Testing Brain-Based Learning and Decision-Making Differences in Adults with Opioid-Use Disorder Using a Sensory Preconditioning Task

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are studying people with opioid-use disorder OUD to understand differences in learning and decision-making, especially how they predict future outcomes based on sensory information. The study compares people with OUD who are either in treatment or abstinent, to healthy individuals without substance use disorders. The goal is to see if performance in a sensory preconditioning task differs between these groups and to explore how treatment and abstinence affect learning. Participants take part in a single session where they perform a sensory preconditioning task involving visual shapes paired with food odors delivered through a nasal tube. The task includes phases to learn associations between shapes and odors and a test to measure inference-based behavior. Participants also provide urine and breath samples and have their breathing monitored during the task. Follow-up phone calls occur 30 and 60 days later to gather information about drug use. During the visit, participants must fast for at least 6 hours and will be screened for intoxication. Researchers assess learning performance, response times, and breathing patterns related to the task. They also collect drug use data during follow-ups. The study lasts about 5 hours for the visit, with additional phone assessments. This research measures how well participants predict outcomes and how their drug use changes over time.

Outcome Inference in the Sensory Preconditioning Task in Opioid-Use Disorder