Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit (CPU)
The CPU researches how drugs act on the brain to influence human cognition, behaviour and emotion. Using classic behavioural and neuropsychological tools as well as psychophysiological recordings and neuroimaging, we study the short- and long-term effects of drugs used medically and those used 'recreationally'. Although we take a wide variety of perspectives, one main current focus is on the links between drugs and schizophrenic-like symptoms, assessing effects of drugs like ketamine and cannabis in healthy people and in those who use these drugs regularly. We are also currently researching how opiates and alcohol influence the interaction between emotion and cognition. A key question our work aims to address is: why some individuals are more vulnerable than others to the harmful effects of drugs?
