ORCID Profile
0000-0001-8874-9339
Current Organisations
Monash University
,
Universidad de Granada
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Biological Psychology (Neuropsychology, Psychopharmacology, Physiological Psychology) | Psychology |
Expanding Knowledge in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences | Behaviour and Health | Application Software Packages (excl. Computer Games)
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2012
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-09-2015
DOI: 10.1111/PSYP.12516
Abstract: This study investigated the psychophysiological correlates of the subjective experience of vicarious pain that is, a spontaneous experience of pain when seeing another in pain. Forty-nine healthy, otherwise pain-free in iduals aged 18-55 years completed empathy and anxiety questionnaires and were classified into three groups: vicarious responders with high anxiety (n = 11), vicarious responders with low anxiety (n = 22), and nonresponders (n = 16). Electrophysiological recordings of heart rate variability (HRV) during paced breathing and cognitive stress (serial sevens task) were completed before participants viewed short videos of athletes in states of pain or happiness, taken from Australian League Football matches. Change in beats per minute, relative to neutral scenes, were analyzed for the first 4 s after onset of the painful or happy event. Anxious responders had lower HF-HRV than both other groups, implicating poor parasympathetic regulation specific to states of stress. Both vicarious responder groups had elevated HR at the event onset, regardless of valence. After viewing painful injuries, nonanxious vicarious responders showed sustained HR over time, anxious responders showed HR acceleration with a peak at 3 s after the injury onset, and nonresponders showed a pattern of marked HR deceleration. These findings suggest that vicarious pain in anxious responders is associated with poorly regulated sympathetic arousal via insufficient inhibitory parasympathetic activity, whereas nonanxious persons show sustained arousal. Clearly, multiple mechanisms in the central and peripheral nervous system must play a role in vicarious pain states, and the different manifestations are likely to lead to very different behavioral consequences.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 15-01-2010
Abstract: Deficits in verbal fluency associated with ecstasy use have been well established however, the mechanisms underlying this impairment have yet to be elucidated. In this study we investigated for the first time whether there was a disproportionate impairment in two cognitive subcomponents of verbal fluency: clustering (ability to generate words within the same subcategory) and switching (ability to change the subcategory). We also investigated a possible association between ecstasy use and verbal fluency in subjects genotyped for 5-HTT (5-HTTLPR and 5-HTTVNTR) and COMT (val 108/158 met, rs165599 and rs2097603) polymorphisms, in order to find a potential implication of genetic factors. Ecstasy polydrug users (n = 30) and non-ecstasy users (n = 41) were evaluated in both semantic and phonemic fluency. Results showed that ecstasy users had poorer semantic (but not phonemic) fluency performance than controls. Detailed analysis of clustering and switching performance revealed that this impairment was associated with poorer clustering mechanisms. Clustering was also modulated by the COMT rs165599 polymorphism independently of the group. A specific effect of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism on switching performance was also found, with ss carriers performing significantly worse than ls and ll carriers, suggesting a serotonin modulation of frontal-executive flexibility. Based on the impaired clustering and switching strategies observed in ecstasy users, it might be proposed that both semantic knowledge and retrieval are impaired in this population. The verbal fluency deficit in ecstasy users may be attributable to a disruption of frontal-striatal circuits directly related with the serotonin function as well as a depletion of lexical-semantic stores mediated by temporal structures.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2012
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2011
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-08-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S40429-023-00504-4
Abstract: Impulsivity is a core feature underpinning addictive disorders linked to difficulties achieving and sustaining treatment goals. Cognitive remediation is a promising adjunct intervention approach to improve impulse control in addictive disorders, although evidence is still preliminary. This review summarizes available evidence and discusses opportunities to enhance the development and delivery of future interventions. We identified six studies that delivered cognitive remediation and assessed state impulsivity in substance use disorders. There was substantial heterogeneity in the intervention ingredients and delivery approaches. We identified key opportunities to enhance future cognitive remediation studies, including (1) co-designing interventions, (2) incorporating specific impulsivity training strategies, (3) increasing opportunities to practice skills, (4) supporting skill transfer to everyday settings, and (5) demonstrating clinician compassion. Researchers should work alongside frontline clinicians and clients with addictive disorders to enhance the potential benefit of cognitive remediation interventions prior to high-quality trials.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2022
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2005
DOI: 10.1016/J.ADDBEH.2004.04.015
Abstract: Executive functioning impairments have been demonstrated following consumption of drugs of abuse. These executive impairments could play an important role on the development of the addictive process and rehabilitation of substance abusers. Recent neuropsychological models of executive functioning assume a multicomponent organization of these processes, suggesting different functions could contribute differentially to performance on executive tasks. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between severity of consumption of different drugs and neuropsychological performance on tasks sensitive to impairment in the executive subprocesses of working memory, response inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and abstract reasoning. Instruments sensitive to impairment in these four components were administered to 38 polysubstance abusers along with a severity of drug consumption interview. Multiple regression analyses were used. Results showed a differential impact of severity of MDMA abuse on working memory and abstract reasoning indices, of cocaine severity on an inhibitory control index and of cannabis on a cognitive flexibility index. Metabolic reorganization of monoamine frontal-subcortical pathways after drug exposure are proposed as possible explanations for these impairments.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 11-05-2021
Abstract: A disproportionate amount of research on impulsivity has focused on trait-related aspects rather than state fluctuations. As a result, the relationship between state impulsivity and moment-to-moment behaviour is unclear. Impulsivity is assumed to negatively affect self-control, but an alternative explanation, yet to be tested, could be that changes in state impulsivity and its homeostatic drivers influence the intensity of urges. We tested whether state impulsivity and hunger affected behaviour through a dual-process model, affecting both the experience of various urges, and self-control, using a smartphone-based experience s ling approach. We found that state impulsivity is associated with stronger urges, but we found no evidence of an association with diminished self-control. Being hungry lifies urges across different types of urges, and both hunger and late hours are negatively related to the likelihood of controlling urges. These findings imply that the influence of hunger is not limited to the food domain, and provide new insight into the role of state impulsivity in daily life.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.PSCYCHRESNS.2012.01.006
Abstract: The study of substance-abuse-related neuropsychological deficits and brain alterations may provide a better understanding of the neuroadaptations associated with addiction. In this study we investigated the association between performance on neuropsychological tests of cold and hot executive functions and regional brain metabolism. Measured with positron emission tomography (PET), in a s le of 49 substance-dependent in iduals (SDI). Neuropsychological performance in the SDI group was compared to that of a non-drug-using control group of 30 participants, and associated with two sets of PET-derived dependent measures: one based on regions of interest (examining mean uptake in selected regions), and a second based on voxel uptake measures (using Statistical Parametric Mapping voxel-based whole-brain analyses). Behavioral analyses showed that SDI had poorer performance than controls across executive function and emotion processing measures. Regression models showed that SDI's performance in "cold" executive tests (i.e., updating, inhibition and flexibility) was associated with regional metabolism in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), mid-superior frontal gyrus, superior and inferior temporal gyrus and inferior parietal cortex, whereas performance in "hot" executive functions (i.e., self-regulation, decision-making and emotion perception) was associated with DLPFC, mid-superior frontal gyrus, anterior and mid-posterior cingulate, and temporal and fusiform gyrus. These results are discussed in terms of their relevance for the understanding of cognitive dysfunction and neuroadaptations linked to addiction.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-11-2015
DOI: 10.1002/EJP.607
Abstract: Through two studies, we introduce and validate the Empathy for Pain Scale (EPS), which characterizes the phenomenology of empathy for pain, including the vicarious experience of pain when seeing others in pain. In study 1, 406 in iduals completed the EPS and Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). In the EPS, four painful scenarios (witnessing surgery, patient recovering from surgery, assault and accidental injury) were rated for 12 emotional, empathic and sensory responses. In study 2, 59 participants completed the same questionnaires and then watched and rated videos of sporting injuries. In study 1, we identified three factors of the EPS with principal component analysis, which were validated with confirmatory factor analysis: affective distress vicarious pain and empathic concern. The EPS demonstrated good psychometric properties, re-test reliability (n = 105) and concurrent validity. In study 2, we validated the EPS against empathic reactions to the pain of others as displayed in video clips depicting sporting injuries and showed that the scale has unique utility to characterize empathic reactions to pain above general trait empathy measures. Both studies showed that the affective distress and empathic concern subscales of the EPS correlated with measures of cognitive and affective empathy from the IRI, whereas the vicarious pain subscale was only correlated with the personal distress IRI subscale. The EPS is a psychometrically sound new scale that characterizes empathy for pain and vicarious pain. The EPS offers valuable insight to the phenomenological profile of the affective, empathic and sensory dimensions of empathy for pain.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 05-09-2019
DOI: 10.1080/00952990.2018.1511725
Abstract: In iduals with cocaine use disorder (CUD) often display behaviours that are paradoxically misaligned with their situation. Typical ex les include poor treatment motivation and inconsistent self-reported craving. These behaviours may reflect impairments in the awareness of one's own behaviour. We examined whether impaired self-awareness of addiction-related frontostriatal dysfunction (i.e., symptoms of apathy, disinhibition, and executive dysfunction) was associated with treatment motivation and craving. Sixty-five outpatients with CUD (57 male) and their informants (those who knew the patient well) completed parallel self and informant versions of the Frontal Systems Behaviour Scale. Self-awareness was indexed through the discrepancy between self and informant scores in the three sub-scales apathy, disinhibition and executive dysfunction. The University Rhode Island Change Assessment Scale assessed treatment motivation. Self-reported craving was assessed using a visual analogue scale. Multiple linear regression models examined associations between self-awareness and treatment motivation and craving, adjusting for sociodemographic factors and lifetime drug use. We found an inverse relationship between self-awareness of symptoms of disinhibition and treatment motivation maintenance. Although impaired awareness of disinhibition was also correlated with craving, this association was not significant after adjusting for sociodemographic factors and drug use. The apathy and executive dysfunction awareness scores were not associated with treatment motivation or craving. We show that people with lower insight into their disinhibition problems (e.g., impulsivity, mood instability) have more problems maintaining motivation when initiating treatment. Findings suggest that self-awareness interventions could be useful to prevent premature treatment dropout and improve addiction treatment outcomes.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 2013
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-01-2021
DOI: 10.1111/ADB.12999
Abstract: Meth hetamine use disorder involves continued use of the drug despite negative consequences. Such 'compulsivity' can be measured by reversal learning tasks, which involve participants learning action-outcome task contingencies (acquisition-contingency) and then updating their behaviour when the contingencies change (reversal). Using these paradigms, animal models suggest that people with meth hetamine use disorder (PwMUD) may struggle to avoid repeating actions that were previously rewarded but are now punished (inflexibility). However, difficulties in learning task contingencies (reinforcement learning) may offer an alternative explanation, with meaningful treatment implications. We aimed to disentangle inflexibility and reinforcement learning deficits in 35 PwMUD and 32 controls with similar sociodemographic characteristics, using novel trial-by-trial analyses on a probabilistic reversal learning task. Inflexibility was defined as (a) weaker reversal phase performance, compared with the acquisition-contingency phases, and (b) persistence with the same choice despite repeated punishments. Conversely, reinforcement learning deficits were defined as (a) poor performance across both acquisition-contingency and reversal phases and (b) inconsistent postfeedback behaviour (i.e., switching after reward). Compared with controls, PwMUD exhibited weaker learning (odds ratio [OR] = 0.69, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.63-0.77], p < .001), though no greater accuracy reduction during reversal. Furthermore, PwMUD were more likely to switch responses after one reward unishment (OR = 0.83, 95% CI [0.77-0.89], p < .001 OR = 0.82, 95% CI [0.72-0.93], p = .002) but just as likely to switch after repeated punishments (OR = 1.03, 95% CI [0.73-1.45], p = .853). These results indicate that PwMUD's reversal learning deficits are driven by weaker reinforcement learning, not inflexibility.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-07-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2012
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2009
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2007
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2008
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEUBIOREV.2007.11.003
Abstract: There is a longstanding association between substance-use disorders (SUDs) and the psychological construct of impulsivity. In the first section of this review, personality and neurocognitive data pertaining to impulsivity will be summarised in regular users of four classes of substance: stimulants, opiates, alcohol and 3,4-methylenedioxymeth hetamine (MDMA). Impulsivity in these groups may arise via two alternative mechanisms, which are not mutually exclusive. By one account, impulsivity may occur as a consequence of chronic exposure to substances causing harmful effects on the brain. By the alternative account, impulsivity pre-dates SUDs and is associated with the vulnerability to addiction. We will review the evidence that impulsivity is associated with addiction vulnerability by considering three lines of evidence: (i) studies of groups at high-risk for development of SUDs (ii) studies of pathological gamblers, where the harmful consequences of the addiction on brain structure are minimised, and (iii) genetic association studies linking impulsivity to genetic risk factors for addiction. Within each of these three lines of enquiry, there is accumulating evidence that impulsivity is a pre-existing vulnerability marker for SUDs.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.JSAT.2014.08.007
Abstract: Recent studies consistently indicate high rates of delay discounting in drug users, which refers to a strong tendency to devaluate delayed rewards. Many addiction treatment programs however, place high demands on the ability to postpone immediate gratification. Therefore, these programs may be particularly challenging for drug users who are disproportionally oriented towards the present, potentially leading to a drop in their treatment involvement. Still, few studies to date have looked at whether delay discounting in drug users is associated with poorer treatment motivation or shorter treatment retention (i.e., the length of stay in treatment). In the current study, we examined whether delay discounting, as measured shortly following treatment entry, was predictive of poor treatment retention among 84 substance-dependent in iduals (SDI) attending an inpatient detoxification program. In addition, we examined whether motivation for treatment would act as a mediator of this relationship. Delay discounting was predictive of shorter treatment retention and higher odds of dropping out of treatment prematurely. The effects of delay discounting on treatment retention were partially mediated by a subcomponent of treatment motivation, i.e., treatment readiness. The propensity to more steeply discount delayed rewards in drug users has the potential to become a clinically relevant behavioral marker, alerting clinicians that these clients may exhibit lower treatment readiness and are more likely to drop out of treatment prematurely. Targeting delay discounting or increasing treatment readiness in drug users with a low tolerance for delay-of-gratification may help to improve treatment retention among these in iduals.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-03-2022
DOI: 10.1111/ADB.13172
Abstract: People with Meth hetamine Use Disorder (PwMUD) spend substantial time and resources on substance use, which hinders their ability to explore alternate reinforcers. Gold‐standard behavioural treatments attempt to remedy this by encouraging action towards non‐drug reinforcers, but substance use often persists. We aimed to unravel the mechanistic drivers of this behaviour by applying a computational model of explore/exploit behaviour to decision‐making data (Iowa Gambling Task) from 106 PwMUD and 48 controls. We then examined the longitudinal link between explore/exploit mechanisms and changes in meth hetamine use 6 weeks later. Exploitation parameters included reinforcement sensitivity and inverse decay (i.e., number of past outcomes used to guide choices). Exploration parameters included maximum directed exploration value (i.e., value of trying novel actions). The Timeline Follow Back measured changes in meth hetamine use. Compared to controls, PwMUD showed deficits in exploitative decision‐making, characterised by reduced reinforcement sensitivity, U = 3065, p = 0.009, and less use of previous choice outcomes, U = 3062, p = 0.010. This was accompanied by a behavioural pattern of frequent shifting between choices, which appeared consistent with random exploration. Furthermore, PwMUD with greater reductions of meth hetamine use at 6 weeks had increased directed exploration ( β = 0.22, p = 0.045) greater use of past choice outcomes ( β = −0.39, p = 0.002) and greater choice consistency ( β = −0.39, p = 0.002). Therefore, limited computational exploitation and increased behavioural exploration characterise PwMUD's presentation to treatment, while increased directed exploration, use of past choice outcomes and choice consistency predict greater reductions of meth hetamine use.
Publisher: Socidrogalcohol
Date: 12-07-2017
Abstract: This study was aimed at designing a questionnaire for the assessment of addiction-related core beliefs and craving. The s le comprised 215 patients (85.8% males and 14.2% females) in treatment for dependence to alcohol (40%), cocaine (36.3%) and cannabis (23.7%). Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the s le. Variance, regression and factorial analyses were conducted to study the questionnaire structure and its relation with variables such as abstinence and craving. Items about drug-related beliefs yielded a four-factor structure: what patient think that they could not do without drug use, lack of withdrawal, conditions required to use drugs again, and use of drugs as the only way to feel good. Items related to craving yielded three factors: negative emotions as precipitants of drug use, positive emotions, and difficulties attributed to coping with craving. Furthermore, beliefs were more important to predict craving than abstinence time. The present questionnaire allows to assess a set of significant factors to design prevention relapse programs.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-03-2008
DOI: 10.1007/S00213-008-1110-2
Abstract: Evidence suggests that abstinent opioid users have abnormal emotional response to natural reinforcing stimuli, but little is known about the emotional response of subjects currently using heroin. Abnormal emotional experience could underlie poor sensitivity to negative events related to heroin use and reduced ability to consider alternative reinforcers to help overcome addiction. In this paper, we will assess the subjective response of current and abstinent heroin users exposed to emotionally competent positive and negative stimuli. We administered the "Clinical Instrument for Emotional Response Evaluation" (including neutral, pleasant, and unpleasant images from the International Affective Picture System) to 22 current opioid users enrolled in a clinical trial using controlled prescribed heroin and 41 abstinent opioid users enrolled in residential treatment. The dependent variable was their subjective response to the images measured with the Self-Assessment Manikin, a scale designed to rate the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) images in the three dimensions of emotion: valence, arousal, and dominance. We compared these ratings with IAPS normative values for healthy participants. Significant group x emotional condition interactions were found in the arousal dimension. Post-hoc tests showed that compared to healthy participants, both current and abstinent heroin users had greater emotional response to neutral images and lower response to pleasant images. Furthermore, current opioid users had higher emotional response to unpleasant images when compared to healthy participants and lower response to pleasant images when compared to abstinent users. Current opioid users have abnormal emotional experience, characterized by heightened response to unpleasant stimuli and blunted response to pleasant stimuli.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-2013
DOI: 10.1080/10550887.2013.854154
Abstract: The objective of this study is to explore the stability of personality dimensions in a selection of psychoactive substance abuse patients during treatment in therapeutic communities. The baseline assessment was conducted 15 to 20 days from the start of therapeutic community treatment, and the second assessment was conducted 3 months after admission. The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory III was used to assess personality dimensions. At 3 months, a reduction was observed in the mean severity scores of most personality dimensions in both patterns and clinical syndromes. Caution should be exercised when assessing and diagnosing personality disorders in a drug addict population because one must consider the presence of abuse concomitant factors that may erroneously increase the comorbidity of personality disorders and related substance abuse disorders.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-08-2017
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-017-09874-Y
Abstract: Interactions between the hypothalamus and non-homeostatic regions may contribute to explain the difficulty to lose weight in obesity, an assumption never tested in human longitudinal studies. We investigated whether the functional connectivity between the medial and lateral hypothalamus (MH and LH) and corticostriatal regions differs between in iduals with excess weight (n = 42) and normal weight (n = 39) using a seed-based resting-state approach. In addition, we examined the longitudinal association between functional connectivity and weight loss in a 3-month follow-up diet. Results showed that participants with excess weight had increased connectivity between the MH and the striatum and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, and decreased connectivity with the middle frontal gyrus, and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), as well as a decreased connectivity between the LH and the cerebellum. Decreased connectivity between the MH and the posterior part of the BNST, and between the LH and the cerebellar cortex, predicted a greater percentage of weight loss. Functional connectivity measures explained 36% of the 3-month weight change among in iduals with excess weight. We conclude that altered functional connectivity between homeostatic-hypothalamic regions and non-homeostatic corticostriatal and cerebellar regions is linked to obesity and difficulty to lose weight.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-06-2016
DOI: 10.1080/09602011.2016.1187630
Abstract: The objective of the study was to identify the potential target and effect size of goal management training (GMT) enhanced with life-logging technology compared with standard GMT on a range of possible primary outcomes reflecting cognitive and ecological aspects of executive functioning and quality of life. Sixteen patients with acquired brain injury involving executive dysfunction were randomly allocated to one of the two interventions: seven weeks of GMT (n = 8), or seven weeks of GMT+Lifelog (n = 8). Outcome measures included a battery of executive function tests, the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX) and the Quality of Life after Brain Injury scale (QOLIBRI), measured pre- and post-interventions. Within-group changes were assessed with related-s les t-tests and estimation of effect sizes. GMT+Lifelog was associated with significant changes, of medium to large effect size, in response inhibition (Stroop), multitasking (Strategy Application and Multiple Errand tests), DEX Intentionality and Positive Affect subscales and QOLIBRI Daily Life and Autonomy, subscales. GMT alone was associated with significant changes of overall quality of life. It was concluded that GMT+Lifelog holds promise to optimise the impact of GMT on executive dysfunction and quality of life.
