Michael Amlung, Ph.D.
Director, Cognitive Neuroscience of Addictions Laboratory
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences,
Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine
McMaster University
Director, Behavioural Sciences Core
Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research
St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, West 5th Site
Email: [email protected]
Twitter @MAmlung @CNALabMcMaster
Curriculum Vitae
McMaster University Academic Website
Education and Professional Positions
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University and a faculty supervisor for Masters and PhD students in the McMaster MiNDS Neuroscience Graduate Program. I also serve as the director of the behavioural sciences core in the Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research (PBCAR) at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. In this role, I am responsible for ensuring that the PBCAR’s ongoing projects utilize cutting edge techniques and methods in behavioural research. Finally, I am affiliated with the Concurrent Disorders Program (i.e. individuals with co-morbid addictions & mental health disorders) at St. Joseph’s West 5th Hospital, where I provide expertise on program evaluation and other research projects.
My training is in experimental psychology and neuroscience.. Before coming to McMaster, I completed a BS in cognitive science from Indiana University and a MS and PhD in psychology from the University of Georgia where I was a Franklin Foundation Neuroimaging Fellow. I then completed a NIAAA-funded postdoctoral fellowship under the mentorship of Denis McCarthy, PhD in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri.
I currently serve as Associate Editor for Canadian Journal of Addiction and Consulting Editor for Experimental & Clinical Psychopharmacology.
Research Interests
Alcohol and drug addiction, impulsivity, behavioral economics, neuroeconomics, comorbidity between addiction and severe mental illness, neuromodulation
Summary of My Research Program
The main goal of my research program is to better understand how and why people make the choices they do, particularly in the context of substance abuse and other unhealthy behaviors. Much of my work draws on concepts from behavioral and neuro-economics – an integration of principles from psychology, microeconomics, and neuroscience – to examine the cognitive and neural bases of decision making and drug use motivation in addiction. My research involves a variety of techniques including testing participants in a simulated bar laboratory environment at the Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research and using the functional brain imaging (fMRI) facilities at St Joseph’s Healthcare Charlton Campus.
While I was in graduate school, I conducted a number of studies examining the joint roles of alcohol-related environmental cues and psychosocial stress on drinking motivation, impulsivity, and affect. I also conducted fMRI studies of impulsive decision making (delay discounting) in individuals with alcohol use disorders and cigarette smokers. Finally, I contributed to projects examining the impact of tobacco taxation policy on smoking behavior and smoking cessation motivation, neuroimaging studies of alcohol craving and demand-based decision-making, and studies examining risk factors associated with combined alcohol and caffeine use.
During my postdoc, I broadened my research expertise to include laboratory alcohol administration paradigms with the goal of understanding factors that contribute to drinking and driving. Some of my more recent work has examined how behavioral economic decision making processes (e.g., delay discounting, demand) relate to impaired driving decisions. This research has helped clarify how alcohol intoxication affects attitudes and judgments related to perceptions of dangerousness of driving after drinking and how these factors contribute to intentions to drive after drinking.
My current research projects include using structural MRI to investigate how variation in cortical thickness and brain volume relate to impulsive decision making in alcohol use disorders, I am also conducting several studies examining behavioural economic interventions for addictive disorders and impulse control among offenders in correctional settings. We recently began developing a series of studies using non-invasive neuromodulation techniques (transcranial direct current stimulation; tDCS) as a novel intervention for addictive disorders. Finally, I am collaborating on projects related to pathological use of ultraviolet indoor tanning.
Visit the Research Projects page to learn more about our ongoing work
Director, Cognitive Neuroscience of Addictions Laboratory
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences,
Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine
McMaster University
Director, Behavioural Sciences Core
Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research
St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, West 5th Site
Email: [email protected]
Twitter @MAmlung @CNALabMcMaster
Curriculum Vitae
McMaster University Academic Website
Education and Professional Positions
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University and a faculty supervisor for Masters and PhD students in the McMaster MiNDS Neuroscience Graduate Program. I also serve as the director of the behavioural sciences core in the Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research (PBCAR) at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. In this role, I am responsible for ensuring that the PBCAR’s ongoing projects utilize cutting edge techniques and methods in behavioural research. Finally, I am affiliated with the Concurrent Disorders Program (i.e. individuals with co-morbid addictions & mental health disorders) at St. Joseph’s West 5th Hospital, where I provide expertise on program evaluation and other research projects.
My training is in experimental psychology and neuroscience.. Before coming to McMaster, I completed a BS in cognitive science from Indiana University and a MS and PhD in psychology from the University of Georgia where I was a Franklin Foundation Neuroimaging Fellow. I then completed a NIAAA-funded postdoctoral fellowship under the mentorship of Denis McCarthy, PhD in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri.
I currently serve as Associate Editor for Canadian Journal of Addiction and Consulting Editor for Experimental & Clinical Psychopharmacology.
Research Interests
Alcohol and drug addiction, impulsivity, behavioral economics, neuroeconomics, comorbidity between addiction and severe mental illness, neuromodulation
Summary of My Research Program
The main goal of my research program is to better understand how and why people make the choices they do, particularly in the context of substance abuse and other unhealthy behaviors. Much of my work draws on concepts from behavioral and neuro-economics – an integration of principles from psychology, microeconomics, and neuroscience – to examine the cognitive and neural bases of decision making and drug use motivation in addiction. My research involves a variety of techniques including testing participants in a simulated bar laboratory environment at the Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research and using the functional brain imaging (fMRI) facilities at St Joseph’s Healthcare Charlton Campus.
While I was in graduate school, I conducted a number of studies examining the joint roles of alcohol-related environmental cues and psychosocial stress on drinking motivation, impulsivity, and affect. I also conducted fMRI studies of impulsive decision making (delay discounting) in individuals with alcohol use disorders and cigarette smokers. Finally, I contributed to projects examining the impact of tobacco taxation policy on smoking behavior and smoking cessation motivation, neuroimaging studies of alcohol craving and demand-based decision-making, and studies examining risk factors associated with combined alcohol and caffeine use.
During my postdoc, I broadened my research expertise to include laboratory alcohol administration paradigms with the goal of understanding factors that contribute to drinking and driving. Some of my more recent work has examined how behavioral economic decision making processes (e.g., delay discounting, demand) relate to impaired driving decisions. This research has helped clarify how alcohol intoxication affects attitudes and judgments related to perceptions of dangerousness of driving after drinking and how these factors contribute to intentions to drive after drinking.
My current research projects include using structural MRI to investigate how variation in cortical thickness and brain volume relate to impulsive decision making in alcohol use disorders, I am also conducting several studies examining behavioural economic interventions for addictive disorders and impulse control among offenders in correctional settings. We recently began developing a series of studies using non-invasive neuromodulation techniques (transcranial direct current stimulation; tDCS) as a novel intervention for addictive disorders. Finally, I am collaborating on projects related to pathological use of ultraviolet indoor tanning.
Visit the Research Projects page to learn more about our ongoing work
Questions or Comments?
[email protected]
[email protected]