on those with cocaine use intrusions [02:45]
• The emotions with reliving addiction memories [04:40]
• The practical importance of characterising intrusions in cocaine use disorder [06:09]
• How Amelie and Boris measured the intrusions [08:28]
• The key findings from the study [09:44]
• Existing treatments that already target intrusive memories [12:15]
• What is memory reconsolidation? [15:31]
• How far are we from implementing treatment of intrusive memories in clinical practice? [17:22]

About Tsen Vei Lim: Tsen Vei is an academic fellow supported by the Society for the Study of Addiction, currently based at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge. His research integrates computational modelling, experimental psychology, and neuroimaging to understand the neuropsychological basis of addictive behaviours. He holds a PhD in Psychiatry from the University of Cambridge and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Bath in the UK.

About Amelie Zacher: Amelie is a postdoctoral researcher in Professor Boris B Quednow’s lab for Experimental Pharmacopsychology and Psychological Addiction Research at the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich and the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Her research focuses on the intersection of addiction, trauma, and memory, particularly intrusive memories and their relationship with craving and emotional distress. Using ecological momentary assessment and experimental approaches, she investigates shared and distinct mechanisms underlying intrusive memories in cocaine use disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder, as well as the potential of memory reconsolidation-based interventions to modify these memories.

About Boris B Quednow: Boris studied psychology at the University of Bonn, Germany, and obtained his PhD in neuroscience from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. He is currently Full Professor of Experimental Pharmacopsychology and Psychological Addiction Research at the Department of Adult Psychiatry, University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland. His research focuses on understanding the neuropsychopharmacological mechanisms underlying alterations in social and non-social cognition and decision-making, impulsivity, and reward processing associated with recreational substance use and substance use disorders.

Tsen Vei, Amelie and Boris have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Original article: Substance-related intrusive memories in cocaine use disorder are different from but associated with craving https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70449

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Music provided by Jack Shakespeare.

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