Publisher: Royal College of Psychiatrists
Date: 08-2015
DOI: 10.1192/BJP.BP.114.152223
Abstract: In iduals with cocaine and gambling addictions exhibit cognitive flexibility deficits that may underlie persistence of harmful behaviours. We investigated the neural substrates of cognitive inflexibility in cocaine users v. pathological gamblers, aiming to disambiguate common mechanisms v. cocaine effects. Eighteen cocaine users, 18 pathological gamblers and 18 controls performed a probabilistic reversal learning task during functional magnetic resonance imaging, and were genotyped for the DRD2/ANKK Taq1A polymorphism. Cocaine users and pathological gamblers exhibited reduced ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) signal during reversal shifting. Cocaine users further showed increased dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC) activation relative to pathological gamblers during perseveration, and decreased dorsolateral PFC activation relative to pathological gamblers and controls during shifting. Preliminary genetic findings indicated that cocaine users carrying the DRD2/ANKK Taq1A1+ genotype may derive unique stimulatory effects on shifting-related ventrolateral PFC signal. Reduced ventrolateral PFC activation during shifting may constitute a common neural marker across gambling and cocaine addictions. Additional cocaine-related effects relate to a wider pattern of task-related dysregulation, reflected in signal abnormalities in dorsolateral and dmPFC.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-06-2018
DOI: 10.1111/JNC.14455
Abstract: Emerging evidence from human imaging studies suggests that obese in iduals have altered connectivity between the hypothalamus, the key brain region controlling energy homeostasis, and cortical regions involved in decision-making and reward processing. Historically, animal studies have demonstrated that the lateral hypothalamus is the key hypothalamic region involved in feeding and reward. The lateral hypothalamus is a heterogeneous structure comprised of several distinct types of neurons which are scattered throughout. In addition, the lateral hypothalamus receives inputs from a number of cortical brain regions suggesting that it is uniquely positioned to be a key integrator of cortical information and metabolic feedback. In this review, we summarize how human brain imaging can inform detailed animal studies to investigate neural pathways connecting cortical regions and the hypothalamus. Here, we discuss key cortical brain regions that are reciprocally connected to the lateral hypothalamus and are implicated in decision-making processes surrounding food.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 16-11-2011
Publisher: Socidrogalcohol
Date: 06-2012
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.JSAT.2014.01.008
Abstract: With the current review, we explore the hypothesis that in idual differences in neurocognitive aspects of impulsivity (i.e., cognitive and motor disinhibition, delay discounting and impulsive decision-making) among in iduals with a substance use disorder are linked to unfavorable addiction treatment outcomes, including high drop-out rates and difficulties in achieving and maintaining abstinence. A systematic review of the literature was carried out using PubMed, PsycINFO and Web of Knowledge searches. Twenty-five unique empirical papers were identified and findings were considered in relation to the different impulsivity dimensions. Although conceptual/methodological heterogeneity and lack of replication are key limitations of studies in this area, findings speak for a prominent role of cognitive disinhibition, delay discounting and impulsive decision-making in the ability to successfully achieve and maintain abstinence during and following addiction treatment. In contrast, indices of motor disinhibition appear to be unrelated to abstinence levels. Whereas the relationship between impulsivity and treatment retention needs to be examined more extensively, preliminary evidence suggests that impulsive/risky decision-making is unrelated to premature treatment drop-out among in iduals with a substance use disorder. The reviewed findings are discussed in terms of their clinical implications.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-08-2017
DOI: 10.1038/IJO.2017.207
Abstract: The brain reward system is key to understanding adolescent obesity in the current obesogenic environment, rich in highly appetising stimuli, to which adolescents are particularly sensitive. We aimed to examine the association between body fat levels and brain reward system responsivity to general (monetary) rewards in male and female adolescents. Sixty-eight adolescents (34 females mean age (s.d.)= 16.56 (1.35)) were measured for body fat levels with bioelectric impedance, and underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan during the Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) task. The MID task reliably elicits brain activations associated with two fundamental aspects of reward processing: anticipation and feedback. We conducted regression analyses to examine the association between body fat and brain reward system responsivity during reward anticipation and feedback, while controlling for sex, age and socioeconomic status. We also analysed the moderating impact of sex on the relationship between fat levels and brain responsivity measures. Brain imaging analyses were corrected for multiple comparisons, with a cluster-defining threshold of P<0.001, and minimum cluster size of 38 contiguous voxels. Higher body fat levels were associated with lower activation of the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and the supramarginal gyrus during reward feedback after controlling for key sociodemographic variables. Although we did not find significant associations between body fat and brain activations during reward anticipation, S1/supramarginal gyrus activation during feedback was linked to increased negative prediction error, that is, less reward than expected, in illustrative post hoc analyses. Sex did not significantly moderate the association between body fat and brain activation in the MID task. In adolescents, higher adiposity is linked to hypo-responsivity of somatosensory regions during general (monetary) reward feedback. Findings suggest that adolescents with excess weight have blunted activation in somatosensory regions involved in reward feedback learning.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2016.11.034
Abstract: Evidence indicates that substance-related cognitive biases (attentional, memory, and approach bias) contribute to the maintenance and development of substance misuse. Impulsivity has been suggested to influence how cognitive biases contribute to substance misuse, possibly by biasing incentive salience attribution processes. However, the strength and moderators of the relationship between impulsivity and substance-related cognitive biases has yet to be empirically examined. A meta-analysis using random-effects models was completed assessing 19 studies that reported a quantitative relationship between an impulsivity measure and a substance-related cognitive bias. Two-component conceptualisation of impulsivity, impulsivity measurement type, gender, and age were assessed as moderators. A small, significant positive relationship (r=0.10) was observed between impulsivity and substance-related attentional, memory, and approach biases. No moderators examined had a significant influence on this relationship. Results are consistent with incentive sensitisation theories of addiction and suggests a weak synergistic relationship between impulsivity and substance-related cognitive biases. This relationship holds across different measures and components of impulsivity. Results provide some support for the viability of impulsivity and cognitive bias interaction models which may warrant further investigation of these factors in relation to predicting addiction treatment outcomes.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-09-2012
DOI: 10.1007/S00213-011-2512-0
Abstract: Current neurobiological models of addiction posit that drug seeking is much more likely to occur during emotionally charged states (such as craving), as deficits in inhibitory control become more pronounced during heightened motivational states. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of cue-induced craving states on attention and inhibitory control within addicted in iduals. We tested the performance of 39 opiate-dependent in iduals on cognitive measures of attention (Digit Span, Digit Symbol, and Telephone Search) and inhibitory control (Counting Stroop and Go-No-Go) both before and after exposure to an autobiographical craving script. A non-drug using healthy control group (n = 19) performed the same tasks before and after listening to a relaxation tape. Following craving induction, opiate-dependent in iduals demonstrated improved performance on tests of processing speed and attentional span (consistent with the practice effect observed in controls) and increased their response errors on the Stroop task (in contrast to controls), while selective attention was unaffected. In idual differences in compulsivity mediated the association between craving and Stroop performance, such that low-compulsive (but not high-compulsive) in iduals committed more response errors after craving induction. These findings challenge the notion of cue-induced craving as a primary trigger of disrupted cognition and drug-seeking behavior in addicted in iduals, and raise the need to explore in idual differences in compulsivity when addressing the links between craving and loss of control within research and clinical settings.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-02-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-019-38846-7
Abstract: Obesity is associated not only with metabolic and physical health conditions, but with in idual variations in cognition and brain health. This study examined the association between body fat (an index of excess weight severity), impulsivity (a vulnerability factor for obesity), and brain structure among adolescents and adults across the body mass index (BMI) spectrum. We used 3D T1 weighted anatomic magnetic resonance imaging scans to map the association between body fat and volumes in regions associated with obesity and impulsivity. Participants were 127 in iduals (BMI: 18–40 kg/m 2 M = 25.69 ± 5.15), aged 14 to 45 years ( M = 24.79 ± 9.60 female = 64). Body fat was measured with bioelectric impendence technology, while impulsivity was measured with the UPPS-P Impulsive Behaviour Scale. Results showed that higher body fat was associated with larger cerebellar white matter, medial orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and nucleus accumbens volume, although the latter finding was specific to adolescents. The relationship between body fat and medial OFC volume was moderated by impulsivity. Elevated impulsivity was also associated with smaller amygdala and larger frontal pole volumes. Our findings link vulnerability and severity markers of obesity with neuroanatomical measures of frontal, limbic and cerebellar structures, and unravel specific links between body fat and striatal volume in adolescence.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 23-06-2022
Abstract: Chatbots have the potential to effect large-scale behaviour change because they are accessible through social media, flexible, scalable, and automatically gather data. Yet research on the feasibility and effectiveness of chatbot-administered behaviour change interventions is sparse. There is no guarantee that established behaviour change interventions are effective when implemented in chatbots given the unique human-machine interaction dynamics. In this pilot study, we test whether an advanced, natural language processing-based chatbot can effect behaviour change using animations embedded in conversations with users. Specifically, we evaluated whether the chatbot could increase understanding and intentions to adopt protective behaviours during the pandemic in a real world cohort. We randomised 59 participants from culturally and linguistically erse populations to three groups, receiving either a compassion intervention, an exponential growth intervention or no intervention. We measured participants’ attitudes about leaving the house for different reasons and their intentions to get tested if they experienced symptoms. We found that the chatbot reduced uncertainty about appropriate COVID-19 protective behaviours and that the exponential growth bias intervention increased participants’ likelihood of getting tested. This study provides preliminary evidence that chatbots augmented with animations can spark behaviour change, with potential for applications in erse and underrepresented groups, highlighting the need for further research on this topic.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-06-2020
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 30-10-2023
DOI: 10.2196/49892
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2024
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2011
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 06-09-2014
Abstract: High impulsivity is common to substance and gambling addictions. Despite these commonalities, there is still substantial heterogeneity on impulsivity levels within these diagnostic groups, and variations in impulsive levels predict higher severity of symptoms and poorer outcomes. We addressed the question of whether impulsivity scores can yield empirically driven subgroups of addicted in iduals that will exhibit different clinical presentations and outcomes. We applied latent class analysis (LCA) to trait (UPPS-P impulsive behavior scale) and cognitive impulsivity (Stroop and d2 tests) scores in three predominantly male addiction diagnostic groups: Cocaine with Personality Disorders, Cocaine Non-comorbid, and Gambling and analyzed the usefulness of the resulting subgroups to differentiate personality beliefs and relevant outcomes: Craving, psychosocial adjustment, and quality of life. In accordance with impulsivity scores, the three addiction diagnostic groups are best represented as two separate classes: Class 1 characterized by greater trait impulsivity and poorer cognitive impulsivity performance and Class 2 characterized by lower trait impulsivity and better cognitive impulsivity performance. The two empirically derived classes showed significant differences on personality features and outcome variables (Class 1 exhibited greater personality dysfunction and worse clinical outcomes), whereas conventional diagnostic groups showed non-significant differences on most of these measures. Trait and cognitive impulsivity scores differentiate subgroups of addicted in iduals with more versus less severe personality features and clinical outcomes.
Publisher: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Murcia
Date: 2014
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2016.02.027
Abstract: Polysubstance use is associated with alterations in different components of executive functioning such as working memory and response inhibition. Nevertheless, less attention has been given to executive planning skills, which are required to benefit of low structured interventions. This study examines the association between severity of use of cocaine, heroin, alcohol, fluid and crystallized intelligence and planning tasks varying on degree of structure. Data were collected from 60 polysubstance users and 30 healthy controls. Cognitive assessment consisted of three planning tasks with different structure levels: Stockings of Cambridge, Zoo Map test, and Multiple Errands Test. Polysubstance users had significant planning deficits across the three tasks compared to healthy controls. Hierarchical regression models showed that severity of drug use and fluid and crystallized intelligence significantly explained performance in all the planning tasks. However, these associations were higher for low-structured real world tasks. These low-structured tasks also showed a unique association with crystallized but not fluid intelligence. Drug abuse is negatively associated with planning abilities, and intelligence is positively associated with planning performance in real-world tasks.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEUBIOREV.2018.02.003
Abstract: We systematically reviewed research on cognitive training and neuromodulation interventions for reducing food craving/intake, unhealthy diet and weight, and discussed their mechanisms of action. We reviewed 50 studies involving six cognitive trainings: Approach and Attentional Bias Modification, Implementation Intentions, Response Inhibition, Episodic Future Thinking and Working Memory and four neuromodulation approaches: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) and Neurofeedback. Response Inhibition and Implementation Intentions have shown to reduce unhealthy diet and weight in people with overweight/obesity. Attentional Bias Modification has shown promising results in healthy-weight participants. Brain stimulation of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex via tDCS and the Hypothalamus via DBS showed benefits for reducing food craving and weight in people with overweight/obesity. Studies quality was generally high, but most trials were short-term and many conducted in healthy-weight s les. Modification of cognitive control and motivational processes/circuits are common mechanisms of beneficial training and neuromodulation interventions, and thus a promising approach for overweight/obesity treatment. Longer duration trials in clinical populations are needed to confirm benefits.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 04-12-2014
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 04-2014
DOI: 10.1080/08897077.2013.812544
Abstract: This study aimed to explore the association between psychiatric comorbidity and treatment outcomes in therapeutic communities (TCs). A prospective longitudinal descriptive design was used. A baseline psychopathological assessment was performed within the first 15 to 20 days of treatment in the TCs. The length of treatment stay was computed for each in idual. The study was conducted in the region of Andalusia (Spain). The participants were 218 cocaine-dependent in iduals. Psychopathological assessment was performed using the Psychiatric Research Interview for Substance and Mental Disorders (PRISM). The outcome measures were retention, defined as the time in TC treatment (number of days), and the patient's assessment upon leaving the TC. The number of psychopathological comorbidities present in the last year among the patients was high (57.8%) and was associated with a worse response to treatment ( P =.004). The patients with co-occurring psychiatric disorders had a decreased probability of remaining in the TCs compared with patients who only presented with substance use disorders (hazards ratio = 1.61). Psychiatric comorbidity predicts cocaine-dependent in iduals’ likelihood of remaining in residential treatment.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 21-04-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2013.04.031
Abstract: Based on previous evidence of a MAOA gene*cocaine use interaction on orbitofrontal cortex volume attrition, we tested whether the MAOA low activity variant and cocaine use severity are interactively associated with impulsivity and behavioral indices of orbitofrontal dysfunction: emotion recognition and decision-making. 72 cocaine dependent in iduals and 52 non-drug using controls (including healthy in iduals and problem gamblers) were genotyped for the MAOA gene and tested using the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, the Iowa Gambling Task and the Ekman's Facial Emotions Recognition Test. To test the main hypothesis, we conducted hierarchical multiple regression analyses including three sets of predictors: (1) age, (2) MAOA genotype and severity of cocaine use, and (3) the interaction between MAOA genotype and severity of cocaine use. UPPS-P, Ekman Test and Iowa Gambling Task's scores were the outcome measures. We computed the statistical significance of the prediction change yielded by each consecutive set, with 'a priori' interest in the MAOA*cocaine severity interaction. We found significant effects of the MAOA gene*cocaine use severity interaction on the emotion recognition scores and the UPPS-P's dimensions of Positive Urgency and Sensation Seeking: Low activity carriers with higher cocaine exposure had poorer emotion recognition and higher Positive Urgency and Sensation Seeking. Cocaine users carrying the MAOA low activity show a greater impact of cocaine use on impulsivity and behavioral measures of orbitofrontal cortex dysfunction.
Publisher: Colegio Oficial de Psicologos de Madrid
Date: 2015
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-11-2006
DOI: 10.1007/S00213-006-0632-8
Abstract: Structure of executive function was examined and we contrasted performance of substance dependent in iduals (polysubstance users) and control participants on neuropsychological measures assessing the different executive components obtained. Additionally, we contrasted performance of polysubstance users with preference for cocaine vs heroin and controls to explore possible differential effects of the main substance abused on executive impairment. Two groups of participants were recruited: abstinent polysubstance users and controls. Polysubstance users were further sub ided based on their drug of choice (cocaine vs heroin). We administered to all participants a comprehensive protocol of executive measures, including tests of fluency, working memory, reasoning, inhibitory control, flexibility, and decision making. Consistent with previous models, the principal component analysis showed that executive functions are organized into four separate components, three of them previously described: updating, inhibition, and shifting and a fourth component of decision making. Abstinent polysubstance users had clinically significant impairments on measures assessing these four executive components (with effect sizes ranging from 0.5 to 2.2). Cocaine polysubstance users had more severe impairments than heroin users and controls on measures of inhibition (Stroop) and shifting (go/no go and category test). Greater severity of drug use predicted poorer performance on updating measures. Executive functions can be fractionated into four relatively independent components. Chronic drug use is associated with widespread impairment of these four executive components, with cocaine use inducing more severe deficits on inhibition and shifting. These findings show both common and differential effects of two widely used drugs on different executive components.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 05-08-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.08.01.21261454
Abstract: Meth hetamine use disorder (MUD) is associated with executive dysfunctions, which are linked with poorer treatment outcomes including earlier drop out and relapse. However, current treatments for MUD do not address executive functions. Goal Management Training (GMT) is an evidence-based cognitive remediation program for executive dysfunction but required modifications to enhance its relevance and application within addiction treatment settings. This study aimed to 1) tailor GMT to the key cognitive deficits and typical treatment duration of MUD 2) explore consumers’ (people with MUD) engagement with the revised program 3) implement a protocol of the program with consumers and 4) present the manualised standard administration to clinical service providers. We followed the Medical Research Council Complex Interventions Framework and employed an evidence- and person-based intervention development process. We used a four-phased approach and collaborated with neuropsychology experts, design researchers in healthcare, consumers with MUD, and clinical service providers. Each aim was addressed in a separate study phase including content refinement and review with neuropsychology experts (phase 1), intervention design and collaboration with consumers (phase 2), prototype development and review with consumers (phase 3), and final program modifications and review with clinical stakeholders (phase 4). Findings from phase 1 indicated support for targeting four cognitive processes (attention, impulse control, goal setting, and decision-making). Key feedback included the need to help habitualise program strategies and guide consumers in applying them in emotionally salient situations. Findings from phases 2 and 3 indicated consumer support for the program strategies and materials but highlighted the need to further enhance the personal relevance of specific content and journal activities. Findings from phase 4 provided overall clinical support for the revised program but indicated an opportunity to minimise unintended effects. We present the intervention materials for the revised program, Goal Management Training + (GMT + ), in line with TIDieR guidelines. GMT + targets tailored cognitive processes, includes reimagined materials and activities, and is sensitive to the clinical needs of people with MUD. Our intervention development process was important for informing the training components, design and intervention materials, and indicating initial acceptability prior to conducting a clinical trial.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2016.09.023
Abstract: Cocaine dependence has been associated with alterations in the brain's white matter integrity, yet relevant questions remain about what alterations are linked to cocaine use and/or polysubstance use, and whether they are amenable to abstinence. This study applied a single measurement session of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to examine white matter structure in male cocaine polysubstance users (n=37) versus male healthy controls (n=38), along with correlations between DTI measures and patterns of polysubstance use and duration of abstinence. Specifically, we conducted voxel-wise analyses of fractional anisotropy (FA) in the corpus callosum, frontolimbic, striatal and cingulate tracts relevant to drug sequelae. Cocaine polysubstance users, compared to controls, showed lower FA in the body of the corpus callosum, anterior cingulate, uncinate fasciculus and retrolenticular part of the internal capsule. Duration of cocaine use had a marginal negative association with FA in the corpus callosum, and duration of alcohol use was negatively associated with FA in the internal capsule and the uncinate fasciculus. Duration of cocaine abstinence was positively correlated with FA in the uncinate fasciculus, posterior cingulate and fornix-striatum. In the context of cocaine polysubstance use, chronicity of cocaine use is therefore likely to be associated with lower FA in the corpus callosum, and chronicity of alcohol use with lower FA in the frontal-striatal and frontal-limbic tracts. Longer abstinence was correlated to greater FA in frontal-striatal and frontal-limbic tracts, though the direction of causality remains unclear. Since the results did not survive multiple comparison-corrected thresholds, more studies are needed to confirm these indications.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.PSYCHRES.2012.07.043
Abstract: This is a cross-sectional study of 227 cocaine dependent in iduals in six different therapeutic communities (TCs) within a single treatment network in Andalusia (Spain). The primary aim of the study is to examine the prevalence of lifetime psychiatric comorbidity in this s le using the Psychiatric Research Interview for Substance and Mental Disorders (PRISM). Diagnoses were assessed 15-20 days after admission. The data indicate that more than 65% of the s le experienced a lifetime co-occurring psychiatric comorbidity. Substance-induced mood (21.6%) and psychotic (11.5%) disorders were more prevalent in this population than independent mood (12.3%) and psychotic (7.5%) disorders. These data suggest the need to introduce changes in these centers, both in the diagnostic aspects and in the treatment programs.
Publisher: Akademiai Kiado Zrt.
Date: 09-01-2019
Abstract: Online social networking sites (SNSs) like Facebook provide users with myriad social rewards. These social rewards bring users back to SNSs repeatedly, with some users displaying maladaptive, excessive SNS use. Symptoms of this excessive SNS use are similar to symptoms of substance use and behavioral addictive disorders. Importantly, in iduals with substance use and behavioral addictive disorders have difficulty making value-based decisions, as demonstrated with paradigms like the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) however, it is currently unknown if excessive SNS users display the same decision-making deficits. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between excessive SNS use and IGT performance. We administered the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS) to 71 participants to assess their maladaptive use of the Facebook SNS. We next had them perform 100 trials of the IGT to assess their value-based decision making. We found a negative correlation between BFAS score and performance in the IGT across participants, specifically over the last block of 20 trials. There were no correlations between BFAS score and IGT performance in earlier blocks of trials. Our results demonstrate that more severe, excessive SNS use is associated with more deficient value-based decision making. In particular, our results indicate that excessive SNS users may make more risky decisions during the IGT task. This result further supports a parallel between in iduals with problematic, excessive SNS use, and in iduals with substance use and behavioral addictive disorders.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 22-03-2016
Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.
Date: 2006
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-10-2009
DOI: 10.1080/13803390902758793
Abstract: We administered a multidimensional measure of trait impulsivity (the UPPS-P impulsivity scale Cyders et al., 2007) to a nonclinical s le of 155 in iduals and selected 32 participants at the two ends of the trait impulsivity continuum: high (HI, n = 15) and low (LI, n = 17) impulsive women. We further tested these extreme groups on neuropsychological measures of motor impulsivity (go/no-go, d2), delay discounting (Now or Later Questionnaire), reflection impulsivity (Matching Familiar Figures Test), self-regulation (Revised-Strategy Application Test), and decision making (Iowa Gambling Task). High-trait-impulsivity women were found to commit more commission errors in the initial stage of the go/no-go task but also to make fewer omission errors in the d2 test than did low-trait-impulsivity women. Both effects can be accounted for by a lower response criterion in impulsive women. On the other hand, measures of delay discounting, reflection impulsivity, self-regulation, and decision making did not yield significant differences between the two groups. This pattern of results supports the idea that trait impulsivity in healthy women is linked to neurocognitive mechanisms involved in response monitoring and inhibition, but not to mechanisms involved in self-regulation or decision making. These findings temper the assumption that impulsivity is the core cause of dysfunctional risky and/or impulsive behavior in psychopathological or neuropsychological profiles.
Publisher: S. Karger AG
Date: 28-08-2012
DOI: 10.1159/000339290
Abstract: b i Background/Aims: /i /b Common and long-lasting deficits in decision-making in polysubstance-dependent alcoholics (PSA) reflect neurobiological alterations that define the chronic nature of addiction. These deficits affect goal-directed behavior and might be critical risk factors predicting relapse in PSA. b i Methods: /i /b The Delay Discounting Task (DDT) and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) assessed the delay-discounting and decision-making skills among 37 abstinent PSA. b i Results: /i /b The findings indicated that IGT but not DDT performances were associated with 3-month abstinence, irrespective of the influence of personality traits and coexistent medications. b i Conclusion: /i /b The results show that the IGT, which assesses processes that are important in the latter stages of addiction, is ecologically more valid compared to the DDT, which assesses processes important in the early stages. They underline the importance of using neurocognitive measures to identify high relapse risk patients and emphasize the relevance of promoting new treatments.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-05-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.ADDBEH.2014.06.001
Abstract: Cocaine addiction and pathological gambling are commonly associated with steeper (impulsive) discounting of delayed rewards, which promotes ongoing drug and gambling behaviors. However, it is yet unclear whether impulsive delay discounting is a stable trait in cocaine and gambling disorders during abstinence, and whether it is significantly impacted by dysfunctional personality beliefs. The aim of this study was to compare the delay discounting rates of four groups: 47 cocaine users with comorbid personality disorders, 41 cocaine users without psychiatric comorbidities, 28 pathological gamblers without psychiatric comorbidities, and 36 healthy comparison in iduals. We also examined the association between dysfunctional personality beliefs and delay discounting rates. Participants completed the Kirby Delay Discounting Questionnaire and the Beck Personality Belief Questionnaire as part of a larger battery. We used non-parametric tests to compare discounting rates between the groups, and bivariate correlation analyses to examine the association between beliefs and discounting rates within each of the groups. We found that discounting rates were significantly higher in in iduals with disordered gambling compared to controls. Specifically in cocaine users with Cluster B personality disorders, higher discounting rates were associated with the intensity of "dependent" dysfunctional beliefs (e.g., "I am needy and weak"). Conclusion:We conclude that impulsive delay discounting is increased in gambling relative to controls and linked to personality beliefs in cocaine users with Cluster B personality disorders.
Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.
