DrLouise Paterson

I am an Assistant Professor in Psychopharmacology and Psychiatry in the Division of Psychiatry and Centre for Psychedelic Research. My research is focused on investigating brain mechanisms of addiction and relapse and aims to identify and test novel neuroscience-informed treatments through the use of neuroimaging, experimental medicine and clinical trials.

Using multi-modal neuroimaging methods to study addiction-relevant neurocircuitry such as reward, cue-reactivity, emotional processing and inhibitory control, we seek to understand mechanisms of action, and explore the impact of novel interventions with therapeutic potential. This includes traditional pharmacological therapies, psychedelic interventions, and non-invasive brain stimulation techniques including temporal interference neuromodulation.

Current studies within the Addiction Team include the FORWARDS, CUTIE, B-COG and B-CORE studies. FORWARDS is investigating the safety and efficacy of baclofen- a GABA-B receptor agonist- to support detoxification from methadone in opiate dependence, comprising two clinical trials; FORWARDS-1 is investigating the safety of acute baclofen in combination with methadone, and FORWARDS-2 is investigating the efficacy of baclofen in supporting methadone detoxification over 12 weeks. CUTIE is investigating the neural and physiological correlates of nicotine cue reactivity and their susceptibility for modulation by temporal interference (TI) brain stimulation. B-COG and B-CORE are using brain imaging and neurocognitive assessments to investigating brain mechanisms of addiction in buprenorphine-maintained opioid dependence, with a focus on emotional processing, executive function and reward sensitivity.

Current studies within the Centre for Psychedelic Research include PsilOpioid; a clinical trial investigating the feasibility, proof-of-concept efficacy and brain mechanisms of psilocybin therapy for relapse prevention in opioid use disorder, and Psilogambling; an fMRI and EEG study assessing the impact of psilocybin therapy on reward processing in gambling disorder, with a particular focus on modulation of cue reactivity.

Other studies include CURB; a trial of GLP-1 agonist semaglutide for the treatment of alcohol dependence in people with chronic liver disease and obesity, NCORE; an fMRI study investigating the impact of NK1 receptor antagonism on brain mechanisms of opiate dependence as a potential treatment for detoxification and relapse prevention; the ICCAM platform study, a multi-centre fMRI study of the neuropharmacology of substance addiction, which investigated the effects of opioid, dopamine and NK1 receptor antagonism on brain pathways involved in reward, inhibitory control and stress/emotional processing in alcohol, cocaine and opioid addiction.

I also have a keen interest in sleep, including risk factors for Sleep Disordered Breathing in opioid dependence, mechanistic exploration of sleep architecture and the impact of pharmacological interventions using polysomnography in healthy subjects, and those with insomnia, depression and undergoing deep brain stimulation.

I am Honorary Research Fellow at Central & North West London (CNWL) NHS Foundation Trust and at Change Grow Live, with whom we work in partnership to facilitate recruitment of research participants,  and ensure clinical applicability of our research. These organisations provide NHS and non-NHS drug and alcohol services in North West London and surrounding areas.

None of our research can be done without the support of our research volunteers. If you are interested in our research and would like to be involved in a study, either as a healthy volunteer, or as someone who suffers with drug and/or alcohol problems, please get in touch at l.paterson@imperial.ac.uk