Date: 2016
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-06-2008
DOI: 10.1007/S00213-008-1217-5
Abstract: There is important preclinical evidence of the long-lasting neurotoxic and selective effects of ecstasy (MDMA) on serotonin systems in nonhuman primates. In humans, long-term recreational use of ecstasy has been mainly associated with memory impairment. The first aim of our study was to evaluate the cognitive and electrophysiological long-term alterations associated with lifetime ecstasy use within a s le of ecstasy polydrug users along a 1-year follow-up. Our second aim was to explore the relationship between specific cognitive functions and P300 (P3) event-related potentials (ERPs) in ecstasy users. We conducted auditory P3 latency and litude and administered a battery of cognitive tests to three groups of subjects: 14 current ecstasy polydrug users, 13 current cannabis users, and 22 controls free of illicit drugs in two evaluations during 1 year. We found significant differences between ecstasy users and controls on cognitive measures of word fluency, processing speed, and memory recognition after 1-year follow-up. We found no significant differences between ecstasy and cannabis users or cannabis users and controls on cognitive tests. Lifetime ecstasy use was associated with poorer memory recognition. No group differences were shown on P3 latency or litude. Significant correlations emerged between P3 latency and cannabis lifetime use (higher cannabis use was related to faster latency, showing a paradoxical effect) but not with ecstasy exposure. Our findings provide evidence of mild long-term cognitive deficits among ecstasy polydrug users. Both ecstasy use and the dynamic interaction between ecstasy and cannabis effects may account for these deficits. No significant P3 alterations were found in ecstasy users.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2012.03.008
Abstract: The aim of this study was to compare the cognitive performance of cocaine dependent in iduals (CDI) with that of pathological gamblers (PG). Cocaine dependence and pathological gambling share neurobiological vulnerabilities related to addiction, but PG are relatively free of the toxic consequences, such that any additional deficits observed in CDI may be interpreted as pertaining to specific drug effects. We used a case-control observational design contrasting multiple measures of impulsivity (UPPS-P trait impulsivity, delay discounting) and executive measures of response inhibition (Stroop) and working memory performance (N-back) between groups of CDI (n=29), PG (n=23), and healthy controls (n=20). We conducted one-way ANOVAs, followed by planned pairwise tests and calculations of Cohen's d to estimate significant differences between the groups. CDI, as compared to PG, had elevated scores on UPPS-P Negative Urgency and poorer performance on working memory (2-back). PG had steeper delay-discounting rates. Both groups had elevated Positive Urgency and poorer Stroop inhibition compared to controls. Peak amount of cocaine use was negatively correlated with working memory and response inhibition performance. We found cocaine-related specific elevations in Negative Urgency and working memory deficits, putatively identified as cocaine neurotoxicity effects. Other aspects of impulsivity (Positive Urgency, Stroop inhibition) were increased across CDI and PG groups and may reflect vulnerability factors for addiction.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-08-2014
DOI: 10.3109/10826084.2014.935793
Abstract: Inhalant users have multiple comorbid issues (e.g., polydrug use) that complicate identifying inhalant-specific cognitive deficits. The aim of the present study was to use signal detection theory to identify inhalant-specific differences in executive control. We examined three well-matched groups: 19 inhalant users, 19 cannabis users, and 19 controls using Stroop and Go/No-Go tasks. Inhalant users demonstrated significantly lower d-prime scores relative to controls, but not cannabis users, on both tasks, suggesting possible executive deficits relative to controls. CONCLUSIONS/IMPORTANCE: The results of this study raise questions regarding inhalant toxicity and the vulnerability of the adolescent brain to drugs of abuse.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 18-10-2017
DOI: 10.1017/S1355617717001023
Abstract: Background: Substance dependence is associated with deficits in several areas of executive functioning, such as planning and multitasking. Traditional tests of executive functioning have been criticized for their low ecological validity. Shallice and Burgess (1991) developed the Multiple Errands Test (MET), where participants are required to perform multiple tasks in a real-world setting. In this study, we aimed to adapt the MET for use in populations with substance dependence. Objectives: This study aimed to: (1) examine the applicability of a contextualized version of the Multiple Errands Test, namely, the Multiple Errands Test – Contextualized Version (MET-CV) (2) study the testing context reliability and convergent validity of MET-CV scores (3) compare the performance of people with substance dependence to a control group. Methods: Data were collected from 60 participants with substance dependence and 30 healthy controls. Both groups performed a neuropsychological assessment, which consisted of the MET-CV and traditional neuropsychological tests (Letter Number Sequencing, Zoo Map Test, Revised Strategy Application Test, Information S ling Test, Stockings of Cambridge). Results: The MET-CV has adequate testing context reliability and moderate convergent validity relative to traditional planning measures. People with substance dependence (PWSD) showed significant deficits in executive function tests compared to healthy controls, most notably on the MET-CV rather than on traditional neuropsychological tests. Conclusions: The MET-CV can be feasibly applied in the context of therapeutic communities treatment in PWSD. The MET-CV showed adequate reliability and validity, and detected planning deficits in PWSD. ( JINS , 2018, 24 , 347–359)
Publisher: Annual Reviews
Date: 17-07-2016
DOI: 10.1146/ANNUREV-NUTR-071715-050909
Abstract: There is a growing view that certain foods, particularly those high in refined sugars and fats, are addictive and that some forms of obesity can usefully be treated as a food addiction. This perspective is supported by a growing body of neuroscience research demonstrating that the chronic consumption of energy-dense foods causes changes in the brain's reward pathway that are central to the development and maintenance of drug addiction. Obese and overweight in iduals also display patterns of eating behavior that resemble the ways in which addicted in iduals consume drugs. We critically review the evidence that some forms of obesity or overeating could be considered a food addiction and argue that the use of food addiction as a diagnostic category is premature. We also examine some of the potential positive and negative clinical, social, and public policy implications of describing obesity as a food addiction that require further investigation.
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 11-2011
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 16-09-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.09.13.21263407
Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health departments have issued guidelines to limit viral transmission. In this environment, people will feel urges to engage in activities that violate these guidelines, but research on guideline adherence has been reliant on surveys asking people to self-report their typical behaviour, which may fail to capture these urges as they unfold. Guideline adherence could be improved through behaviour change interventions, but considering the wide range of behaviours that COVID-19 guidelines prescribe, there are few methods that allow observing changes of aggregate guideline adherence in the ‘wild’. In order to administer interventions and to obtain contemporaneous data on a wide range of behaviours, we use ecological momentary assessment. In this preregistered parallel randomised trial, 95 participants aged 18-65 from the UK were assigned to three conditions using blinded block randomisation, and engage in episodic future thinking (n = 33), compassion exercises (n = 31), or a sham procedure (n = 31) and report regularly on the intensity of their occurrent urges (min. 1, max. 10) and their ability to control them. We investigate whether state impulsivity and vaccine attitudes predict guideline adherence, while assessing through which mechanism these predictors affect behaviour. We found that episodic future thinking ( b = -1.60) and compassion exercises ( b = -1.40) reduce the intensity of urges. State impulsivity is associated with stronger urges, but we found no evidence that vaccine hesitancy predicts lesser self-control. We conclude that episodic future thinking exercises and compassion training may be used to stimulate compliance of in iduals who are a risk for the community, such as those in voluntary self-isolation.
Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.
Date: 21-06-2020
DOI: 10.2174/1381612826666200309152321
Abstract: People with Binge Eating Disorder (BED) exhibit heightened sensitivity to rewarding stimuli and elevated activity in reward-related brain regions, including the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), ventral striatum (VS) and insula, during food-cue exposure. BED has also been associated with altered patterns of functional connectivity during resting-state. Investigating neural connectivity in the absence of task stimuli provides knowledge about baseline communication patterns that may influence the behavioural and cognitive manifestation of BED. Elevated resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between reward-related brain regions may contribute to uncontrolled eating bouts observed in BED, through heightened food-cue sensitivity and food-craving. The impact of homeostatic state on rsFC of the reward system has not yet been investigated in people with BED. Homeostatic dysfunction is a key driver of excessive food consumption in obesity, whereby rsFC between rewardrelated brain regions does not attenuate during satiety. Future studies should investigate BED related differences in rsFC within the reward system during hunger and satiety, in order to determine whether in iduals with BED display an abnormal neural response to changes in homeostatic state. This knowledge would further enhance current understandings of the mechanisms contributing to BED, potentially implicating both reward and homeostatic dysfunctions as drivers of BED.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 04-03-2014
Abstract: Sleep plays an important role in the consolidation and integration of memory in a process called overnight memory consolidation. Previous studies indicate that ecstasy users have marked and persistent neurocognitive and sleep-related impairments. We extend past research by examining overnight memory consolidation among regular ecstasy users ( n=12) and drug naïve healthy controls ( n=26). Memory recall of word pairs was evaluated before and after a period of sleep, with and without interference prior to testing. In addition, we assessed neurocognitive performances across tasks of learning, memory and executive functioning. Ecstasy users demonstrated impaired overnight memory consolidation, a finding that was more pronounced following associative interference. Additionally, ecstasy users demonstrated impairments on tasks recruiting frontostriatal and hippoc al neural circuitry, in the domains of proactive interference memory, long-term memory, encoding, working memory and complex planning. We suggest that ecstasy-associated dysfunction in fronto-temporal circuitry may underlie overnight consolidation memory impairments in regular ecstasy users.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-10-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41366-021-00974-4
Abstract: Obesity is associated with unhealthy food choices. Food selection is driven by the subjective valuation of available options, and the perceived and actual rewards accompanying consumption. These cognitive operations are mediated by brain regions including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), and ventral striatum (vStr). This study investigated the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and functional activations in the vmPFC, dACC, and vStr during food selection and consumption. After overnight fasting, 26 in iduals (BMI: 18-40 kg/m During food choice, in iduals with greater BMI had less activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex when selecting a high-value option and less vmPFC activation upon its consumption. Independent of BMI, during food choice the dACC and anterior insula elicited higher activation when a less preferred beverage was selected. Activation of the dACC and a broader frontoparietal network was also observed when deciding between options more similar in value. During consumption, receipt of a more preferred beverage was associated with greater vmPFC response, and attenuation of the dACC. An in idual's preference for a food option modulates the brain activity associated with choosing and consuming it. The relationship between food preference and underlying brain activity is altered in obesity, with reduced engagement of cognition-related regions when presented with a highly valued option, but a blunted response in reward-related regions upon consumption.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 07-2008
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.JAAC.2018.06.039
Abstract: Adolescents with excess weight are particularly sensitive to stress, which may contribute to the presence of emotional eating behaviors. It is proposed that this may be due to alterations in the connectivity between hypothalamic networks and regions of the "emotional nervous system," involved in the regulation of energy balance and stress processing. However, this remains to be clarified in adolescents with excess weight. We investigated whole-brain differences in the functional connectivity of the medial and lateral hypothalamus (MH and LH) between adolescents with excess weight (EW, n = 53 mean age = 14.64 years, SD = 1.78) and normal weight (NW, n = 51 mean age = 15.29 years, SD = 1.75) using seed-based resting-state analyses. Then, in a subset of 22 adolescents with EW (mean age = 15.75 years, SD = 1.70) and 32 with NW (mean age = 15.27, SD = 2.03), we explored for group interactions between the MH/LH networks and stress response in the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST) and emotional eating, assessed with the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEB-Q). Compared to NW, EW showed higher functional connectivity in the LH-orbitofrontal cortex, ventral striatum, anterior insula, and in the MH-middle temporal cortex networks. EW also showed lower connectivity in the LH-cerebellum, and in the MH-middle prefrontal, pre-, and postcentral gyri networks. In EW, higher connectivity of the LH-nucleus accumbens and LH-midbrain networks were associated with stress response. Higher connectivity in the LH-midbrain was also associated with a greater presence of emotional eating behaviors in EW. Adolescents with EW showed functional connectivity alterations within both MH/LH networks. Alterations in the LH network were linked with higher levels of stress response and emotional-driven eating patterns.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-11-2019
DOI: 10.1111/ADB.12830
Abstract: While imaging studies have demonstrated volumetric differences in subcortical structures associated with dependence on various abused substances, findings to date have not been wholly consistent. Moreover, most studies have not compared brain morphology across those dependent on different substances of abuse to identify substance‐specific and substance‐general dependence effects. By pooling large multinational datasets from 33 imaging sites, this study examined subcortical surface morphology in 1628 nondependent controls and 2277 in iduals with dependence on alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, meth hetamine, and/or cannabis. Subcortical structures were defined by FreeSurfer segmentation and converted to a mesh surface to extract two vertex‐level metrics—the radial distance (RD) of the structure surface from a medial curve and the log of the Jacobian determinant (JD)—that, respectively, describe local thickness and surface area dilation/contraction. Mega‐analyses were performed on measures of RD and JD to test for the main effect of substance dependence, controlling for age, sex, intracranial volume, and imaging site. Widespread differences between dependent users and nondependent controls were found across subcortical structures, driven primarily by users dependent on alcohol. Alcohol dependence was associated with localized lower RD and JD across most structures, with the strongest effects in the hippoc us, thalamus, putamen, and amygdala. Meanwhile, nicotine use was associated with greater RD and JD relative to nonsmokers in multiple regions, with the strongest effects in the bilateral hippoc us and right nucleus accumbens. By demonstrating subcortical morphological differences unique to alcohol and nicotine use, rather than dependence across all substances, results suggest substance‐specific relationships with subcortical brain structures.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 02-2009
Abstract: Patients with fibromyalgia (FM) typically report cognitive problems, and they state that these deficits are disturbing in everyday life. Despite these substantial subjective complaints by FM patients, very few studies have addressed objectively the effect of such aversive states on neuropsychological performance. In this study we aimed to examine possible impairment of executive function and decision-making in a s le of 36 women diagnosed with FM and 36 healthy women matched in age, education, and socio-economic status. We contrasted performance of both groups on two measures of executive functioning: the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), which assesses cognitive flexibility skills, and the Iowa Gambling Tasks (IGT original and variant versions), which assess emotion-based decision-making. We also examined the relationship between executive function performance and pain experience, and between executive function and personality traits of novelty-seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence, and persistence (measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised). Results showed that on the WCST, FM women showed poorer performance than healthy comparison women on the number of categories and non-perseverative errors, but not on perseverative errors. FM patients also showed altered learning curve in the original IGT (where reward is immediate and punishment is delayed), suggesting compromised emotion-based decision-making but not in the variant IGT (where punishment is immediate but reward is delayed), suggesting hypersensitivity to reward. Personality variables were very mildly associated with cognitive performance in FM women.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEUBIOREV.2016.09.030
Abstract: This systematic review aims to examine growing evidence linking cognitive-executive functions with addiction treatment outcomes, and to discuss significant cognitive predictors drawing upon addiction neuroscience theory. We conducted a systematic search to identify studies using measures of general cognition and executive functions in patients with substance use disorders for the purpose of predicting two treatment outcomes: therapeutic adherence and relapse. Forty-six studies were selected, and s le characteristics, timing of assessments, and cognitive measures were analyzed. We observed significant methodological differences across studies, resulting in substantial variability in the relationships between cognitive-executive domains and treatment outcomes. Notwithstanding this variability, we found evidence of associations, of medium effect size, between general cognition and treatment adherence, and between reward-based decision-making and relapse. The link between general cognition and treatment adherence is consistent with emerging evidence linking limited cognitive-executive resources with less ability to benefit from talk therapies. The link between reward-based decision-making and relapse accords with decision neuroscience models of addiction. Findings may inform preclinical and clinical research concerning addiction treatment mechanisms.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2006
DOI: 10.1016/J.ADDBEH.2005.11.003
Abstract: Increasing evidence indicates that substance abusers are impaired in cognitive-executive control tasks relying on different functional systems converging in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Different PFC functional systems relevant to addiction have been described: the dorsolateral (DLC), orbitofrontal (OFC), and anterior cingulate (ACC) circuits. Each system is associated with different behavioral, cognitive, and emotional deficits, including apathy, disinhibition, and executive dysfunction. In this study, we examined the effects of severity of use of different drugs on apathy, disinhibition and executive dysfunction behavioral deficits as measured by the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe). The FrSBe, and a severity of substance use interview were administered to 32 poly-substance abusers. Multiple regression analyses showed that severity of cannabis use significantly predicted greater apathy and executive dysfunction behavior and that severity of cocaine use significantly predicted greater disinhibition behavior. These results are consistent with previous studies using cognitive measures and support the notion that severity of substance use significantly affects behavioral symptoms associated with PFC systems functioning. These clinical symptoms should be specifically addressed during rehabilitation.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2012
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 17-01-2019
Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.
Date: 21-06-2020
DOI: 10.2174/1381612826666200316153317
Abstract: Unhealthy diet and alcohol are serious health problems, especially in adolescents and young adults. “Binge” is defined as the excessive and uncontrolled consumption of food (binge eating) and alcohol (binge drinking). Both behaviors are frequent among young people and have a highly negative impact on health and quality of life. Several studies have explored the causes and risk factors of both behaviors, and the evidence concludes that there is a relationship between the two behaviors. In addition, some research postulates that binge eating is a precipitating factor in the onset and escalation of excessive alcohol consumption, while other studies suggest that alcohol consumption leads to excessive and uncontrollable food consumption. Given that no review has yet been published regarding the directionality between the two behaviors, we have set out to provide an upto- date overview of binge eating and binge drinking problems, analyzing their commonalities and differences, and their uni- and bidirectional associations. In addition, we explore the reasons why young people tend to engage in both behaviors and consider directions for future research and clinical implications.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.CCT.2016.02.007
Abstract: The new and recent advances in neuroelectric and neuroimaging technologies provide a new era for further exploring and understanding how brain and cognition function can be stimulated by environmental factors, such as exercise, and particularly to study whether physical exercise influences brain development in early ages. The present study, namely the ActiveBrains project, aims to examine the effects of a physical exercise programme on brain and cognition, as well as on selected physical and mental health outcomes in overweight/obese children. A total of 100 participants aged 8 to 11 years are randomized into an exercise group (N=50) or a control group (N=50). The intervention lasts 20-weeks, with 3-5 sessions per week of 90 min each, and is mainly focused on high-intensity aerobic exercise yet also includes muscle-strengthening exercises. The extent to what the intervention effect remains 8-months after the exercise programme finishes is also studied in a subs le. Brain structure and function and cognitive performance are assessed using structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalographic recordings. Secondary outcomes include physical health outcomes (e.g. physical fitness, body fatness, bone mass and lipid-metabolic factors) and mental health outcomes (e.g. chronic stress indicators and overall behavioural and personality measurements such as anxiety or depression). This project will substantially contribute to the existing knowledge and will have an impact on societies, since early stimulation of brain development might have long lasting consequences on cognitive performance, academic achievement and in the prevention of behavioural problems and the promotion of psychological adjustment and mental health. Clinical trials. Gov identifier: NCT02295072.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2014
DOI: 10.1111/ACER.12245
Abstract: Recent studies of moral reasoning in patients with alcohol use disorders have indicated a "utilitarian" bias, whereby patients are more likely to endorse emotionally aversive actions in favor of aggregate welfare (e.g., throwing a dying person into the sea to keep a lifeboat of survivors afloat). Here, we investigate the underlying psychological and neuropsychological processes. Alcohol-dependent in iduals (n = 31) and healthy comparison participants (n = 34) completed a validated moral judgment task, as well as measures of impulsivity, mood symptoms (anxiety and depression), and emotional face recognition. Alcohol-dependent in iduals were more likely to endorse utilitarian choices in personal moral dilemmas compared with controls and rated these choices as less difficult to make. Hierarchical regression models showed that poorer decoding of fear and disgust significantly predicted utilitarian biases in personal moral dilemmas, over and above alcohol consumption. Impulsivity and mood symptoms did not predict moral decisions. These findings suggest that impaired fear and disgust decoding contributes to utilitarian moral decision-making in alcohol-dependent in iduals.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.JSAT.2018.09.007
Abstract: Early treatment motivation is a meaningful predictor of clinical outcomes in the context of meth hetamine dependence (MD). Cognitive deficits associated with MD can have a significant impact on motivational fluctuations during early treatment. We specifically examined if sustained attention and effort-based decision-making predict early treatment motivation change in in iduals with MD. We hypothesised that both variables would be significant predictors of in idual differences in treatment motivation change. We conducted a longitudinal, observational, cohort study on in iduals with MD (N = 72, Age, M = 31.1, SD = 7.3, 29% female). Participants were assessed with cognitive tests of sustained attention (continuous performance test) and effort-based decision-making (effort expenditure for rewards task) within three weeks of entering treatment and rated their treatment motivation at baseline and at follow up six weeks later (n = 50). Multiple regression was used to examine the predictive value of cognitive variables after controlling for nuisance variables. Cognitive measures significantly predicted change in treatment motivation after accounting for nuisance variables, F(5,43) = 2.89, p = .025. Analysis of in idual predictors showed that sustained attention, but not decision-making, was a significant negative predictor of improvement in treatment motivation (β = -0.34, p = .015). Poorer attentional function was associated with limited improvement in motivation during early treatment. These findings help to characterise cognitive predictors of treatment motivation and suggest directions for tailored treatment programs. In iduals entering treatment with attentional deficits may benefit from adjustments to therapy and/or cognitive remediation.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-08-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41366-018-0173-3
Abstract: Accumulation of visceral adiposity can disrupt the brain's sensitivity to interoceptive feedback, which is coded in the insula. This study aimed to test the link between visceral fat and the functional connectivity of two insulae regions relevant for eating behavior: the middle-dorsal insula (mIns), which codes homeostatic changes, and the rostral insula (rIns), which codes stable representations of food properties. We also assessed the impact of visceral adiposity-associated insulae networks on food craving. Seventy-five adults ranging in weight status (normal and excess weight) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and subjective food craving measures. We examined the association between visceral fat and seed-based functional connectivity of the mIns and the rIns, controlling for BMI, age, and sex, using multiple regressions in SPM8. We also tested if visceral fat mediated the association between insulae connectivity and food craving. Higher visceral adiposity was associated with decreased connectivity between the mIns and a cluster involving the hypothalamus and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. Decreased connectivity in this network was associated with greater food craving, a relation mediated by visceral adiposity. Visceral adiposity was also associated with increased connectivity between the mIns and the middle frontal gyri and the right intraparietal cortex, and between the rIns and the right amygdala. Accumulation of visceral adiposity is linked to disrupted functional connectivity within the mIns and rIns networks. Furthermore, the link between the mIns network and food craving is mediated by visceral fat. Findings suggest that visceral fat disrupts insula coding of bodily homeostatic signals, which may boost externally driven food cravings.
Publisher: American Medical Association (AMA)
Date: 02-2021
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 05-02-2014
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2011
Publisher: Colegio Oficial de Psicologos de Madrid
Date: 2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-04-2014
DOI: 10.1111/ADB.12143
Abstract: Cocaine addiction involves persistent deficits to unlearn previously rewarded response options, potentially due to neuroadaptations in learning-sensitive regions. Cocaine-targeted prefrontal systems have been consistently associated with reinforcement learning and reversal deficits, but more recent interspecies research has raised awareness about the contribution of the cerebellum to cocaine addiction and reversal. We aimed at investigating the link between cocaine use, reversal learning and prefrontal, insula and cerebellar gray matter in cocaine-dependent in iduals (CDIs) varying on levels of cocaine exposure in comparison with healthy controls (HCs). Twenty CDIs and 21 HCs performed a probabilistic reversal learning task (PRLT) and were subsequently scanned in a 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scanner. In the PRLT, subjects progressively learn to respond to one predominantly reinforced stimulus, and then must learn to respond according to the opposite, previously irrelevant, stimulus-reward pairing. Performance measures were errors after reversal (reversal cost), and probability of maintaining response after errors. Voxel-based morphometry was conducted to investigate the association between gray matter volume in the regions of interest and cocaine use and PRLT performance. Severity of cocaine use correlated with gray matter volume reduction in the left cerebellum (lobule VIII), while greater reversal cost was correlated with gray matter volume reduction in a partially overlapping cluster (lobules VIIb and VIII). Right insula/inferior frontal gyrus correlated with probability of maintaining response after errors. Severity of cocaine use detrimentally impacted reversal learning and cerebellar gray matter.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-03-2013
DOI: 10.1007/S00213-013-3040-X
Abstract: The co-occurrence of cocaine dependence and personality disorders may contribute to frontal systems-related behavioral symptoms in cocaine users. This study aims to characterize apathy, disinhibition, and dysexecutive symptoms in cocaine users with comorbid personality disorders. Thirty-nine participants meeting criteria for cocaine dependence and personality disorders, 35 participants meeting criteria for cocaine dependence without comorbidities, and 29 controls matched for age, education, and IQ completed the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe), which provides present and retrospective assessments (of the period preceding cocaine use) about apathy, disinhibition, and dysexecutive symptoms. Additionally, relatives of cocaine patients (34 relatives from comorbid patients and 31 relatives from noncomorbid patients) completed the informant version of the FrSBe. We used one-way ANOVAs to investigate present-moment differences between the groups and related s les t tests to quantify changes between pre-disorder and present-moment symptoms. Cocaine users with personality disorders self-reported higher present-moment apathy and disinhibition symptoms than noncomorbid users and controls. Informant ratings showed that comorbid users exhibited pre-disorder elevations in apathy, disinhibition and dysexecutive symptoms, and that these symptoms did not significantly change between the pre-disorder and the present-moment assessments. In contrast, noncomorbid users exhibited increased apathy, disinhibition, and dysexecutive symptoms at present-moment compared with pre-disorder measures. The co-occurrence of cocaine dependence and personality disorders is associated with elevated frontal systems-related behavioral symptoms. Comorbid and noncomorbid users differ in frontal symptoms' trajectories, with the former showing pre-disorder stable elevations and the latter showing lower baseline symptoms but greater addiction-related elevations.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-02-2022
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-10-2018
DOI: 10.1111/ADD.14424
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2005
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2004.10.010
Abstract: There is emerging evidence that suggests emotional processes may be involved in the development of addiction, and that emotional alterations may compromise the effectiveness of treatment approaches in substance abuse. Nonetheless, there is a dearth of studies that have examined the experience of emotions in substance abusers, especially with regard to natural affective stimuli that are motivationally relevant for the normal population. The main aims of this study are: (a) to examine possible differences in the experience of emotions of drug-free substance abusers exposed to images containing motivationally relevant stimuli, with regard to a normal population and (b) to examine possible differences in the experience of emotions of substance abusers depending on their drug of choice. We used 25 images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) to elicit different emotional states, and the Self Assessment Manikin (SAM) to record participants' subjective experience on three emotional dimensions: valence, arousal, and dominance. We used bifactorial MANOVA to examine subjective emotional ratings as a function of group, and as a function of the kind of image shown. Results showed a differential emotional profile of substance abusers with regard to healthy controls and different emotional profiles between abusers of a number of substances. These results suggest the experience of emotions may be significantly altered in substance abusers, and that these alterations may play an important role in drug abuse treatment course and results.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 21-09-2020
Abstract: Background: Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) is a cognitive function that allows in iduals to imagine novel experiences that may happen in the future. Prior studies show that EFT is impaired in different groups of substance users, such as alcohol and heroin users. However, there is no evidence regarding the neurobiological mechanisms of EFT in cannabis users.Aim: We aimed to compare brain activations of regular cannabis users and non-using controls during an EFT fMRI task. Exploratory analyses were also conducted to investigate the association between EFT and cannabis use variables (e.g., duration of use, age-onset, etc.).Method: Twenty current cannabis-users and 22 non-users underwent a single session fMRI while completing a task involving envisioning future-related events and retrieval of past memories as a control condition. The EFT fMRI task was adapted from the autobiographical interview and composed of 20 auditory cue sentences (10 cues for past and 10 cues for future events). Participants were asked to recall a past or generate a future event, in response to the cues, and then rated their vividness after each response. Results: We found that cannabis-users compared to non-user controls had lower activation within the cerebellum, medial, and superior temporal gyrus, lateral occipital cortex, and occipital fusiform gyrus while envisioning future events. Cannabis-users rated the vividness of past events significantly lower than non-users (P& .005). There were no significant group differences for rating the vividness of future events (P=0.052). Conclusion: Cannabis users, compared to drug-naïve controls, have lower brain activation in EFT relevant regions. Thus, any attempts to improve aberrant EFT performance in cannabis-users may benefit from EFT training.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-07-2013
DOI: 10.1007/S00213-013-3174-X
Abstract: A substantial literature indicates that in alcohol addiction aspects of impulsive decision-making are typical of in iduals with an early onset of addictive behaviour problems. It is not known whether the same applies to opiate addiction, and this insight has important theoretical and clinical implications. This study aims to examine the relationship between age at onset of addictive behaviour problems and decision-making in opiate addiction. Ninety-three opiate-dependent, treatment-seeking in iduals were ided in three groups, early, late and intermediate onset of problems, and completed impulsivity questionnaires and delay discounting and gambling tasks. In iduals with a late onset of opiate problems (25 years or above) had lower delay discounting rates than in iduals with early (18 years or less) or intermediate onset. There were no differences in performance on the gambling tasks. Late-onset in iduals were older and had shorter drug histories, but there was no relationship between either age or length of exposure to opiates and delay discounting rates. In keeping with previous studies in alcohol addiction, these findings support the notion of at least two distinct subgroups of opiate-dependent in iduals, characterised by a different onset of problems, different propensity to impulsive behaviour and perhaps distinct mechanisms leading to addiction.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEUBIOREV.2016.05.018
Abstract: This article reviews the emerging research on cognitive training for substance use disorders, and discusses the neuroscientific mechanisms that underlie cognitive training effects in addiction. Four cognitive training interventions are reviewed: cognitive bias modification (CBM), response inhibition, working memory (including specific and multi-component approaches), and goal-directed interventions. Based on the knowledge of the mechanisms involved in these trainings they can be clustered in two classes: (1) CBM and response inhibition, which have shown to operate via reorientation of stimulus-action approach biases and rewiring of the medial prefrontal cortex and the amygdala (2) Working memory and goal-oriented interventions, which have been associated with improvements in stimulus-outcome representations e.g. increased future-based delay-discounting and decision-making, and rewiring of the dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortices. The cognitive trainings are generally efficacious in improving the trained cognitive processes. The transfer to clinical outcomes is notable and theoretically coherent, although evidence is still preliminary. Replication studies and randomised controlled trials that incorporate neuroscience-based mechanistic accounts are needed to gauge the significance of this line of research.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 03-2007
DOI: 10.1016/J.ACN.2007.01.012
Abstract: The detection of feigned cognitive impairment remains difficult and may be even more challenging in certain population groups. Studies on the use of neuropsychological tests in ethnic groups for which they were not designed have shown variations in performance associated with cultural differences. With this background, our group studied a Spanish population by applying commonly used procedures [Victoria Symptom Validity Test (VSVT), Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), and the b test] in a group with post-concussion syndrome (PCS) (whether litigants or not) and in a group of analog malingerers (AN). These tests appeared to function adequately in this Spanish population, who showed similar performances to results published for North Americans.
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2017
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-06-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S11154-023-09814-4
Abstract: Disinhibited eating involves overconsumption and loss of control over food intake, and underpins many health conditions, including obesity and binge-eating related disorders. Stress has been implicated in the development and maintenance of disinhibited eating behaviours, but the mechanisms underlying this relationship are unclear. In this systematic review, we examined how the impact of stress on the neurobiological substrates of food-related reward sensitivity, interoception and cognitive control explains its role in disinhibited eating behaviours. We synthesised the findings of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies including acute and/or chronic stress exposures in participants with disinhibited eating. A systematic search of existing literature conducted in alignment with the PRISMA guidelines identified seven studies investigating neural impacts of stress in people with disinhibited eating. Five studies used food-cue reactivity tasks, one study used a social evaluation task, and one used an instrumental learning task to probe reward, interoception and control circuitry. Acute stress was associated with deactivation of regions in the prefrontal cortex implicated in cognitive control and the hippoc us. However, there were mixed findings regarding differences in reward-related circuitry. In the study using a social task, acute stress associated with deactivation of prefrontal cognitive control regions in response to negative social evaluation. In contrast, chronic stress was associated with both deactivation of reward and prefrontal regions when viewing palatable food-cues. Given the small number of identified publications and notable heterogeneity in study designs, we propose several recommendations to strengthen future research in this emerging field.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 04-12-2017
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 08-08-2013
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.JSAT.2018.10.004
Abstract: Impulsivity has been consistently associated with poorer addiction treatment outcomes. However, impulsivity is a multifaceted construct and current evidence have failed to unravel which specific aspects explain this relationship. There is also limited research examining long-term outcomes. We aimed to examine the longitudinal association between baseline performance on a comprehensive battery of impulsivity measures and retention and relapse at the end of treatment. The s le comprised 68 participants with miscellaneous diagnoses of substance use disorders and polysubstance use patterns, enrolled in public residential therapeutic communities in Andalusia (Spain). At baseline, we applied measures of selective attention (Stroop), response inhibition (Affective Go/No Go), delay discounting (Monetary Choice Questionnaire MCQ), and decision-making (Iowa Gambling Task IGT). At the end of treatment (mean = 148.36 days, range = 22-289 days), we collected outcome measures of retention (coded by the clinical team as completion or dropout based on statewide practice guidelines) and relapse (defined as at least two separate alcohol/drug use episodes based on urine analyses). Cox regression models showed that poorer decision-making in the IGT was associated with premature treatment dropout, whereas elevated commission errors in the Affective Go/No Go were associated with higher relapse rates. Selective attention and delay discounting were unrelated to outcomes. Long-term based decision-making skills are important to commit to the complex and intensive treatment programs of therapeutic communities. The ability to withhold behavioural responses under positive affect is relevant to prevent relapse. Both skills should be assessed and potentially trained during therapeutic community treatment.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 05-2006
DOI: 10.1017/S1355617706060486
Abstract: Increasing evidence indicates that substance-dependent in iduals (SDI) are impaired in executive control tasks relying on different systems within the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Three different functional systems have been described: the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) circuits. Dysfunction within each PFC system is associated with different behavioral, cognitive, and emotional abnormalities. Few studies have conducted an exhaustive examination of all these different factors in SDI. In this study, SDI (including alcohol, cocaine, and meth hetamine polysubstance users, n=35) were compared with healthy controls (n=36) on a series of behavioral (Frontal Systems Behaviour Scale, FrSBe), cognitive (N-back, Go-No Go, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Tasks), and emotional (International Affective Picture System, IAPS) tasks, each of which was thought to tax a different component of these PFC functional systems. SDI showed greater behavioral problems in the apathy, disinhibition, and executive dysfunction subscales of the FrSBe. Behavioral deficits were significantly associated with several real-life domains in which SDI typically have problems. SDI also showed poorer performance on cognitive tests of working memory, response inhibition and mental flexibility, and abnormal processing of affective images from the IAPS. Cognitive, behavioral, and emotional measures were moderately correlated.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 22-06-2018
DOI: 10.1093/ABM/KAY051
Abstract: Adolescents with excess weight suffer social stress more frequently than their peers with normal weight. To examine the impact of social stress, specifically negative social evaluation, on executive functions in adolescents with excess weight. We also examined associations between subjective stress, autonomic reactivity, and executive functioning. Sixty adolescents (aged 13-18 years) classified into excess weight or normal weight groups participated. We assessed executive functioning (working memory, inhibition, and shifting) and subjective stress levels before and after the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST). The TSST was ided into two phases according to the feedback of the audience: positive and negative social evaluation. Heart rate and skin conductance were recorded. Adolescents with excess weight showed poorer executive functioning after exposure to TSST compared with adolescents with normal weight. Subjective stress and autonomic reactivity were also greater in adolescents with excess weight than adolescents with normal weight. Negative social evaluation was associated with worse executive functioning and increased autonomic reactivity in adolescents with excess weight. The findings suggest that adolescents with excess weight are more sensitive to social stress triggered by negative evaluations. Social stress elicited deterioration of executive functioning in adolescents with excess weight. Evoked increases in subjective stress and autonomic responses predicted decreased executive function. Deficits in executive skills could reduce cognitive control abilities and lead to overeating in adolescents with excess weight. Strategies to cope with social stress to prevent executive deficits could be useful to prevent future obesity in this population.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2006
DOI: 10.1017/S1355617706060127
Abstract: Drug addiction is associated with impaired judgment in unstructured situations in which success depends on self-regulation of behavior according to internal goals (adaptive decision-making). However most executive measures are aimed at assessing decision-making in structured scenarios, in which success is determined by external criteria inherent to the situation (veridical decision-making). The aim of this study was to examine the performance of Substance Abusers (SA, n = 97) and Healthy Comparison participants (HC, n = 81) in two behavioral tasks that mimic the uncertainty inherent in real-life decision-making: the Cognitive Bias Task (CB) and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) (administered only to SA). A related goal was to study the interdependence between performances on both tasks. We conducted univariate analyses of variance (ANOVAs) to contrast the decision-making performance of both groups and used correlation analyses to study the relationship between both tasks. SA showed a marked context-independent decision-making strategy on the CB's adaptive condition, but no differences were found on the veridical conditions in a subs le of SA ( n = 34) and HC ( n = 22). A high percentage of SA (75%) also showed impaired performance on the IGT. Both tasks were only correlated when no impaired participants were selected. Results indicate that SA show abnormal decision-making performance in unstructured situations, but not in veridical situations. ( JINS , 2006, 12 , 90–99.)
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-11-2007
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 12-06-2023
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-2013
DOI: 10.1080/87565641.2012.745547
Abstract: Inhalant misuse among adolescents is poorly understood from a neuropsychological perspective. This study aimed to identify attentional deficits related to inhalant misuse measured with the Attention Network Test (ANT). We examined three groups: 19 inhalant users, 19 cannabis users, and 18 community controls. There were no group differences on the ANT measures of orienting, alerting, and executive control. However, compared to the cannabis and control groups, inhalant users demonstrated an increased rate of response errors in the absence of any reaction time differences. These differences may reflect a selective deficit in sustained attention or greater impulsivity in the inhalant group.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-07-2022
DOI: 10.1111/ADD.15989
Abstract: Approach bias modification (ApBM) targeting alcohol approach bias has been previously shown to reduce likelihood of relapse during the first 2 weeks following inpatient withdrawal treatment (IWT). We tested whether ApBM’s effects endure for a longer period by analysing alcohol use outcomes 3, 6 and 12 months post‐discharge. A double‐blind, sham‐controlled randomized controlled trial. Four IWT units in Melbourne, Australia. Three hundred alcohol IWT patients (173 men, 126 women, 1 non‐binary mean age 43.5 years) were recruited between 4 June 2017 and 14 July 2019. Follow‐up data collection was completed on 22 September 2020. Four ApBM sessions were delivered during IWT. ApBM trained participants ( n = 147) to avoid alcohol and approach non‐alcohol beverage cues. Controls ( n = 153) responded to the same stimuli, but without approach/avoidance training. Date of first lapse was recorded for non‐abstinent participants to determine time to first lapse. Time‐line follow‐back interviews assessed past‐month alcohol consumption at each follow‐up, with participants reporting no alcohol consumption classified as abstinent. In analyses of past‐month abstinence, non‐abstinence was assumed in participants lost to follow‐up. Number of past‐month drinking days, standard drinks and heavy drinking days (five or more standard drinks for women or non‐binary six or more standard drinks for men) were calculated for non‐abstinent participants at each follow‐up. ApBM significantly delayed time to first lapse [ApBM median: 53 days, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 21–61 controls = 12 days, 95% CI = 9–21, P = 0.045]. Past‐month abstinence rates at 3‐, 6‐ and 12‐month follow‐ups were 33/153 (21.6%), 30/153 (19.6%), and 24/153 (15.7%) in controls and 51/147 (34.7%), 30/147 (20.4%) and 29/147 (19.7%) in the ApBM group, respectively. Past‐month abstinence was significantly more likely in ApBM participants than controls at the 3‐month follow‐up [odds ratio (OR) = 1.93, 95% CI = 1.16–3.23, P = 0.012], but not at 6‐ or 12‐month follow‐ups (6‐month OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.60–1.95, P = 0.862 12‐month OR = 1.32, 95% CI = 0.73–2.40, P = 0.360). No significant group differences were found for indices of alcohol consumption in non‐abstinent participants. Approach bias modification for alcohol delivered during inpatient withdrawal treatment helps to prevent relapse, increasing rates of abstinence from alcohol for at least 3 months post‐discharge.
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2013
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 28-02-2008
Abstract: There is important preclinical evidence of long lasting neurotoxic and selective effects of ecstasy MDMA on serotonin systems in non-human primates. In humans long-term recreational use of ecstasy has been mainly associated with learning and memory impairments. The aim of the present study was to investigate the neuropsychological profile associated with ecstasy use within recreational polydrug users, and describe the cognitive changes related to maintained or variable ecstasy use along a two years period. We administered cognitive measures of attention, executive functions, memory and learning to three groups of participants: 37 current polydrug users with regular consumption of ecstasy and cannabis, 23 current cannabis users and 34 non-users free of illicit drugs. Four cognitive assessments were conducted during two years. At baseline, ecstasy polydrug users showed significantly poorer performance than cannabis users and non-drug using controls in a measure of semantic word fluency. When ecstasy users were classified according to lifetime use of ecstasy, the more severe users (more than 100 tablets) showed additional deficits on episodic memory. After two years ecstasy users showed persistent deficits on verbal fluency, working memory and processing speed. These findings should be interpreted with caution, since the possibility of premorbid group differences cannot be entirely excluded. Our findings support that ecstasy use, or ecstasy/cannabis synergic effects, are responsible for the sub-clinical deficits observed in ecstasy polydrug users, and provides additional evidence for long-term cognitive impairment owing to ecstasy consumption in the context of polydrug use.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 06-2015
DOI: 10.1037/PAS0000049
Abstract: In this study, we developed the Brief Moral Decision-Making Questionnaire (BrMoD) as a standardized brief form of the dilemmas compiled by Greene and colleagues (Greene, Sommerville, Nystrom, Darley, & Cohen, 2001). An initial Rasch analysis was conducted over responses to 60 dilemmas to retain the most appropriate items. The psychometric properties of the 32-item brief instrument were determined in a community s le of 133 in iduals using analyses from both the Rasch model and the classical test theory. The BrMoD scores showed appropriate reliability and construct validity. Differences between dilemma categories proposed by Greene et al. were observed in the BrMoD by measuring the difficulty of decisions and response times of the participants. In addition, there was no differential item functioning by the demographic variables. Therefore, the BrMoD is a good tool for assessing moral decision making in research or professional fields.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-08-2017
DOI: 10.1002/OBY.21948
Abstract: This study aimed to (1) compare the willingness to expend effort for rewards between young adults with healthy weight, overweight, and obesity and (2) to examine how in idual differences in the willingness to expend effort for rewards predict adherence to weight loss treatment. Seventy-three participants completed the Effort Expenditure for Rewards Task (EEfRT). Of those 73 participants, 42 young adults with excess weight took part in a 3-month weight loss treatment after completing the EEfRT. Generalized estimating equation models were used to compare the groups with healthy weight, overweight, and obesity in the EEfRT. Logistic regression models, including the proportion of hard-task choices for each reward probability condition as predictors (12%, 50%, and 88%), were conducted to longitudinally predict adherence in the treatment. Young adults with obesity were significantly less willing to expend effort for high-magnitude rewards compared with participants with overweight (P = 0.05). The willingness to expend effort for uncertain rewards (50% probability) was distinguished between completers and dropouts in the weight loss treatment (χ Young adults with obesity, compared with their counterparts with overweight, have diminished motivation to expend effort for obtaining high-magnitude rewards. Less willingness to expend effort for the most uncertain rewards predicts poor adherence to weight loss treatment.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-03-2015
DOI: 10.1111/ADB.12242
Abstract: Neural biomarkers for the active detrimental effects of cocaine dependence (CD) are lacking. Direct comparisons of brain connectivity in cocaine-targeted networks between CD and behavioural addictions (i.e. pathological gambling, PG) may be informative. This study therefore contrasted the resting-state functional connectivity networks of 20 in iduals with CD, 19 in iduals with PG and 21 healthy in iduals (controls). Study groups were assessed to rule out psychiatric co-morbidities (except alcohol abuse and nicotine dependence) and current substance use or gambling (except PG). We first examined global connectivity differences in the corticolimbic reward network and then utilized seed-based analyses to characterize the connectivity of regions displaying between-group differences. We examined the relationships between seed-based connectivity and trait impulsivity and cocaine severity. CD compared with PG displayed increased global functional connectivity in a large-scale ventral corticostriatal network involving the orbitofrontal cortex, caudate, thalamus and amygdala. Seed-based analyses showed that CD compared with PG exhibited enhanced connectivity between the orbitofrontal and subgenual cingulate cortices and between caudate and lateral prefrontal cortex, which are involved in representing the value of decision-making feedback. CD and PG compared with controls showed overlapping connectivity changes between the orbitofrontal and dorsomedial prefrontal cortices and between amygdala and insula, which are involved in stimulus-outcome learning. Orbitofrontal-subgenual cingulate cortical connectivity correlated with impulsivity and caudate/amygdala connectivity correlated with cocaine severity. We conclude that CD is linked to enhanced connectivity in a large-scale ventral corticostriatal-amygdala network that is relevant to decision making and likely to reflect an active cocaine detrimental effect.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.EURONEURO.2018.03.012
Abstract: Dopaminergic medication can induce severe addictive behaviours (e.g., pathological gambling) in susceptible Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. It is still unknown which particular neurocognitive processes become exacerbated or dysfunctional in PD patients with addictive behaviours. We sought to systematically review the relevant literature to identity potential neurocognitive correlates of medication-induced addictive behaviours in PD. We framed our review around neurocognitive processes central to four dominant accounts of substance addiction: 'aberrant learning', 'incentive sensitization', 'impulsivity to compulsivity' and 'impaired response inhibition and salience attribution'. Searches of the PubMed and Scopus databases were completed on June 23, 2017. To be included, studies were required to involve: (a) medicated PD patients, without a history of deep brain stimulation, with and without addictive behaviours (b) a reward-related or decision-making task and (c) statistical comparison of addictive and non-addictive groups' 'on' medication performance on the task(s). Studies were summarised qualitatively with statistically significant (p<.05) group differences and effect sizes (Cohen's d) highlighted. 35 studies were included. Findings showed that the extant literature is highly heterogeneous. The domains of reward and punishment learning, reflection impulsivity and disadvantageous decision-making exemplify this. More homogeneity exists in domains in which (a) neurocognitive dysfunction is not apparent (motor control, cognitive/attentional flexibility and cognitive control) or (b) typical neurocognitive processes appear exacerbated by medication (reward motivation and choice impulsivity). Future large-scale neurocognitive studies are still required to develop our scientific understanding of addictive behaviours in PD and aid their clinical treatment and prediction.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2013.06.023
Abstract: Recent studies of moral reasoning in patients with alcohol use disorders have indicated a 'utilitarian' bias, whereby patients are more likely to endorse emotionally aversive actions in favor of aggregate welfare (e.g., to kill a person in order to save a group of people). The aim of the present study was to examine psychophysiological correlates of this tendency indexed by heart rate. The s le was composed by 31 alcohol-dependent in iduals and 34 healthy controls without alcohol use disorders. Electrocardiogram was recorded at rest and during execution of a validated moral judgment task, including non-moral scenarios, and moral dilemmas that were either high in emotional salience ("personal scenarios") or low in emotional salience ("impersonal scenarios"). Alcohol-dependent in iduals showed a blunted response to moral dilemmas. Furthermore, healthy controls displayed decreased heart rate to the personal vs. impersonal or non-moral scenarios, while alcohol-dependent in iduals failed to differentiate dilemmas in terms of heart rate both prior decision-making and its post appraisal. These deficits were not related to baseline differences in Heart Rate. Our findings indicate that alcohol-dependent in iduals failed to engage emotional aversive reactions to personal moral violations in terms of heart rate response.
Publisher: No publisher found
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEUROIMAGE.2017.08.011
Abstract: Obesity, as compared to normal weight, is associated with detectable structural differences in the brain. To the best of our knowledge, no previous study has examined the association of physical fitness with gray matter volume in overweight/obese children using whole brain analyses. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the association between the key components of physical fitness (i.e. cardiorespiratory fitness, speed-agility and muscular fitness) and brain structural volume, and to assess whether fitness-related changes in brain volumes are related to academic performance in overweight/obese children. A total of 101 overweight/obese children aged 8-11 years were recruited from Granada, Spain. The physical fitness components were assessed following the ALPHA health-related fitness test battery. T1-weighted images were acquired with a 3.0 T S Magnetom Tim Trio system. Gray matter tissue was calculated using Diffeomorphic Anatomical Registration Through Exponentiated Lie algebra (DARTEL). Academic performance was assessed by the Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz Tests of Achievement. All analyses were controlled for sex, peak high velocity offset, parent education, body mass index and total brain volume. The statistical threshold was calculated with AlphaSim and further Hayasaka adjusted to account for the non-isotropic smoothness of structural images. The main results showed that higher cardiorespiratory fitness was related to greater gray matter volumes (P < 0.001, k = 64) in 7 clusters with β ranging from 0.493 to 0.575 specifically in frontal regions (i.e. premotor cortex and supplementary motor cortex), subcortical regions (i.e. hippoc us and caudate), temporal regions (i.e. inferior temporal gyrus and parahippoc al gyrus) and calcarine cortex. Three of these regions (i.e. premotor cortex, supplementary motor cortex and hippoc us) were related to better academic performance (β ranging from 0.211 to 0.352 all P < 0.05). Higher speed-agility was associated with greater gray matter volumes (P < 0.001, k = 57) in 2 clusters (i.e. the inferior frontal gyrus and the superior temporal gyrus) with β ranging from 0.564 to 0.611. Both clusters were related to better academic performance (β ranging from 0.217 to 0.296 both P < 0.05). Muscular fitness was not independently associated with greater gray matter volume in any brain region. Furthermore, there were no statistically significant negative association between any component of physical fitness and gray matter volume in any region of the brain. In conclusion, cardiorespiratory fitness and speed-agility, but not muscular fitness, may independently be associated with greater volume of numerous cortical and subcortical brain structures besides, some of these brain structures may be related to better academic performance. Importantly, the identified associations of fitness and gray matter volume were different for each fitness component. These findings suggest that increases in cardiorespiratory fitness and speed-agility may positively influence the development of distinctive brain regions and academic indicators, and thus counteract the harmful effect of overweight and obesity on brain structure during childhood.
Publisher: S. Karger AG
Date: 2011
DOI: 10.1159/000329725
Abstract: i Objective: /i To estimate the prevalence of adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in a s le of cocaine-dependent patients, and to examine the discriminant validity of the Barkley’s executive dysfunction scale in differentiating cocaine-dependent patients with and without ADHD. i Methods: /i A cross-sectional design was used. A total of 166 cocaine-dependent subjects were assessed. The assessment instruments included: Conners’ Adult ADHD Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV (CAADID), Psychiatric Research Interview for Substance and Mental Disorders (PRISM-IV) and 9 items from Current Behavior Scale Self-Report by Russell A. Barkley. i Results: /i 14.5% (CI95%: 9.2–19.8%) prevalence of ADHD was observed in our s le. The Barkley’s executive dysfunction items showed statistically significant differences between cocaine-dependent patients with ADHD and those patients without ADHD diagnosis. i Conclusions: /i The study data support Barkley’s model – which posits the relevance of executive dysfunction among ADHD patients within a s le of cocaine dependents, and provides evidence of the discriminant validity of the Current Behavior Scale Self-Report for identifying ADHD symptoms in cocaine users.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2021
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 10-05-2016
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-02-2017
DOI: 10.1111/ADD.13751
Abstract: Gambling disorder is characterized by poor regulation of negative emotions and impulsive behaviours. This study aimed to (1) compare gambling disorder patients (GDPs) and healthy controls (HCs) in self‐report and brain activation measures of emotion regulation and (2) establish its relationship with negative emotion‐driven impulsivity. Two cross‐sectional case–control studies including GDPs and HCs. GDPs and HCs were recruited from specialized gambling clinics in Andalusia (Spain), where they were following out‐patient treatment, and from the community, respectively. Study 1 included 41 GDPs and 45 HCs [All males M age = 35.22, 33.22 standard deviation (SD) = 11.16, 8.18 respectively]. Study 2 included 17 GDPs and 21 HCs (16/20 males M age = 32.94, 31.00 SD = 7.77, 4.60 respectively). In study 1, we compared both groups on suppression and re‐appraisal emotion regulation strategies [Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ)]. In study 2, we compared GDPs with HCs on brain activation associated with down‐regulation of negative emotions in a cognitive re‐appraisal task, measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In both studies, we correlated the measures of emotion regulation with mood‐related impulsivity indicated by negative urgency (UPPS‐P impulsive behaviour scale). GDPs relative to HCs showed higher levels of emotional suppression [ F = 4.525 P = 0.036 means difference M HCs –M GDPs = −2.433, 95% confidence interval (CI) = −4.706, −0.159] and higher activation of the premotor cortex and middle frontal gyrus during negative emotion regulation in the fMRI task [ P ≤ 0.005, cluster size (CS) 50 voxels]. Negative urgency correlated positively with emotional suppression ( r = 0.399, 95% CI = 0.104, 0.629, one‐tailed P = 0.005) and middle frontal gyrus activation during negative emotion regulation ( P ≤ 0.005, CS 50) in GDPs. Gambling disorder is associated with greater use of emotional suppression and stronger pre‐motor cortex and middle frontal gyrus activation for regulating negative emotions, compared with healthy controls. Emotional suppression use and middle frontal gyrus activation during negative emotion regulation are linked with negative emotion‐driven impulsivity in this disorder.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2013.02.008
Abstract: In iduals with cocaine dependence and co-occurring personality disorders are more likely to have increased impulsivity, dysfunctional beliefs, executive dysfunction and brain structural abnormalities by virtue of the conjoint impact of both pathologies. We recruited 32 cocaine dependent patients with comorbid Cluster B personality disorders, 44 cocaine dependent patients without comorbidities and 34 non-drug-using controls. They completed the UPPS-P impulsivity scale, the Personality Belief Questionnaire, and executive function tests of working memory, attention/response inhibition and shifting. A subs le (n=61) was also scanned using Magnetic Resonance Imaging. We used univariate ANOVAs for group comparisons, and tested the association between impulsivity, executive control and personality dysfunction and diagnoses using correlation and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Cocaine dependent patients with personality disorders had elevated negative urgency and borderline beliefs, decreased inhibition and attention regulation, and reduced temporal pole gray matter with respect to the rest of the s le. Trait and cognitive measures correctly classified 73% of comorbid patients (60% sensitivity and 82% specificity). The co-occurrence of cocaine dependence and personality disorders is associated with negative-mood impulsivity and beliefs, executive dysfunction and temporal pole attrition.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2010
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2009.12.007
Abstract: Neuropsychological studies support the association between severity of drug intake and alterations in specific cognitive domains and neural systems, but there is disproportionately less research on the neuropsychology of emotional alterations associated with addiction. One of the key aspects of adaptive emotional functioning potentially relevant to addiction progression and treatment is the ability to recognize basic emotions in the faces of others. Therefore, the aims of this study were: (i) to examine facial emotion recognition in abstinent polysubstance abusers, and (ii) to explore the association between patterns of quantity and duration of use of several drugs co-abused (including alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, heroin and MDMA) and the ability to identify discrete facial emotional expressions portraying basic emotions. We compared accuracy of emotion recognition of facial expressions portraying six basic emotions (measured with the Ekman Faces Test) between polysubstance abusers (PSA, n=65) and non-drug using comparison in iduals (NDCI, n=30), and used regression models to explore the association between quantity and duration of use of the different drugs co-abused and indices of recognition of each of the six emotions, while controlling for relevant socio-demographic and affect-related confounders. Results showed: (i) that PSA had significantly poorer recognition than NDCI for facial expressions of anger, disgust, fear and sadness (ii) that measures of quantity and duration of drugs used significantly predicted poorer discrete emotions recognition: quantity of cocaine use predicted poorer anger recognition, and duration of cocaine use predicted both poorer anger and fear recognition. Severity of cocaine use also significantly predicted overall recognition accuracy.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-09-2015
DOI: 10.1111/ADD.13076
Abstract: To contrast functional connectivity on ventral and dorsal striatum networks in cocaine dependence relative to pathological gambling, via a resting-state functional connectivity approach and to determine the association between cocaine dependence-related neuroadaptations indexed by functional connectivity and impulsivity, compulsivity and drug relapse. Cross-sectional study of 20 in iduals with cocaine dependence (CD), 19 in iduals with pathological gambling (PG) and 21 healthy controls (HC), and a prospective cohort study of 20 CD followed-up for 12 weeks to measure drug relapse. CD and PG were recruited through consecutive admissions to a public clinic specialized in substance addiction treatment (Centro Provincial de Drogodependencias) and a public clinic specialized in gambling treatment (AGRAJER), respectively HC were recruited through community advertisement in the same area in Granada (Spain). Seed-based functional connectivity in the ventral striatum (ventral caudate and ventral putamen) and dorsal striatum (dorsal caudate and dorsal putamen), the Kirby delay-discounting questionnaire, the reversal-learning task and a dichotomous measure of cocaine relapse indicated with self-report and urine tests. CD relative to PG exhibit enhanced connectivity between the ventral caudate seed and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, the ventral putamen seed and dorsomedial pre-frontal cortex and the dorsal putamen seed and insula (P≤0.001, kE=108). Connectivity between the ventral caudate seed and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex is associated with steeper delay discounting (P≤0.001, kE=108) and cocaine relapse (P≤0.005, kE=34). Cocaine dependence-related neuroadaptations in the ventral striatum of the brain network are associated with increased impulsivity and higher rate of cocaine relapse.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-12-2022
DOI: 10.1111/ADD.16109
Abstract: Substance use disorders (SUD) are associated with cognitive deficits that are not always addressed in current treatments, and this h ers recovery. Cognitive training and remediation interventions are well suited to fill the gap for managing cognitive deficits in SUD. We aimed to reach consensus on recommendations for developing and applying these interventions. We used a Delphi approach with two sequential phases: survey development and iterative surveying of experts. This was an on‐line study. During survey development, we engaged a group of 15 experts from a working group of the International Society of Addiction Medicine (Steering Committee). During the surveying process, we engaged a larger pool of experts ( n = 54) identified via recommendations from the Steering Committee and a systematic review. Survey with 67 items covering four key areas of intervention development: targets, intervention approaches, active ingredients and modes of delivery. Across two iterative rounds (98% retention rate), the experts reached a consensus on 50 items including: (i) implicit biases, positive affect, arousal, executive functions and social processing as key targets of interventions (ii) cognitive bias modification, contingency management, emotion regulation training and cognitive remediation as preferred approaches (iii) practice, feedback, difficulty‐titration, bias modification, goal‐setting, strategy learning and meta‐awareness as active ingredients and (iv) both addiction treatment work‐force and specialized neuropsychologists facilitating delivery, together with novel digital‐based delivery modalities. Expert recommendations on cognitive training and remediation for substance use disorders highlight the relevance of targeting implicit biases, reward, emotion regulation and higher‐order cognitive skills via well‐validated intervention approaches qualified with mechanistic techniques and flexible delivery options.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-09-2018
DOI: 10.1007/S11065-018-9384-6
Abstract: Decision-making deficits are strong predictors of poor clinical outcomes in addiction treatment. However, research on interventions that address decision-making deficits among people with addiction is scarce and has not been analyzed. We aimed to systematically review evidence on neuropsychological interventions for decision-making deficits in addiction to identify promising therapies. Eligibility criteria were (1) participants with a diagnosis of substance use or behavioral addictive disorders, (2) interventions consisting of (neuro) psychological treatments that address decision-making, (3) comparators comprising control (sham) interventions, treatment as usual or no-treatment, (4) outcomes including a decision-making task, and (5) studies including RCTs and non-randomized trials. Search terms included addiction (or alcohol/drug/substance use/gambling) AND treatment (or specific interventions) AND decision-making (or specific tasks). The search yielded 728 hits, and two independent assessors agreed on the final selection of 12 articles. Interventions included Contingency Management (3 studies), Working Memory Training (2 studies) Goal Management Training (2 studies), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (2 studies), Reality Therapy, Motivational Interview and Monetary Management. The main outcome measures were tasks of delay discounting, risk-taking and reward-based decision-making. Results showed that Goal Management Training improves reward-based decision-making, while Contingency Management combined with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has beneficial effects on delay discounting. The evidence on Working Memory Training and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as stand-alone treatments was mixed. Motivational Interview and Monetary Management had no significant effects on decision-making. Bias control across studies was moderate. We conclude that Goal Management Training and Contingency Management combined with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy have potential to modify decision-making in people with addiction. RCTs are needed to establish the efficacy of these interventions.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 10-10-2018
DOI: 10.3390/NU10101469
Abstract: This study aimed to compare the use of the bioelectrical impedance device (BIA) seca® mBCA 515 using dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) as a reference method, for body composition assessment in adults across the spectrum of body mass indices. It explores the utility of simple anthropometric measures (the waist height ratio (WHtR) and waist circumference (WC)) for the assessment of obesity. In the morning after an overnight fast (10 h), 30 participants underwent a body composition DXA (GE iDXA) scan, BIA (seca 515), and anthropometric measures. Compared to the DXA reference measure, the BIA underestimated fat mass (FM) by 0.32 kg (limits of agreement −3.8 kg, 4.4 kg) overestimated fat free mass (FFM) by 0.43 kg (limits of agreement −8.2 kg, 4.3 kg). Some of the variation was explained by body mass index (BMI), as for FM, the mean difference of the normal range BMI group was smaller than for the overweight/obese group (0.25 kg and 0.35 kg, respectively) with wider limits of agreement (−4.30 kg, 4.81 kg, and −3.61 kg, 4.30 kg, respectively). There were significant differences in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) volume measurements between methods with BIA systematically overestimating VAT compared to DXA. WC was more strongly correlated with DXA FM (rho = 0.90, p 0.001) than WHtR (rho = 0.83, p 0.001). BIA had some agreement with DXA however, they are not equivalent measures for the range of BMIs explored, with DXA remaining the more informative tool. WC is a useful and simple assessment tool for obesity.
Publisher: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Murcia
Date: 10-2013
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-09-2017
DOI: 10.1007/S11682-017-9762-3
Abstract: Neuroimaging functional connectivity (FC) analyses have shown that the negative coupling between the amygdala and cortical regions is linked to better emotion regulation in experimental settings. Nevertheless, no studies have examined the association between resting-state cortico-amygdalar FC and the dispositional use of emotion regulation strategies. We aim at assessing the relationship between the resting-state FC patterns of two different amygdala territories, with different functions in the emotion response process, and trait-like measures of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. Forty-eight healthy controls completed the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) and underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging acquisition. FC maps of basolateral and centromedial amygdala (BLA/CMA) with different cortical areas were estimated with a seed-based approach, and were then correlated with reappraisal and suppression scores from the ERQ. FC between left BLA and left insula and right BLA and the supplementary motor area (SMA) correlated inversely with reappraisal scores. Conversely, FC between left BLA and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex correlated directly with suppression scores. Finally, FC between left CMA and the SMA was inversely correlated with suppression. Top-down regulation from the SMA seems to account for the dispositional use of both reappraisal and suppression depending on the specific amygdala nucleus being modulated. In addition, modulation of amygdala activity from cingulate and insular cortices seem to also account for the habitual use of the different emotion regulation strategies.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2011
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEUBIOREV.2010.04.008
Abstract: Most substance abusers simultaneously use and abuse more than one substance, even when there is a clear drug of choice. This pattern creates a great challenge in relating neuropsychological findings in drug users to a certain drug. This review aims to: (i) discuss results from neuropsychological studies using different research methodologies that may improve our understanding of specific vs. generalized effects of different drugs on neuropsychological performance and (ii) determine which neuropsychological mechanisms are impaired in the same way by the use of different drugs, and which impairments are specific to certain substances, including cannabis, psychostimulants, opioids and alcohol. We review evidence from human studies in chronic substance abusers using three methodologies: (i) studies on 'pure' users of one particular substance, (ii) studies that methodologically control the effects of drugs co-abused, and (iii) studies contrasting subgroups of polysubstance users with different drugs of choice. Converging evidence from these approaches indicates that all the drugs studied are commonly associated with significant alterations in the neuropsychological domains of episodic memory, emotional processing, and the executive components of updating and decision-making. However, there is evidence of a greater reliability in the association of certain substances with specific neuropsychological domains. Specifically, there are relatively more robust effects of psychostimulants and alcohol use on impulsive action and cognitive flexibility, of alcohol and MDMA use on spatial processing, perceptual speed and selective attention, cannabis and meth hetamine on prospective memory deficits, and cannabis and MDMA on processing speed and complex planning. The magnitude of both generalized and specific neuropsychological effects is overall attenuated in s les achieving long-term abstinence, but there are persistent psychostimulant-related effects on updating, inhibition, flexibility and emotional processing, and opioid-related effects on updating and decision-making.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-05-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41562-021-01127-3
Abstract: Impulsive behaviours are a major contributor to the global burden of disease, but existing measures of cognitive impulsivity have suboptimal reliability and validity. Here, we introduce the Cognitive Impulsivity Suite, comprising three computerized/online tasks using a gamified interface. We conceptualize rapid-response impulsive behaviours (disinhibition) as arising from the failure of three distinct cognitive mechanisms: attentional control, information gathering and monitoring/shifting. We demonstrate the construct and criterion validity of the Cognitive Impulsivity Suite in an online community s le (N = 1,056), show test-retest reliability and between-subjects variability in a face-to-face community s le (N = 63), and replicate the results in a community and clinical s le (N = 578). The results support the theoretical architecture of the attentional control, information gathering and monitoring/shifting constructs. The Cognitive Impulsivity Suite demonstrated incremental criterion validity for prediction of real-world, addiction-related problems and is a promising tool for large-scale research on cognitive impulsivity.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2010
DOI: 10.1016/J.EJPHAR.2009.10.019
Abstract: Many studies have observed relevant executive alterations in polysubstance users but no data have been generated in terms of prevalence of these alterations. Studies of the prevalence of neuropsychological impairment can be useful in the design and implementations of interventional programs for substance abusers. The present study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of neuropsychological impairment in different components of executive functions in polysubstance users enrolled in therapeutic communities. Moreover, we estimated the effect size of the differences in the executive performance between polysubstance users and non substance users in order to know which neuropsychological tasks can be useful to detect alterations in the executive functions. Study results showed a high prevalence of executive function impairment in polysubstance users. Working memory was the component with the highest impairment proportion, followed by fluency, shifting, planning, multi-tasking and interference. Comparisons between user groups showed very similar executive impairment prevalence for all the analyzed executive components. The best discriminating task between users and controls was Arithmetic (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, WAIS-III). Moreover FAS and Ruff Figural Fluency Test was discriminating for fluency, Category Test for shifting, Stroop Colour-Word Interference Test for interference, Zoo Map (Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome, BADS) for planning and Six Elements (BADS) for multi-tasking. The existence of significant prevalence of executive impairment in polysubstance users reveals the need to redirect the actuation policies in the field of drug-dependency towards the creation of treatments addressed at the executive deficits of the participants, which in turn would facilitate the in iduals' compliance and final rehabilitation.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 09-12-2009
Abstract: Several studies have shown alterations in different components of executive functioning in users of different drugs, including cannabis, cocaine and heroin. However, it is difficult to establish a specific association between the use of each of these drugs and executive alterations, since most drug abusers are polysubstance abusers, and alcohol is a ubiquitous confounding factor. Moreover, in order to study the association between consumption of different drugs and executive functioning, the patterns of quantity and duration of drugs used must be considered, given the association between these parameters and the executive functioning alteration degree. Based on the multicomponent approach to executive functions, the aims of the present study were: (i) to analyse the differential contribution of alcohol versus cocaine, heroin and cannabis use on executive functions performance and (ii) to analyse the contribution made by the severity of the different drugs used (quantity and duration patterns) on these functions in a s le of polysubstance abusers that requested treatment for cannabis-, cocaine- or heroin-related problems. We administered measures of fluency, working memory, analogical reasoning, interference, cognitive flexibility, decision-making and self-regulation to two groups: 60 substance-dependent in iduals (SDIs) and 30 healthy control in iduals (HCIs). SDIs had significantly poorer performance than HCIs across all of the executive domains assessed. Results from hierarchical regression models showed the existence of common correlates of the use of alcohol, cannabis and cocaine on verbal fluency and decision-making common correlates of quantity of cannabis and cocaine use on verbal working memory and analogical reasoning common correlates of duration of cocaine and heroin use on shifting and specific effects of duration of cocaine use on inhibition measures. These findings indicate that alcohol abuse is negatively associated with fluency and decision-making deficits, whereas the different drugs motivating treatment have both generalized and specific deleterious effects on different executive components.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2007
DOI: 10.1016/J.ADDBEH.2006.06.032
Abstract: Chronic abuse of psychoactive substances produces significant deficits in executive control functions (ECF). These deficits are prominent in different domains associated with cognitive impulsivity, including response inhibition and decision-making. The extent and nature of these deficits may depend on the principal substance of abuse. To analyse response inhibition and decision-making performance in abstinent polysubstance abusers (PSA) of cocaine and heroin, and healthy participants. We used univariate and multivariate analyses of variance to compare the performances of cocaine and heroin PSA and healthy controls on several well-validated measures of response inhibition (Stroop, 5-Digit Test and Go/No Go Task) and decision-making (Iowa Gambling Task). Post-hoc exploratory analyses of the results from the Go/No Go task were conducted to examine specific effects of task switching on the pattern of omission/commission errors in the PSA groups. Cocaine but not heroin PSA showed significant deficits on several measures of response inhibition, when compared to controls. Reversal of task contingencies in the Go/No Go task primarily altered the commission error rate in cocaine PSA, and the omission error rate in heroin PSA. In contrast, both cocaine and heroin PSA showed poorer performance on decision-making compared to controls. Assuming the relevance of polysubstance involvement, cocaine abuse seems to differentially correlate with motor impulsivity skills, while both substances seem to be equally linked to the inability to decide advantageously in complex decision-making tasks. Possible discrepancies in the neurological and psychological effects of these drugs are discussed.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2007
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2007.05.025
Abstract: Impulsivity is predominant among users of several drugs of abuse including alcohol, cocaine, and hetamines, and it is considered a risk factor for later development of alcohol and substance abuse and dependence. However, there is little consensus on how impulsivity should be defined and measured, and there are few studies on the relationship between separate dimensions of impulsivity and substance dependence. We used a multidimensional measure of impulsivity (the UPPS scale) to examine differences between 36 in iduals with substance dependence (ISD) and 36 drug-free controls on the dimensions of urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and sensation seeking. In addition, we examined which dimensions of impulsivity better predicted addiction-related problems as measured with the addiction severity index. Results revealed that ISD show high scores on dimensions of urgency, lack of perseverance, and lack of premeditation (effect sizes ranging from 1.10 to 1.96), but not on sensation seeking. Among the different impulsivity dimensions, urgency was the best predictor of severity of medical, employment, alcohol, drug, family/social, legal and psychiatric problems in ISD, explaining 13-48% of the total variance of these indices. Furthermore, urgency scores alone correctly classified 83% of the participants in the ISD group. Urgency is characterized by a tendency to act impulsively in response to negative emotional states. Thus, our results could have important implications for novel treatment approaches for substance dependence focused on emotional regulation.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEUROIMAGE.2016.11.011
Abstract: Overvaluation of palatable food is a primary driver of obesity, and is associated with brain regions of the reward system. However, it remains unclear if this network is specialized in food reward, or generally involved in reward processing. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to characterize functional connectivity during processing of food and monetary rewards. Thirty-nine adults with excess weight and 37 adults with normal weight performed the Willingness to Pay for Food task and the Monetary Incentive Delay task in the fMRI scanner. A data-driven graph approach was applied to compare whole-brain, task-related functional connectivity between groups. Excess weight was associated with decreased functional connectivity during the processing of food rewards in a network involving primarily frontal and striatal areas, and increased functional connectivity during the processing of monetary rewards in a network involving principally frontal and parietal areas. These two networks were topologically and anatomically distinct, and were independently associated with BMI. The processing of food and monetary rewards involve segregated neural networks, and both are altered in in iduals with excess weight.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.PBB.2017.02.003
Abstract: Drug use is a choice with immediate positive outcomes, but long-term negative consequences. Thus, the repeated use of drugs in the face of negative consequences suggests dysfunction in the cognitive mechanisms underpinning decision-making. This cognitive dysfunction can be mapped into three stages: the formation of preferences involving valuation of decision options choice implementation including motivation, self-regulation and inhibitory processes and feedback processing implicating reinforcement learning. This article reviews behavioral studies that have examined alterations in these three stages of decision-making in people with substance use disorders. Relative to healthy in iduals, those with alcohol, cannabis, stimulant and opioid use disorders value risky options more highly during the formation of preferences have a greater appetite for superficially attractive rewards during choice implementation and are both more efficient in learning from rewards and less efficient in learning from losses during feedback processing. These observed decision-making deficits are most likely due to both premorbid factors and drug-induced effects. Because decision-making deficits have been prospectively associated with a greater risk of drug relapse, we advocate for greater research on modulating the component stages that give rise to dysfunctional decision-making in disorders of addiction.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2019
Publisher: Akademiai Kiado Zrt.
Date: 06-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2023
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-02-2005
DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2141.2005.05368.X
Abstract: We have characterized three novel epsilon gamma delta beta-thalassaemia deletions in three English families. Two of the deletions, 114 and 439 kb, removed the entire beta-globin gene complex, including a variable number of flanking olfactory receptor (HOR) genes. The 98-kb deletion extended 90-kb upstream of the epsilon gene to 8 kb upstream of the G gamma-gene, leaving the gamma,delta and beta-genes intact. The 439 kb deletion is the largest deletion reported so far to cause epsilon gamma delta beta-thalassaemia heterozygotes for this deletion were variably affected by neonatal haemolytic anaemia. Two of the deletions were de novo. Breakpoints of all three deletions occurred within regions of L1 or Alu repeats and contained short regions of direct homology between the flanking sequences, a feature that is likely to have contributed to the illegitimate recombinations.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.JSAT.2017.04.014
Abstract: The aim of this study was to examine the association between baseline executive functioning and outcome measure of treatment in 226 cocaine dependent in iduals who initiated treatment in therapeutic communities TCs. The study was conducted across six TCs located in the region of Andalusia (southern Spain). Neuropsychological testing included tests of working memory, reasoning, inhibition, switching, attention interference and decision making. The outcome measures were type of discharge (treatment dropout vs. therapeutic discharge) and clinical impression of the TC outcome (clinically significant vs. non-significant changes). In the present study a prospective comparative design was used. We found significant performance differences on selective executive components which account for the type of discharge: treatment quitters had poorer attention response inhibition and attention switching than non-quitters, and the in iduals who failed to achieve therapeutic objectives had poorer attention interference and inhibitory control than compliers. No significant differences were found between the outcome measure and the neuropsychological performance score on the other tasks. The results provide important information about the impact of executive components on in-treatment follow-up outcomes among dependence disorders in TC.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2008
DOI: 10.1016/J.PSYCHRES.2006.08.001
Abstract: Substance abusers (SA) usually deny or are not aware that they have a problem. Recent neuro-scientific evidence suggests that denial of problems related to drug use can be associated with alterations in frontostriatal systems, which play a critical role in executive functions and self-awareness. In this study, we examined self-awareness of cognitive deficits, which may be indicative of frontostriatal involvement, in a s le of abstinent SA. We administered the self and informant rating forms of the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe) to 38 SA and to 38 designated informants. We conducted three separate mixed design ANOVAs to contrast the discrepancy between SA and informant scores on the three FrSBe subscales both during drug abuse (assessed retrospectively) and during abstinence. We conducted regression analyses to examine the relationship between severity of drug abuse and self-awareness. Results showed that informants' scores were significantly higher than SA's scores on apathy and executive dysfunction during drug abuse, indicating poor awareness of deficits. We found no significant discrepancies between SA's and informants' scores during abstinence. Severity of alcohol and cocaine abuse significantly predicted poorer self-awareness during drug abuse, but not during abstinence. These results may have important implications for prevention and treatment strategies.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-02-2013
DOI: 10.1038/NPP.2013.59
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-04-2014
DOI: 10.1007/S00213-014-3563-9
Abstract: One of the key outstanding challenges in cocaine dependence research is determining who is at risk of relapsing during treatment. We examined whether cognitive decision-making profiles predict objectively (hair) indexed cocaine relapse at 3-month follow-up. Thirty-three cocaine-dependent patients commencing outpatient treatment in a public clinic performed baseline decision-making assessments with the original and variant versions of the Iowa Gambling Task, and provided a 3-cm hair s le 3 months afterwards. Based on Iowa Gambling Tasks' performance cut-offs, 5 patients had intact decision-making skills, 17 patients showed impaired sensitivity to reward or punishment (impairment in one of the tasks), and 9 patients showed insensitivity to future consequences (impairment in both tasks). Based on a 0.3 ng/mg cocaine cut-off, 23 patients were classified as relapsers and 10 as non-relapsers at the 3-month follow-up. Eighty percent of patients with intact decision-making were abstinent at follow-up, whereas 90% of patients with insensitivity to future consequences had relapsed. The two subgroups (relapsers and non-relapsers) showed no significant differences on drug use, comorbidities, or psychosocial function, and significantly differed on verbal but not performance IQ. A regression model including decision-making scores and verbal IQ predicted abstinence status with high sensitivity (95%) and moderately high specificity (81%). These preliminary findings demonstrate that decision-making profiles are associated with cocaine relapse. Moreover, combined decision-making and IQ assessments provide optimal predictive values over stimulant relapse, yielding significant opportunities for clinical translation.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.BIOPSYCH.2015.11.020
Abstract: The food addiction model proposes that obesity overlaps with addiction in terms of neurobiological alterations in the striatum and related clinical manifestations (i.e., craving and persistence of unhealthy habits). Therefore, we aimed to examine the functional connectivity of the striatum in excess-weight versus normal-weight subjects and to determine the extent of the association between striatum connectivity and in idual differences in food craving and changes in body mass index (BMI). Forty-two excess-weight participants (BMI > 25) and 39 normal-weight participants enrolled in the study. Functional connectivity in the ventral and dorsal striatum was indicated by seed-based analyses on resting-state data. Food craving was indicated with subjective ratings of visual cues of high-calorie food. Changes in BMI between baseline and 12 weeks follow-up were assessed in 28 excess-weight participants. Measures of connectivity in the ventral striatum and dorsal striatum were compared between groups and correlated with craving and BMI change. Participants with excess weight displayed increased functional connectivity between the ventral striatum and the medial prefrontal and parietal cortices and between the dorsal striatum and the somatosensory cortex. Dorsal striatum connectivity correlated with food craving and predicted BMI gains. Obesity is linked to alterations in the functional connectivity of dorsal striatal networks relevant to food craving and weight gain. These neural alterations are associated with habit learning and thus compatible with the food addiction model of obesity.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-09-2012
DOI: 10.1111/J.1369-1600.2012.00497.X
Abstract: Cocaine dependence is associated with pronounced elevations of negative affect and deficient regulation of negative emotions. We aimed to investigate the neural substrates of negative emotion regulation in cocaine-dependent in iduals (CDI), as compared to non-drug-using controls, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a re-appraisal task. Seventeen CDI abstinent for at least 15 days and without other psychiatric co-morbidities and 18 intelligence quotient-matched non-drug-using controls participated in the study. Participants performed the re-appraisal task during fMRI scanning: they were exposed to 24 blocks of negative affective or neutral pictures that they should Observe (neutral pictures), Maintain (sustain the emotion elicited by negative pictures) or Suppress (regulate the emotion elicited by negative pictures through previously trained re-appraisal techniques). Task-related activations during two conditions of interest (Maintain>Observe and Suppress>Maintain) were analyzed using the general linear model in SPM8 software. We also performed psychophysiological interaction (PPI) seed-based analyses based on one region from each condition: the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC-Maintain>Observe) and the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG-Suppress>Maintain). Results showed that cocaine users had increased right dlPFC and bilateral temporoparietal junction activations during Maintain>Observe, whereas they showed decreased right IFG, posterior cingulate cortex, insula and fusiform gyrus activations during Suppress>Maintain. PPI analyses showed that cocaine users had increased functional coupling between the dlPFC and emotion-related regions during Maintain>Observe, whereas they showed decreased functional coupling between the right IFG and the amygdala during Suppress>Maintain. These findings indicate that CDI have dysfunctional corticolimbic activation and connectivity during negative emotion experience and re-appraisal.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.APPET.2018.08.031
Abstract: We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess brain regions associated with food choices between appetizing (i.e., high sugar, high fat) and plain food in adolescents with excess weight and those with normal weight. The associations between choice-evoked brain activation and subjective food craving and behavioral food choices were also evaluated. Seventy-three adolescents (aged 14-19 years), classified into excess weight (n = 38) or normal weight (n = 39) groups, participated in the study. We used a food-choice fMRI task, between appetizing and plain food, to analyse brain activation differences between groups. Afterwards, participants assessed their "craving" for each food presented in the scanner. Adolescents with excess weight showed higher brain activation in frontal, striatal, insular and mid-temporal regions during choices between appetizing and standard food cues. This pattern of activations correlated with behavioral food choices and subjective measures of craving. Our findings suggest that adolescents with excess weight have greater food choice-related brain reactivity in reward-related regions involved in motivational and emotional responses to food. Increased activation in these regions is generally associated with craving, and increased dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is specifically associated with appetizing food choices among adolescents with excess weight, which may suggest greater conflict in these decisions. These overweight- and craving-associated patterns of brain activation may be relevant to decision-making about food consumption.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2010
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEUROIMAGE.2018.11.047
Abstract: Cortical thickness and surface area are thought to be genetically unrelated and shaped by independent neurobiological events suggesting that they should be considered separately in morphometric analyses. Although the developmental trajectories of cortical thickness and surface area may differ across brain regions and ages, there is no consensus regarding the relationships of physical fitness with cortical thickness and surface area as well as for its subsequent influence on intelligence. Thus, this study examines: (i) the associations of physical fitness components (i.e., cardiorespiratory fitness, speed-agility and muscular fitness) with overall and regional cortical thickness and surface area (ii) whether body composition indicators (i.e., body mass index, fat-free mass index and fat mass index) mediate these associations and (iii) the association of physical fitness and cortical thickness with intelligence in overweight/obese children. A total of 101 overweight/obese children aged 8-11 years were recruited in Granada, Spain. The physical fitness components were assessed following the ALPHA health-related fitness test battery. T1-weighted images were acquired with a 3.0 Tesla Siemens Magnetom Tim Trio system. We used FreeSurfer software version 5.3.0 to assess cortical thickness (mm) and surface area (mm
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2012.05.038
Abstract: Moral judgments depend on the integration of complex cognitive and emotional processes. Addiction is associated with core deficits in both cognitive and emotional processing, which may jointly lead to utilitarian biases in moral decision-making. We assessed 32 polysubstance dependent males and 32 non-drug using controls using a previously validated moral judgment task, including non-moral scenarios, and moral dilemmas that were either high in emotional salience ("personal scenarios") or low in emotional salience ("impersonal scenarios"). Polysubstance dependent in iduals endorsed more utilitarian choices for personal dilemmas (e.g., smothering a baby to save a group of hidden people during wartime). These choices were also perceived as less difficult. Severity of alcohol use correlated with the proportion of utilitarian judgments. Polysubstance dependent in iduals show a more utilitarian pattern of moral decision-making for personal moral scenarios.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2016
Publisher: UNED - Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia
Date: 03-09-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2011
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2010.12.025
Abstract: The clinical relevance of neuropsychological deficits in addicted in iduals has fostered interest in treatment strategies aimed to effectively target executive and decision-making dysfunction. One of the best-validated interventions for executive dysfunction is Goal Management Training (GMT) (Robertson et al., 2005), an interactive program aimed at improving participants' organization and ability to achieve goals. Mindfulness-based meditation can complement GMT training in order to improve attentional scanning and "reading" of emotional signals involved in adaptive decision-making. In this pilot study we investigated the efficacy of a 7-week program including GMT+Mindfulness (GMT+MF), as compared to standard treatment alone (STx), for reducing executive and decision-making deficits in an outpatient s le of alcohol and polysubstance abusers. Eighteen participants were enrolled in the GMT+MF group, whereas 16 participants formed the STx group both groups were matched for relevant demographic and clinical variables, and pre-treatment degree of executive dysfunction. Results showed that the in iduals enrolled in GMT+MF significantly improved their performance on neuropsychological measures of working memory (Letter Number Sequencing), response inhibition (Stroop) and decision-making (Iowa Gambling Task) after the treatment whereas in iduals enrolled in STx alone failed to show significant changes. These preliminary results indicate that the GMT+MF intervention may be effective in reducing executive and decision-making deficits in polysubstance abusers, and they support future randomized controlled studies aimed at examining the extent to which these improvements may generalize to every day functioning and may affect the capacity of addicted in iduals to achieve and maintain abstinence.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 05-02-2020
Abstract: Impulsive behaviours are a major contributor to global burden of disease. Recent research has criticised measures of cognitive impulsivity for poor reliability and inability to predict real-world behaviours. We address this concern via the development of the Cognitive Impulsivity Suite (CIS), comprising three computerised/online tasks delivered within a harmonised gamified interface. We conceptualise impulsive behaviour as arising from the failure of three distinct mechanisms: attentional control, information gathering, and shifting. Utilising the CIS, we aimed to examine: (1) construct and criterion-related validity in an online s le (N = 1056), (2) test-retest reliability and between-subjects variability in a face-to-face s le (n = 63). Results supported the theoretical architecture of the attentional control, information gathering, and shifting constructs. The three factors were differentially associated with trait-impulsivity facets, and the strength of these associations were substantially higher than previously reported. Furthermore, the CIS demonstrated incremental criterion-related validity for prediction of real-world, addiction-related problems.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-09-2016
DOI: 10.1002/HBM.23407
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-11-2019
DOI: 10.1111/ADB.12575
Abstract: High impulsivity and poor executive function are characteristic of meth hetamine use disorder. High arousal in the impulsive system has been proposed to compromise the executive system's regulating ability (i.e. the dual-systems model). While interaction between these variables may partly explain poor treatment outcomes associated with meth hetamine use disorder, previous research has tended to examine each factor separately. We investigated whether high impulsivity (measured with an impulsive choice task) and poor executive function (measured with a working memory task) predict meth hetamine use (determined by hair s le) in the 6 weeks following treatment commencement. We also investigated whether impulsive choice moderates the relationship between working memory and meth hetamine use. One hundred and eight in iduals with meth hetamine use disorder (75 percent male) were tested within 3 weeks of commencing treatment 80 (74 percent) were followed up 6 weeks following baseline testing. Cognitive measures significantly predicted drug use after controlling for nuisance variables. Working memory was a significant predictor, while impulsive choice was not. The interaction model included working memory as a predictor and impulsive choice as a moderator. This model was significant, as was the interaction term. Working memory significantly predicted levels of meth hetamine use in early treatment, and impulsive choice moderated this relationship. Those with working memory deficits are particularly vulnerable to using greater amounts of meth hetamine. As working memory increased meth hetamine use decreased among in iduals with low/medium delay discounting. Pre-treatment cognitive testing may identify patients at high risk, while remediation of working memory function may be a treatment target for reducing meth hetamine use.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-11-2018
DOI: 10.1111/ADD.14058
Abstract: Meth hetamine dependence is associated with heightened impulsivity and diminished quality of life, but the link between impulsivity and changes in quality of life during treatment has not been examined. We aimed to investigate how different elements of impulsivity predict change in quality of life in the 6 weeks after engaging in treatment. Longitudinal, observational cohort study. Public and private detoxification and rehabilitation facilities in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. One hundred and eight in iduals with meth hetamine dependence (81 male) tested within 3 weeks of commencing treatment 80 (74%) were followed-up at 6 weeks. The Continuous Performance Test-2 measured impulsive action (cognitive and motor impulsivity) the Delay Discounting Task measured impulsive choice. Quality of life was measured with the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale-Brief, which includes social, psychological, physical and environment domains. Control variables included age, gender, estimated IQ, depression severity score, meth hetamine dependence severity score, cannabis dependence severity score and treatment modality. We found that all three forms of impulsivity were significant predictors of change in the social domain: motor impulsivity (β = -0.54, P = 0.013), cognitive impulsivity (β = -0.46, P = 0.029) and impulsive choice (β = -0.26, P = 0.019). Change in the psychological domain was predicted significantly by motor impulsivity (β = -0.45, P = 0.046). Control variables of age and depression were associated significantly with changes in the physical domain. In Australian meth hetamine-dependent in iduals, elevated impulsivity predicts lower improvement of social and psychological quality of life in the first 6-9 weeks of treatment.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.COMPPSYCH.2016.10.005
Abstract: Impulsivity is a construct that is strongly associated with Gambling Disorder (GD). The main objectives in the present study are: 1) to explore the role of sex and age on impulsivity levels in GD patients 2) to identify the relationship of the different impulsivity facets with comorbid psychopathology and other personality traits in GD patients and (3) to assess whether impulsivity is a predictor for the severity of GD. The final s le consisted of 406 consecutive participants. All of them were seeking treatment for GD (88.4% male and 11.6% female) and completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R), the Temperament and Character Inventory-R (TCI-R) as well as other clinical and psychopathological measures. Results show a negative linear trend between age and lower sensation seeking levels as well as lack of premeditation (the higher the age the lower the UPPS-P scores), and a positive linear trend between age and positive urgency (UR) (the higher the age the higher the UPPS-P score). However, no sex differences were found for the assessed impulsivity dimensions. Lack of perseverance was positively associated with obsessive-compulsive symptoms and harm avoidance trait, and negatively related to persistence and self-directedness traits. Positive UR and negative UR were positively correlated with general psychopathology and the total number of DSM-IV criteria, and negatively associated to the following personality traits: self-directedness and cooperativeness. Finally, only the sensation seeking and negative UR of the UPPS-P showed predictive capacity on the severity of the disorder (the higher the impulsivity scores the higher the illness severity). These findings highlight the association between impulsivity traits (measured by the UPPS-P) and GD in a large and consecutively recruited clinical s le with GD, taking into account the variables sex and age.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 12-05-2020
DOI: 10.1101/2020.05.10.087619
Abstract: Obesity has been ascribed to corticostriatal regions taking control over homeostatic areas. To test this assumption, we applied an effective connectivity approach to reveal the direction of information flow between brain regions and the valence of connections (excitatory versus inhibitory) as a function of adiposity and homeostatic state. Forty-one participants (21 overweight/obese) underwent two resting-state fMRI scans: after overnight fasting (hunger) and following a standardised meal (satiety). We used spectral dynamic causal modelling to unravel hunger and adiposity related changes in directed connectivity between cortical, insular, striatal and hypothalamic regions. During hunger, as compared to satiety, we found increased excitation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex over the ventral striatum and hypothalamus, suggesting enhanced top-down modulation compensating energy depletion. Adiposity was associated with increased excitation of the anterior insula over the hypothalamus across the hunger and satiety conditions. The interaction of hunger and adiposity yielded decreased intra-cortical excitation from the dorsolateral to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Our findings suggest that obesity is associated with persistent top-down excitation of the hypothalamus, regardless of homeostatic state, and hunger-related reductions of dorsolateral to ventromedial prefrontal inputs. These findings are compatible with eating without hunger and reduced self-regulation views of obesity. Obesity is a leading contributor to morbidity and mortality. Neurobiological theories propose that, in obese people, corticostriatal regions take over homeostatic areas. Neuroimaging-based functional connectivity is well-poised to unravel such abnormalities by examining between-regions communication, but existing studies have only measured signal covariance, not direction and valence of connectivity. We applied computational modelling to reveal the direction of information flow between brain regions and excitatory/inhibitory valence of connections in obese versus healthy-weight participants. Obesity associated with heightened top-down excitation from the insula to hypothalamus, and reduced excitation within prefrontal regions. Findings have two advantages relative to current knowledge: demonstrate theory-based directional abnormalities, i.e. cortical regions taking over homeostatic areas and inform brain stimulation therapies targeting cortical input to lower-level regions.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-04-2010
DOI: 10.1007/S00213-010-1833-8
Abstract: Rave parties are characterized by high levels of drug use and polysubstance-using patterns that may be especially harmful for psychological and neuropsychological functioning. The aim of this study was to conduct a comprehensive assessment of different aspects of impulsivity and executive functions in a s le of polysubstance-using rave attenders. We collected data from two groups: rave attenders (RvA, n = 25) and drug-free healthy comparison in iduals (HCI, n = 27). RvA were regular users of cannabis, cocaine, meth ethamine, hallucinogens, and alcohol. The assessment protocol included a drug-taking interview, the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, the delay-discounting questionnaire and a set of neuropsychological tests taxing different aspects of executive functions: response speed, working memory, reasoning, response inhibition and switching, self-regulation, decision making, and emotion perception. For impulsivity measures, RvA had significantly elevated scores on lack of perseverance and positive and negative urgency, but did not differ from controls on lack of premeditation or sensation seeking. For neuropsychological functioning, RvA had significantly poorer performance on indices of analogical reasoning, processing speed, working memory, inhibition/switching errors, and decision making, but performed similar to controls on indices of self-regulation, reversal learning, and emotion processing. Peak and binge alcohol and drug use were positively correlated with positive urgency, and negatively correlated with performance on executive indices. Rave attenders have selective alterations of impulsive personality and executive functions. These findings can contribute to delineate the neuropsychological profiles that distinguish recreational polysubstance use from substance dependence.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 20-10-2020
DOI: 10.1101/2020.10.17.20214304
Abstract: Cue reactivity is one of the most frequently used paradigms in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of substance use disorders (SUDs). While there have been promising results elucidating the neurocognitive mechanisms of SUDs and SUD treatments, the interpretability and reproducibility of these studies is limited by incomplete reporting of participant characteristics, task design, craving assessment, scanning preparation and analysis decisions in fMRI drug cue reactivity (FDCR) experiments. This h ers clinical translation, not least because systematic review and meta-analysis of published work is difficult. This consensus paper and Delphi study aims to outline the important methodological aspects of FDCR research, present structured recommendations for more comprehensive methods reporting, and review the FDCR literature to assess the reporting of items that are deemed important. Fifty-five FDCR scientists from around the world participated in this study. First, an initial checklist of items deemed important in FDCR studies was developed by several members of the Enhanced NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analyses (ENIGMA) Addiction working group based on a systematic review. Using a modified Delphi consensus method, all experts were asked to comment on, revise or add items to the initial checklist, and then to rate the importance of each item in subsequent rounds. The reporting status of items in the final checklist was investigated in 108 recently published FDCR studies identified through a systematic review. By the final round, 38 items reached the consensus threshold and were classified under 7 major categories: “Participant Characteristics”, “General fMRI Information”, “General Task Information”, “Cue Information”, “Craving Assessment Inside Scanner”, “Craving Assessment Outside Scanner” and “Pre- and Post- Scanning Considerations”. The review of the 108 FDCR papers revealed significant gaps in the reporting of the items considered important by the experts. For instance, while items in the “general fMRI reporting” category were reported in 90.5% of the reviewed papers, items in the “pre- and post-scanning considerations” category were reported by only 44.7% of reviewed FDCR studies. Considering the notable and sometimes unexpected gaps in the reporting of items deemed to be important by experts in any FDCR study, the protocols could benefit from the adoption of reporting standards. This checklist, a living document to be updated as the field and its methods advance, can help improve experimental design, reporting, and the widespread understanding of the FDCR protocols. This checklist can also provide a s le for developing consensus statements for protocols in other areas of task-based fMRI.
Publisher: Socidrogalcohol
Date: 03-2011
Abstract: To investigate the predictive ability of "core addiction-related beliefs" and "craving-related beliefs" on the desire to take drugs based on the cognitive model of addiction. In addition, we analyzed more in depth the influence of duration of abstinence on the degree of identification of participants with these beliefs and the intensity of craving. We used three different questionnaires in order to measure: the intensity of the craving experienced by participants, and the degree to which they identify with "core addiction-related beliefs" and "craving-related beliefs". The s le was made up of 130 drug abusers with different main drugs of choice, course of addiction, duration of abstinence and gender. The "core addiction-related beliefs", together with clinical variables such as the main drug of choice and the duration of abstinence, significantly predicted the intensity of craving experienced by participants. The intensity of craving and the degree to which participants identify with "core addiction-related beliefs" and "craving-related beliefs" differed significantly as a function of duration of abstinence this effect was due to the fact that patients with shorter abstinence periods were more likely to endorse these beliefs. "Core addiction-related beliefs" can significantly predict not only intensity of craving but also the degree to which participants identify with "craving-related beliefs". "Core addiction-related beliefs" constitute the best predictor of intensity of craving across treatment, and may therefore be highly relevant for difficulties in controlling craving, as proposed by the Beck cognitive model of addiction. This association may help to explain why some patients have a persistent desire to take drugs even after protracted abstinence, when a lack of desire for drugs would be expected.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-08-2016
DOI: 10.1111/ACER.13163
Abstract: Relapse is common in alcohol-dependent in iduals and can be triggered by alcohol-related cues in the environment. It has been suggested that these in iduals develop cognitive biases, in which cues automatically capture attention and elicit an approach action tendency that promotes alcohol seeking. The study aim was to examine whether cognitive bias modification (CBM) training targeting approach bias could be delivered during residential alcohol detoxification and improve treatment outcomes. Using a 2-group parallel-block (ratio 1:1) randomized controlled trial with allocation concealed to the outcome assessor, 83 alcohol-dependent inpatients received either 4 sessions of CBM training where participants were implicitly trained to make avoidance movements in response to pictures of alcoholic beverages and approach movements in response to pictures of nonalcoholic beverages, or 4 sessions of sham training (controls) delivered over 4 consecutive days during the 7-day detoxification program. The primary outcome measure was continuous abstinence at 2 weeks postdischarge. Secondary outcomes included time to relapse, frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption, and craving. Outcomes were assessed in a telephonic follow-up interview. Seventy-one (85%) participants were successfully followed up, of whom 61 completed all 4 training sessions. With an intention-to-treat approach, there was a trend for higher abstinence rates in the CBM group relative to controls (69 vs. 47%, p = 0.07) however, a per-protocol analysis revealed significantly higher abstinence rates among participants completing 4 sessions of CBM relative to controls (75 vs. 45%, p = 0.02). Craving score, time to relapse, mean drinking days, and mean standard drinks per drinking day did not differ significantly between the groups. This is the first trial demonstrating the feasibility of CBM delivered during alcohol detoxification and supports earlier research suggesting it may be a useful, low-cost adjunctive treatment to improve treatment outcomes for alcohol-dependent patients.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2012
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2012
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-07-2018
DOI: 10.1002/ERV.2622
Abstract: Obesity is partly driven by unhealthy food choices underpinned by cognitive biases, including approach bias (a tendency to move towards food cues) and delay discounting (a preference for immediate rewards). Cognitive training strategies aimed at modifying these biases, namely, approach-avoidance training (AAT) and episodic future thinking (EFT), may improve food choice. This pilot randomised trial examined the effect of these two trainings, delivered daily for 1 week via smartphone apps, on approach bias for healthy/unhealthy foods, delay discounting for money/food, and hypothetical food choice. Sixty overweight/obese participants (18-45 years) were randomly allocated to AAT, EFT, or control. Outcomes were measured at pretraining, posttraining, and 6-week follow-up. AAT reduced approach bias for unhealthy food and increased healthy food choice. However, EFT did not affect delay discounting or food choice. We conclude that AAT is useful for improving food choice in obesity and that smartphones are a feasible, engaging way to deliver training.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2021
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 29-06-2011
DOI: 10.1017/S003329171100095X
Abstract: Pathological gambling (PG) is a form of behavioural addiction that has been associated with elevated impulsivity and also cognitive distortions in the processing of chance, probability and skill. We sought to assess the relationship between the level of cognitive distortions and state and trait measures of impulsivity in treatment-seeking pathological gamblers. Thirty pathological gamblers attending the National Problem Gambling Clinic, the first National Health Service clinic for gambling problems in the UK, were compared with 30 healthy controls in a case-control design. Cognitive distortions were assessed using the Gambling-Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS). Trait impulsivity was assessed using the UPPS-P, which includes scales of urgency, the tendency to be impulsive in positive or negative mood states. Delay discounting rates were taken as a state measure of impulsive choice. Pathological gamblers had elevated impulsivity on several UPPS-P subscales but effect sizes were largest (Cohen's d .4) for positive and negative urgency. The pathological gamblers also displayed higher levels of gambling distortions, and elevated preference for immediate rewards, compared to controls. Within the pathological gamblers, there was a strong relationship between the preference for immediate rewards and the level of cognitive distortions ( R 2 =0.41). Impulsive choice in the gamblers was correlated with the level of gambling distortions, and we hypothesize that an impulsive decision-making style may increase the acceptance of erroneous beliefs during gambling play.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-04-2011
DOI: 10.1007/S00213-011-2288-2
Abstract: Decision making is thought to play a key role in psychostimulant relapse, but very few studies have addressed the issue of how to counteract decision-making deficits in addicted in iduals. According to the somatic marker framework, pervasive decision-making problems in addicted in iduals may relate to abnormalities in the processing of emotional signals that work to anticipate the prospective outcomes of potential decisions. The present study was conducted to test whether the induction of different emotional states (positive, negative, or drug-related) could either normalize or further impair decision-making performance in male cocaine polysubstance-using in iduals (CPSI), as indexed by the Iowa gambling task (IGT). Forty-two CPSI and 65 healthy control in iduals (all males) were randomly allocated in four affective conditions using a parallel-group design. Participants in the different conditions performed the IGT during exposure to neutral, positive, negative, or drug-related sets of affective images. The results showed that the CPSI exposed to the negative affective context showed a preference for the risk-averse safe choices of the IGT and had a net performance indistinguishable from that of controls. On the other hand, CPSI exposed to positive, drug-related, and neutral contexts showed the typical pattern of disadvantageous performance in the IGT and performed significantly poorer than controls. The impact of the negative mood induction could not be explained in terms of baseline differences in decision-making skills, personality traits related to sensitivity to reward unishment, or trait positive/negative affect. We conclude that negative mood induction can normalize decision-making performance in male CPSI, which may have important implications for the treatment of cocaine use-related disorders.
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2013
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.EURONEURO.2013.04.012
Abstract: Cocaine dependence often co-occurs with Cluster B personality disorders. Since both disorders are characterized by emotion regulation deficits, we predicted that cocaine comorbid patients would exhibit dysfunctional patterns of brain activation and connectivity during reappraisal of negative emotions. We recruited 18 cocaine users with comorbid Cluster B personality disorders, 17 cocaine users without comorbidities and 21 controls to be scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during performance on a reappraisal task in which they had to maintain or suppress the emotions induced by negative affective stimuli. We followed region of interest (ROI) and whole-brain approaches to investigate brain activations and connectivity associated with negative emotion experience and reappraisal. Results showed that cocaine users with comorbid personality disorders had reduced activation of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex during negative emotion maintenance and increased activation of the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the amygdala during reappraisal. Amygdala activation correlated with impulsivity and antisocial beliefs in the comorbid group. Connectivity analyses showed that in the cocaine comorbid group the subgenual cingulate was less efficiently connected with the amygdala and the fusiform gyri and more efficiently connected with the anterior insula during maintenance, whereas during reappraisal the left orbitofrontal cortex was more efficiently connected with the amygdala and the right orbitofrontal cortex was less efficiently connected with the dorsal striatum. We conclude that cocaine users with comorbid Cluster B personality disorders have distinctive patterns of brain activation and connectivity during maintenance and reappraisal of negative emotions, which correlate with impulsivity and dysfunctional beliefs.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2015.01.013
Abstract: Therapeutic community (TC) clients frequently display a pattern of multiple substance use disorders (SUDs) which is associated with poorer treatment outcomes. This study aimed to characterize multiple SUD profiles in patients enrolled in TCs, and examine the association of these profiles with social, medical and psychiatric outcomes. Observational study. We acquired substance use diagnoses and sociodemographic, medical and psychiatric comorbidity data for 4102 patients who had been admitted to six public TCs in Andalusia (Spain) from 2004 to 2012. Latent class analysis was applied to participants' substance use diagnoses, and the resulting classes were associated with social (i.e., education, employment, criminality), medical (i.e., infectious diseases) and psychiatric comorbidity. We found four differentiated profiles of substance use diagnoses among TC patients: cocaine/opiates (Class 1: 37% of participants) cocaine/opiates/benzodiazepines (Class 2: 25.3%) alcohol (Class 3: 24.7%) and cocaine/cannabis/alcohol (Class 4: 12.9%). Classes 1 and 2 were associated with poorer social and medical characteristics. Class 2 was also associated with greater prevalence of impulsive spectrum mental disorders. Class 3 was associated with greater prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders and cognitive dysfunction, and Class 4 was associated with higher prevalence of psychotic illness. Patients admitted to TCs have heterogeneous substance use diagnostic profiles. Profiles involving multiple use of heroin, cocaine, alcohol and benzodiazepines are associated with poorer social and medical function and impulse control disorders. Profiles involving alcohol use and cannabis/cocaine use are associated with cognitive dysfunction and psychotic illness respectively.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-10-2015
DOI: 10.1111/ADB.12318
Abstract: Cocaine dependence frequently co-occurs with personality disorders, leading to increased interpersonal problems and greater burden of disease. Personality disorders are characterised by patterns of thinking and feeling that ert from social expectations. However, the comorbidity between cocaine dependence and personality disorders has not been substantiated by measures of brain activation during social decision-making. We applied functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare brain activations evoked by a social decision-making task-the Ultimatum Game-in 24 cocaine dependents with personality disorders (CDPD), 19 cocaine dependents without comorbidities and 19 healthy controls. In the Ultimatum Game participants had to accept or reject bids made by another player to split monetary stakes. Offers varied in fairness (in fair offers the proposer shares ~50 percent of the money in unfair offers the proposer shares <30 percent of the money), and participants were told that if they accept both players get the money, and if they reject both players lose it. We contrasted brain activations during unfair versus fair offers and accept versus reject choices. During evaluation of unfair offers CDPD displayed lower activation in the insula and the anterior cingulate cortex and higher activation in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and superior frontal and temporal gyri. Frontal activations negatively correlated with emotion recognition. During rejection of offers CDPD displayed lower activation in the anterior cingulate cortex, striatum and midbrain. Dual diagnosis is linked to hypo-activation of the insula and anterior cingulate cortex and hyper-activation of frontal-temporal regions during social decision-making, which associates with poorer emotion recognition.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 11-10-2013
Abstract: High doses of opiate substitution pharmacotherapy are associated with greater treatment retention and lower illicit drug consumption, although the neurobiological bases of these benefits are poorly understood. Dysfunction of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is associated with greater addiction severity and mood dysregulation in opiate users, such that the beneficial effects of substitution pharmacotherapy may relate to normalisation of ACC function. This study aimed to investigate the differential impact of methadone compared with buprenorphine on dorsal ACC biochemistry. A secondary aim was to explore the differential effects of methadone and buprenorphine on dorsal ACC biochemistry in relation to depressive symptoms. Twenty-four heroin-dependent in iduals stabilised on methadone ( n=10) or buprenorphine ( n=14) and 24 healthy controls were scanned using proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and compared for metabolite concentrations of N-acetylaspartate, glutamate/glutamine, and myo-inositol. (1) Methadone was associated with normalisation of dorsal ACC biochemistry (increased N-acetylaspartate and glutamate/glutamine levels, and decreased myo-inositol levels) in a dose-dependent manner (2) buprenorphine-treated in iduals had higher myo-inositol and glutamate/glutamine levels than methadone-treated patients in the right dorsal ACC and (3) myo-inositol levels were positively correlated with depressive symptoms in participants stabilised on buprenorphine. These findings point to a beneficial role of high-dose methadone on dorsal ACC biochemistry, and suggest a link between elevated myo-inositol levels and depressive symptoms in the context of buprenorphine treatment.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.APPET.2016.04.002
Abstract: This study was aimed to investigate if treatment-related success in weight loss (i.e., reductions of BMI and fat percentage) is linked to significant changes in choice evoked brain activity in adolescents with excess weight. Sixteen adolescents with excess weight (age range: 12-18 BMI range: 22-36) performed the Risky-Gains Task during functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) both before and after a 12-week weight loss intervention. Success in weight loss was selectively associated with increased activation in the anterior insula. We concluded that adolescents with the greatest increases in activation of the insula-related interoceptive neural circuitry also show greater reductions in BMI and fat mass.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-09-2011
DOI: 10.1007/S00213-011-2485-Z
Abstract: Research on the relative impact of trait impulsivity vs. drug exposure on neuropsychological probes of response inhibition vs. response perseveration has been posited as a valid pathway to explore the transition between impulsivity and compulsivity on psychostimulant dependence. The objectives of this study are to examine performance differences between cocaine-dependent in iduals (CDI) and healthy comparison in iduals (HCI) on neuropsychological probes of inhibition and perseveration and to examine the predictive impact of trait impulsivity-a proxy of premorbid vulnerability, and severity of cocaine use-a proxy of drug exposure, on CDI's performance. Forty-two CDI and 65 HCI were assessed using the UPPS-P Scale (trait impulsivity), the Stroop and go/no-go (inhibition) and revised-strategy application and probabilistic reversal tests (perseveration). CDI, compared to HCI, have elevated scores on trait impulsivity and perform significantly poorer on inhibition and perseveration, with specific detrimental effects of duration of cocaine use on perseveration. CDI have both inhibition and perseveration deficits both patterns were broadly indicative of orbitofrontal dysfunction in the context of reinforcement learning. Impulsive personality and cocaine exposure jointly contribute to deficits in response perseveration or compulsivity.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2005
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2004.11.006
Abstract: Several studies have reported on neuropsychological status as an important contributing variable in drug abuse rehabilitation outcomes. However, few studies have dealt with cognitive impairment in methadone maintenance patients (MMP), despite the fact that methadone is the most frequently used opioid substitution treatment in European countries. The objective of the present study is to contrast the neuropsychological performance of MMP with that of abstinent heroin abusers (AHA). Participants were matched with respect to age, education, pre-morbid IQ, employment status and lifetime drug abuse, and they underwent a set of tests aimed at assessing visuo-spatial attention, processing speed and executive functions. Although processing speed and attention deficits have previously been the focus of studies with MMP, executive functions have not received a similar degree of attention. The purpose of comparing matched MMP and AHA is two-fold: firstly, to test the differential effects of current opioid consumption and past opioid abuse on cognitive-executive performance and secondly, to assess the potential consequences of opioid-related neuropsychological deficits. Results showed a significantly slower performance by MMP on processing speed, visuo-spatial attention, and cognitive flexibility tests (Five Digit Test (FDT) parts 1 and 3 Oral Trails (OT) parts 1, 2 Interference 2-1), and less accuracy in working memory and analogical reasoning tests extracted from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS III). Effect sizes for significant comparisons ranged from 0.67 to 1. These results seem to suggest that methadone consumption by itself induces significant cognitive impairments that could compromise drug-treatment outcomes in MMP.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 2013
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 20-05-2014
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-08-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41366-021-00918-Y
Abstract: Obesity has been ascribed to corticostriatal regions taking control over homeostatic areas. To test this assumption, we applied an effective connectivity approach to reveal the direction of information flow between brain regions and the valence of connections (excitatory versus inhibitory) as a function of increased BMI and homeostatic state. Forty-one participants (21 overweight/obese) underwent two resting-state fMRI scans: after overnight fasting (hunger) and following a standardised meal (satiety). We used spectral dynamic causal modelling to unravel hunger and increased BMI-related changes in directed connectivity between cortical, insular, striatal and hypothalamic regions. During hunger, as compared to satiety, we found increased excitation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex over the ventral striatum and hypothalamus, suggesting enhanced top-down modulation compensating energy depletion. Increased BMI was associated with increased excitation of the anterior insula over the hypothalamus across the hunger and satiety conditions. The interaction of hunger and increased BMI yielded decreased intra-cortical excitation from the dorso-lateral to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Our findings suggest that excess weight and obesity is associated with persistent top-down excitation of the hypothalamus, regardless of homeostatic state, and hunger-related reductions of dorso-lateral to ventromedial prefrontal inputs. These findings are compatible with eating without hunger and reduced self-regulation views of obesity.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2005
DOI: 10.1016/J.ACN.2004.03.002
Abstract: Our study examined the relation between neuropsychological impairment of executive functions and explanatory styles, according to the Abramson model of learned helplessness in humans, in a s le of substance abusers. Thirty-eight polysubstance abusers were assessed during an abstinence period using a selective neuropsychological battery for the evaluation of the executive functions, as well as the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) for the assessment of the three dimensions of explanatory style: Internality-Externality, Stability-Instability and Globality-Specificity. Multiple regression analyses showed significant relationships among performance on different neuropsychological tasks sensitive to executive functions and characteristic cognitive styles. The results showed the performance on cognitive flexibility and response inhibition tasks is directly related to making more internal attributions for positive situations, and inversely related to the appearance of more stable attributions for negative events. Likewise, adequate performance on working memory tasks was related to development of more global attributions for failures. These results are partially congruent with the learned helplessness model and particularly relevant for the clinical management of substance abusers and the success on the treatment and rehabilitation of these subjects.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.APPET.2015.03.024
Abstract: This study was aimed to examine if adolescent obesity is associated with alterations of insula function as indexed by differential correlations between insula activation and perception of interoceptive feedback versus external food cues. We hypothesized that, in healthy weight adolescents, insula activation will positively correlate with interoceptive sensitivity, whereas in excess weight adolescents, insula activation will positively correlate with sensitivity towards external cues. Fifty-four adolescents (age range 12-18), classified in two groups as a function of BMI, excess weight (n = 22) and healthy weight (n = 32), performed the Risky-Gains task (sensitive to insula function) inside an fMRI scanner, and completed the heartbeat perception task (measuring interoceptive sensitivity) and the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (measuring external eating as well as emotional eating and restraint) outside the scanner. We found that insula activation during the Risky-Gains task positively correlated with interoceptive sensitivity and negatively correlated with external eating in healthy weight adolescents. Conversely, in excess weight adolescents, insula activation positively correlated with external eating and negatively correlated with interoceptive sensitivity, arguably reflecting obesity related neurocognitive adaptations. In excess weight adolescents, external eating was also positively associated with caudate nucleus activation, and restrained eating was negatively associated with insula activation. Our findings suggest that adolescent obesity is associated with disrupted tuning of the insula system towards interoceptive input.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2011.09.025
Abstract: We aimed to explore the association between baseline executive functioning and treatment outcome in Therapeutic Communities (TCs). We used a longitudinal descriptive design: a baseline neuropsychological assessment was performed within the first 30 days of treatment in TCs. Once participants finished or abandoned treatment, the information about time of stay in treatment was computed for each in idual. The study was conducted across six TCs located in the region of Andalusia (Spain): Cartaya, Almonte, Mijas, Los Palacios, La Línea, and Tarifa. Participants were 131 patients with cocaine dependence who initiated and finished treatment in TCs between January 2009 and December 2010 (2 years). Cognitive assessment was composed of general measures of executive functioning: Letter Number Sequencing (working memory) and Similarities (reasoning), and executive tasks sensitive to ventromedial prefrontal cortex dysfunction, including the Delis-Kaplan Stroop test (inhibition/cognitive switching), the Revised-Strategy Application Test (strategy application/multitasking), and the Iowa Gambling Task (decision-making). The outcome measure was retention, defined as time in TC treatment (number of days). Poor executive functioning significantly predicted shorter treatment retention in cocaine dependent in iduals on TC residential treatment (14% of explained variance). Reduced performance on the R-SAT, a multitasking test taxing the ability to develop and apply the best strategy to organize multiple sub-routine tasks in order to achieve a long-term goal, was the most powerful predictor of treatment retention. Self-regulation deficits predict the capacity to remain in residential treatment among cocaine dependents.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 30-08-2022
Abstract: Impulsivity and self-control are central in theories and empirical research concerning addiction, substance use, psychopathology, organisational behaviour, among many. Despite their importance, researchers disagree about the definition and measurement of these constructs. A common method for measuring impulsivity or self-control is inspired by time preferences. Accordingly, preferences for smaller rewards received sooner, over larger rewards received later, have historically been linked to impulsivity and self-control. This paper investigates whether impulsivity and self-control are measured by time preference parameters obtained through intertemporal choice paradigms. We first provide a historical overview of research on time preferences tracking the theoretical link between intertemporal choice, impulsivity and self-control. Conceptualising impulsivity and self-control building on various disciplines, we consider whether impulsivity and self-control concern time preferences. Using these insights, we suggest a possible direction for formal models of impulsivity and self-control. Our conceptual analysis reveals that impulsivity concerns a lack of reflection on one’s choices, not a lack of concern with the future, and self-control concerns deliberation versus temptation, rather than future-orientedness. People may, and do, use self-control to choose a ‘smaller-sooner’ reward or impulsively select a ‘larger-later’ reward. This implies these constructs cannot be measured using standard intertemporal choice parameters. We suggest that to study impulsivity and self-control in a temporal context, more information is needed about agents’ motivation and deliberation. We propose a future direction for decision-making models with a separate causal role for impulsivity and self-control, providing the basis for a new understanding of how they influence choices across different domains of behaviour.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-08-2014
DOI: 10.1002/HBM.22625
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-2013
DOI: 10.1080/13803395.2013.776011
Abstract: The"dysexecutive syndrome" is composed of a range of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral deficits that are difficult to evaluate using traditional neuropsychological tests. The Multiple Errands Test (MET) was originally developed to systematize the assessment of the more elusive manifestations of the dysexecutive syndrome. The aims of this study were to examining the reliability of the MET and to investigate the predictive ability of its indices to explain a range of "dysexecutive"-related symptoms in everyday life. Thirty patients with acquired brain injury participated in this study. The MET showed an adequate inter-rater reliability and ecological validity. The main performance indices from the MET were able to significantly predict severity of everyday life executive problems, with different indices predicting particular manifestations of different components of executive functions.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-08-2017
DOI: 10.1111/ADD.13942
Abstract: To compare impulsivity, measured using self-report and cognitive tasks in people who ceased smoking without treatment (self-changers) with each of the following groups: (i) smoking non-treatment-seekers, (ii) people in smoking cessation treatment and currently abstinent and (iii) people in smoking cessation treatment but non-abstinent. Cross-sectional, observational study. The smoking cessation unit of a public general hospital, Hospital de Santa Maria, in Lleida, Spain. All participants were from the hospital's catchment area. One hundred and twenty participants, classified in four groups: (1) self-changers (n = 30, 21 females, mean age = 41.50 years), (2) non-treatment-seekers (n = 30, 17 females, mean age = 35.27 years), (3) people in smoking cessation treatment and currently abstinent (n = 30, 17 females, mean age = 48.93 years) and (4) people in smoking cessation treatment but non-abstinent (n = 30, 21 females, mean age = 33.70 years). The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, including measures of non-planning, attentional and motor impulsivity, and two behavioural tasks measuring cognitive inhibition (Stroop test) and choice impulsivity (delay-discounting task). Confounders included sex, age, education, employment, smoking severity, depression and trait and state anxiety. Although not on the other three measures, we found significant group differences on trait non-planning impulsivity and Stroop performance. Self-changers, compared with non-treatment-seekers, had lower non-planning impulsivity (P = 0.018, Cohen's d = 0.62) and better Stroop performance (P = 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.66). Self-changers also had better Stroop performance than participants in treatment and currently abstinent (P = 0.002, Cohen's d = 0.85). People who have stopped smoking without treatment appear to have lower non-planning impulsivity and more effective cognitive inhibition compared with smoking non-treatment-seekers, and better cognitive inhibition than people who cease smoking with treatment aid.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.NEUBIOREV.2012.05.007
Abstract: Interoception refers to a collection of processes by which the state of the body is transmitted back to the brain, giving rise to awareness of the internal milieu, and motivating behavioural responses to homeostatically regulate internal state. Recent work has begun to explore the relevance of this construct to drug addiction: drugs of abuse and drug-related stimuli induce pronounced peripheral changes, and damage to a brain region known to support interoception (the insula) disrupts nicotine dependence. This article critically reviews existing accounts of addiction that suggest impaired interoception contributes to drug abuse. Conceptually, we argue that existing addiction interoception models could be usefully extended by considering (i) the multiple components of the bodily feedback system (signal, perception, and appraisal) and (ii) how in idual differences in these three components impact on cognitive-affective processing in addiction. Empirically, whilst no studies have examined direct behavioural measures of interoception in addicted populations, several indirect lines of experimental work that pertain to this altered interoception hypothesis are presented. Clinical implications are discussed.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 18-09-2014
Abstract: Like drug addiction, pathological gambling (PG) has been associated with impairments in executive functions and alterations in dopaminergic functioning however, the role of dopamine (DA) in the executive profile of PG remains unclear. The aim of this study was to identify whether the DRD2/ANKK1 Taq1A-rs1800497 and the DAT1-40 bp VNTR polymorphisms are associated with cognitive flexibility (measured by Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and Trail Making Test (TMT)) and inhibition response (measured by Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT)), in a clinical s le of 69 PG patients. Our results showed an association between DA functioning and cognitive flexibility performance. The Taq1A A1+ (A1A2/A1A1) genotype was associated with poorer TMT performance ( p 0.05), while DAT1 9-repeat homozygotes displayed better WCST performance ( p 0.05) than either 10-repeat homozygotes or heterozygotes. We did not find any association between the DRD2 or DAT1 polymorphisms and the inhibition response. These results suggested that pathological gamblers with genetic predispositions toward lower availability of DA and D2 receptor density are at a higher risk of cognitive flexibility difficulties. Future studies should aim to shed more light on the genetic mechanisms underlying the executive profile in PG.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-2004
DOI: 10.1023/B:NERV.0000026647.71528.83
Abstract: Chronic consumption of several drugs of abuse (cannabis, stimulants, opioids) has been associated with the presence of neuropsychological impairments in a broad range of functions. Nevertheless, in recent years neuropsychological research on substance abuse has focused on the study of impairments in the executive functions linked to the prefrontal cortex and their influence on the personality, cognitions, and behaviors of the substance abusers. The aim of our review is, first, to summarize the main neuropsychological impairments shown by classic studies, as well as these new discoveries in executive functioning second, to consider the mediating role of neuropsychological status on treatment outcomes and analyze the impact of these impairments in clinical practice with drug addicts and third, to review the principal methodological challenges associated with research in the field of the neuropsychology of substance abuse. We also highlight the convenience of intervening in those functions most relevant to the abusers' persistence in consumption and risk of relapse.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 2014
DOI: 10.1037/NEU0000007
Abstract: Cocaine dependence often co-occurs with personality disorders from Clusters B and C, which are inherently associated with some of the executive dysfunctions found in addiction. We address the question of whether the comorbidity between cocaine dependence and different types of personality disorders is associated with differential profiles of executive deficits compatible with their personality dysfunction. We predicted that the comorbidity with Cluster B disorders would be associated with inhibition and shifting deficits, whereas the comorbidity with Cluster C disorders would be associated with working memory deficits. We tested 107 participants (22 cocaine users with Cluster B disorders, 15 cocaine users with Cluster C disorders, 36 cocaine users without comorbidities, and 34 controls) using tests of working memory, attention, inhibition, and shifting. Groups were statistically matched on IQ and had no Axis I comorbidities (other than substance-related). Based on the performance of the control group, we obtained z-score composite measures of working memory, attention/inhibition, shifting, and global executive impairment. We tested group differences in these composite measures using univariate analyses of variance and Sidak tests corrected for multiple comparisons. Cocaine users with Cluster B disorders had poorer attention/inhibition, whereas cocaine users with comorbid Cluster C disorders had poorer working memory. Cluster B and noncomorbid cocaine users (but not Cluster C users) differed from controls on the global executive impairment measure. The comorbidity between cocaine dependence and personality disorders from Clusters B and C is associated with executive function deficits that are compatible with their respective personality dysfunctions.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2016.04.040
Abstract: We have previously shown that Goal Management Training+Mindfulness Meditation (GMT+MM) improves executive functions in polysubstance users enrolled in outpatient treatment. The aim of this study was to establish if GMT+MM has similar positive effects on executive functions in polysubstance users in residential treatment, and if executive functions' gains transfer to more ecologically valid goal-oriented tasks. Thirty-two polysbustance users were randomly allocated to eight weeks of GMT+MM (n=16) or control, i.e., no-intervention (n=16) both groups received treatment as usual. Outcome measures included performance in laboratory tasks of basic and complex executive functions (i.e., basic: working memory and inhibition complex: planning and self-regulation) and in an ecological task of goal-directed behavior (the Multiple Errands Test - contextualized version, MET-CV) measured post-interventions. Results showed that GMT+MM was superior to control in improving basic measures of working memory (Letter-number sequencing F=4.516, p=0.049) and reflection impulsivity (Information S ling Test F=6.217, p=0.018), along with initial thinking times during planning (Zoo Map Test F=8.143, p=0.008). In addition, GMT+MM was superior to control in improving performance in the MET-CV (task failures F=8.485, p=0.007). Our findings demonstrate that GMT+MM increases reflective processes and the achievement of goals in daily activities, furthermore ecological test can detects changes easily than laboratory tasks.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-01-2007
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2006.05.024
Abstract: In iduals with substance dependence (ISD) frequently show signs of impaired emotion processing, self-regulation and decision-making, even after prolonged abstinence from drug use and partial recovery of other neuropsychological functions. These impairments have been associated with alterations in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in lesion and imaging studies. The aim of this study was to examine the performance of a group of ISD, who had been abstinent for at least 4 months, on a series of emotional perception, self-regulation and decision-making tests sensitive to OFC dysfunction. Thirty ISD (poly-substance abusers in their first year of abstinence) and 35 healthy comparison (HC) participants were in the study. We administered the Ekman Faces Test (EFT), the Revised Strategy Application Test (R-SAT) and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to both ISD and HC. Results showed that the ISD presented significant deficits in the recognition of facial emotional expressions and decision-making as measured by the EFT and the IGT. The ISD also showed poorer strategy awareness, impaired self-regulation and higher impulsivity on the R-SAT. We found significant correlations between the different measures linked to OFC functioning. We did not find significant correlations between length of abstinence and performance on these tests. These results suggest that the evaluation of emotion, self-regulation and decision-making contributes greatly to the characterization of the persistent deficits exhibited by ISD during prolonged abstinence.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2007
DOI: 10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2007.02.010
Abstract: Substance dependence is associated with executive function deficits. However, most available studies have examined the performance of substance dependent in iduals (SDI) on traditional laboratory measures of executive functions, whereas few studies have used ecologically valid assessments with SDI. Our aim was to examine the performance of 37 SDI (poly-substance users) and 37 matched controls on an ecologically valid measure of executive function (the Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome - BADS). We also administered the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) to investigate whether ecological measures were more discriminative than traditional tests in detecting SDI deficits. A related aim was to examine the ability of the BADS (and the WCST) to predict everyday executive problems. Results showed that SDI had widespread deficits on ecological measures of executive function. Conversely, we found no differences between groups on the WCST. Furthermore, the BADS (but not the WCST) predicted everyday problems related to apathy, disinhibition, and executive dysfunction.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 14-05-2012
DOI: 10.3109/02699052.2012.655365
Abstract: To explore the construct validity of the Spanish version of the Frontal Systems Behavioral Scale (FrSBe) using Rasch modelling. Item responses of 245 Spanish subjects were analysed using Rasch analysis: self-rating of 65 participants with TBI or stroke (s le A), family-rating of the same 65 participants (s le B) and self-rating of 115 healthy in iduals (s le C). After removing or grouping several problematic items, the Apathy and the Executive Dysfunction sub-scales were found to be valid measures for s les A and B and the Disinhibition sub-scale was valid for s les B and C. Person Separation Index of reliability of sub-scales was greater than 0.83 for s le B and ∼0.72 for A and C. All items showed disordered threshold categories in s les A and B and five items were ordered in s le C. With a few modifications, the sub-scales of the FrSBe-Spanish version are adequate measures for the assessment of the behavioural syndromes derived from frontal systems dysfunction in persons with brain injury. The family-rating form is preferable to the self-rating form. Only the Disinhibition scale is a valid measure for the behavioural assessment of the normal population. A reduction of response categories is suggested.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 02-02-2015
DOI: 10.1017/S003329171500001X
Abstract: Impulsivity is a hallmark characteristic of substance use disorders. Recently, studies have begun to explore whether increased impulsivity in substance-dependent in iduals (SDIs) is associated with a greater propensity to relapse following treatment. Despite growing recognition of its multidimensional nature, however, most studies have treated impulsivity unilaterally. Accordingly, it remains unclear whether certain facets of impulsivity are more relevant to relapse than others. The aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between multiple facets of impulsivity and short-term relapse in SDIs. As a secondary aim, we explored the role of treatment retention in this relationship. A personality-based impulsivity questionnaire (UPPS) and three neurocognitive tasks of impulsivity [stop-signal task (SST), delay discounting task (DDT) and Iowa gambling task (IGT)] were administered in a heterogeneous s le of 70 SDIs shortly following their entry in an in-patient detoxification programme. Mediation analyses were performed to explore whether the effects of impulsivity on relapse were mediated by treatment retention. Performance on two neurocognitive indices of impulsive choice (i.e. delay discounting and impulsive decision-making) significantly predicted short-term relapse. The effects of delay discounting and impulsive decision-making on relapse propensity were mediated by treatment retention. Neurocognitive indices of impulsivity may be more sensitive to the prediction of relapse than trait-based self-report questionnaires. Post-treatment relapse in SDIs may be reduced by targeting the processes involved in impulsive choice and by improving treatment retention in SDIs with inflated impulsivity.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2010
DOI: 10.1080/00223890903382369
Abstract: Impulsivity is a multifaceted construct central to several forms of psychopathology. Recently, Lynam, Smith, Whiteside, and Cyders (2006) developed the UPPS-P scale, a multidimensional inventory that assesses 5 personality pathways contributing to impulsive behavior: negative urgency, lack of perseverance, lack of premeditation, sensation seeking, and positive urgency. In this study, we aimed (a) to analyze the psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the UPPS-P scale and (b) to explore the relationship between the different dimensions of the UPPS-P scale and conceptually related constructs including trait measures derived from different models of impulsive personality (the Gray's [1987] and Plutchik's [1984] models) and a state measure of cognitive impulsivity, the Delay-Discounting Test (Kirby, Petry, & Bickel, 1999). We administered the UPPS-P scale along with the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (Torrubia, Avila, Molto, & Caseras, 2001), the Plutchik Impulsivity Scale (Plutchik & Van Praag, 1989), and the Delay-Discounting Test to a s le of 150 undergraduate students. Results showed that the Spanish adaptation of the UPPS-P scale have appropriate psychometric properties. Different dimensions of the UPPS-P were differentially associated with predicted conceptually related constructs. We conclude that the Spanish adaptation of the UPPS-P scale is a useful instrument for fine-grained assessment of impulsivity in Spanish-speaking adult population.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 03-06-2016
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-07-2012
DOI: 10.1111/J.1369-1600.2012.00472.X
Abstract: Cocaine addiction is characterized by persistent decision-making deficits, which are linked to structural and functional abnormalities in frontolimbic systems. Moral judgment is as a special instance of decision making, in which both cognitive and emotional signals must be adequately integrated to decide how to resolve moral dilemmas. Here, we employed a moral dilemmas functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task to explore possible alterations of frontolimbic systems in cocaine-dependent subjects. We also explored if these alterations relate to more basic deficits in functional connectivity within these systems during spontaneous resting-state activation. Ten cocaine-dependent subjects and 14 non-drug-using controls participated in the study. Cocaine-dependent subjects were carefully selected to discard potentially confounding co-morbidities, and they underwent a uniform supervised abstinence period of 10 days. Both groups were scanned, and fMRI maps were generated to identify (1) brain response to moral dilemmas and (2) the strength of functional connectivity within frontolimbic systems during resting-state. During the moral dilemmas task, cocaine-dependent subjects showed reduced activation involving frontolimbic structures as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), left insula and brain stem. Connectivity analyses showed that cocaine users had less resting-state functional connectivity between ACC, thalamus, insula and brain stem. These results demonstrate that cocaine-dependent subjects have functional alterations in the frontolimbic systems that support moral judgment and social decision making.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-07-2016
DOI: 10.1111/ADB.12422
Abstract: Cocaine addiction is characterized by impaired self-awareness about cognitive and motivational deficits, leading to poor treatment outcomes. However, there is still limited understanding of the neurophysiological underpinnings of this impairment. We aimed to establish if impaired self-awareness is underpinned by brain structural phenotypes among cocaine-dependent in iduals (CDI). Sixty-five CDI and 65 designated informants completed the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale, and a subs le of 40 CDI were scanned via magnetic resonance imaging. We applied multiple regression models to establish the association between levels of self-awareness indexed by Frontal Systems Behavior Scale's discrepancy scores (i.e. informant ratings minus self-reports of apathy, disinhibition and dysexecutive deficits) and gray matter volumes indexed by magnetic resonance imaging voxel-based measures within five brain regions of interest: anterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), striatum, insula and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). We also examined the neural underpinnings of underestimation versus overestimation of deficits, by splitting the CDI group according to the positive or negative value of their discrepancy scores. We found that poorer self-awareness of apathy deficits was associated with greater gray matter volume in the dorsal striatum, and poorer self-awareness of disinhibition deficits was associated with greater gray matter volume in the OFC in the whole s le. More underestimation and more overestimation of executive deficits were linked to lower DLPFC volume. We show that impaired self-awareness of cognitive and motivational deficits in cocaine addiction has a neural underpinning, implicating striatum, OFC and DLPFC structural phenotypes.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.CONCOG.2015.07.010
Abstract: We examined changes in pain sensitivity in the rubber hand illusion (RHI). Experiment 1 investigated changes in pain tolerance immediately after a "healthy" and "wounded" RHI when immersing the hand in a cold pressor ice bath. There was 19% increased pain tolerance and increased perception detection threshold after the healthy RHI, but 11% reduction after the wounded RHI. Experiment 2 examined pain experience during the wounded RHI with capsaicin-induced hyperalgesia. Pain intensity and unpleasantness was higher on the illusion arm during the synchronous RHI, compared with asynchronous trials. There was no change in pain experience on the control arm, and both arms had similar pain sensitivity after the experiment. Our results highlight the impact of embodying a substitute limb on pain, with increased tolerance and reduced tactile sensitivity when the fake limb is healthy and apparently pain-free, but increased pain sensitivity when the self-attributed limb appears to be wounded.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 29-06-2012
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-07-2014
DOI: 10.1007/S10899-014-9482-1
Abstract: Recent research has proposed that altered reward and punishment sensitivity, heightened impulsivity, and faulty dynamic decision-making are at the core of disordered gambling. However, each of these traits and cognitive aspects dimensionally vary in the normal population, such that the link between in idual differences in these dimensions and gambling use can be ultimately informative to explain disordered gambling. The main aim of the present study was to investigate the contribution of such decision-making-related indices to gambling use parameters in a community s le of college students. Assessment included punishment and reward sensitivity (as measured by the shortened Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire), impulsivity (as measured by the UPPS-P model and a motor inhibition Go/No-go task), and dynamic decision-making [as measured by the probabilistic reversal learning task (PRLT)]. A structured interview was conducted to explore quantitative aspects of the participants gambling habits (gambling presence, gambling frequency, and average amount of money spent in gambling per unit of time). Our results showed the existence of a decision-making profile of gambling, as it naturally occurs in college students, in which sensation seeking is directly and specifically related to gambling presence (gambling, or not gambling at all), punishment sensitivity is inversely related to gambling frequency, and inflexibility in the PRLT specifically predicts the losses accrued because of gambling. These results are compatible with the idea that sensation seeking and punishment insensitivity could increase exposure to gambling activities, whereas reversal learning inflexibility, in people who already gamble, could boost the risk to accumulate losses.
Publisher: Colegio Oficial de Psicologos de Madrid
Date: 2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.APPET.2018.10.009
Abstract: The concept of "food addiction" (FA) has gained popularity in view of clinical and neurobiological overlaps between excessive food intake and addictive disorders. However, no studies have examined the link between FA and striatocortical circuits involved in addictive disorders, or the influence of homeostatic status, which regulates the drive to eat, on these systems. This study aims to investigate changes in striatal functional connectivity between fasted and fed conditions among adults ranging in body mass index (BMI) and FA symptoms. Thirty adults were recruited from the general community and completed self-reported surveys including demographics, FA symptoms using the Yale Food Addiction Scale, as well as height and weight measures, used to determine BMI. Participants completed two 3-T MRI scans, one in a fasted state and one in a fed state. We conducted seed-based analyses to examine between-session ("fasted > fed") change in resting-state functional connectivity of the ventral and dorsal striatum, and its association with FA scores (controlling for BMI). Higher symptoms of FA correlated with greater changes in ventral caudate-hippoc us connectivity between fasted and fed conditions. FA symptoms did not correlate with connectivity in the dorsal caudate circuit. Post-hoc analyses revealed that participants with higher symptoms of FA had ventral caudate-hippoc us hyperconnectivity in the fasted scan only, as well as a significant reduction of this connectivity between the fasted and fed scans. Heightened connectivity in the ventral striatum during a fasted state, which has been linked to reward prediction signals, underpins symptoms of FA. In contrast, connectivity in the dorsal striatum or "habit" system is unrelated to homeostatic status and FA symptoms, and is thus less relevant for subclinical manifestations of FA.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 2013
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-2010
DOI: 10.1038/OBY.2009.475
Abstract: Increasing evidence underscores overlapping neurobiological pathways to addiction and obesity. In both conditions, reward processing of preferred stimuli is enhanced, whereas the executive control system that would normally regulate reward-driven responses is altered. This abnormal interaction can be greater in adolescence, a period characterized by relative immaturity of executive control systems coupled with the relative maturity of reward processing systems. The aim of this study is to explore neuropsychological performance of adolescents with excess weight (n = 27, BMI range 24-51 kg/m(2)) vs. normal-weight adolescents (n = 34, BMI range 17-24 kg/m(2)) on a comprehensive battery of executive functioning tests, including measures of working memory (letter-number sequencing), reasoning (similarities), planning (zoo map), response inhibition (five-digit test (FDT)-interference and Stroop), flexibility (FDT-switching and trail-making test (TMT)), self-regulation (revised-strategy application test (R-SAT)), and decision-making (Iowa gambling task (IGT)). We also aimed to explore personality traits of impulsivity and sensitivity to reward. Independent s le t- and Z Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests showed significant differences between groups on indexes of inhibition, flexibility, and decision-making (excess-weight participants performed poorer than controls), but not on tests of working memory, planning, and reasoning, nor on personality measures. Moreover, regression models showed a significant association between BMI and flexibility performance. These results are indicative of selective alterations of particular components of executive functions in overweight adolescents.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2009
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-09-2017
DOI: 10.1038/IJO.2017.237
Abstract: Unhealthy dietary choices are a major contributor to harmful weight gain and obesity. This study interrogated the brain substrates of unhealthy versus healthy food choices in vivo, and evaluated the influence of hunger state and body mass index (BMI) on brain activation and connectivity. Thirty adults (BMI: 18-38 kg m Selecting between unhealthy and healthy foods elicited significant activation in the hypothalamus, the medial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, the anterior insula and the posterior cingulate. Hunger was associated with higher activation within the ventromedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, as well as lower connectivity between the hypothalamus and both the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and dorsal striatum. Critically, people with higher BMI showed lower activation of the hypothalamus-regardless of hunger state-and higher activation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex when hungry. People who are overweight and obese have weaker activation of brain regions involved in energy regulation and greater activation of reward valuation regions while making choices between unhealthy and healthy foods. These results provide evidence for a shift towards hedonic-based, and away from energy-based, food selection in obesity.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 31-07-2022
DOI: 10.1101/2022.07.28.22278144
Abstract: Substance use disorders (SUD) are associated with cognitive deficits that are not always addressed in current treatments, and this h ers recovery. Cognitive training and remediation interventions are well suited to fill the gap for managing cognitive deficits in SUD. We aimed to reach consensus on recommendations for developing and applying these interventions. Delphi approach with two sequential phases: survey development and iterative surveying of experts. Online study. During survey development, we engaged a group of 15 experts from a working group of the International Society of Addiction Medicine (Steering Committee). During the surveying process, we engaged a larger pool of experts (n=53) identified via recommendations from the Steering Committee and a systematic review. Survey with 67 items covering four key areas of intervention development, i.e., targets, intervention approaches, active ingredients, and modes of delivery. Across two iterative rounds (98% retention rate), the experts reached a consensus on 50 items including: (i) implicit biases, positive affect, arousal, executive functions, and social processing as key targets of interventions (ii) cognitive bias modification, contingency management, emotion regulation training, and cognitive remediation as preferred approaches (iii) practice, feedback, difficulty-titration, bias-modification, goal setting, strategy learning, and meta-awareness as active ingredients and (iv) both addiction treatment workforce and specialized neuropsychologists facilitating delivery, together with novel digital-based delivery modalities. Expert recommendations on cognitive training and remediation for SUD highlight the relevance of targeting implicit biases, reward, emotion regulation, and higher-order cognitive skills via well-validated intervention approaches qualified with mechanistic techniques and flexible delivery options.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.AAP.2018.12.024
Abstract: There is an outstanding need to identify predictors of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) among young adults, particularly women. Impulsivity, or the tendency to act without thinking, is a predictor of DUI, but the specific facets of impulsivity that predict DUI and their interaction with sex differences remain unclear. We aimed to investigate sex differences in the link between impulsivity facets and DUI. Moreover, we sought to replicate previous findings regarding sex differences on impulsivity, and associations between impulsivity facets and DUI. A total of 506 university students participated in the study (males, n = 128 females, n = 378). Participants completed measures of impulsivity (UPPS-P short version), alcohol use (AUDIT-C), frequency of DUI episodes and related perception of risk. The UPPS-P assesses five facets of impulsivity: sensation seeking, (lack of) premeditation and perseverance and positive and negative urgency. Men showed higher sensation seeking and lack of perseverance, alcohol use and DUI frequency and lower risk perception than women. DUI frequency was negatively associated with perception of risk and positively associated with alcohol use and the five impulsivity facets. After controlling for alcohol use and risk perception, only lack of premeditation was associated with DUI frequency in the whole s le. Sensation seeking was positively associated with DUI frequency only in women. The link between lack of premeditation and DUI suggest that pre-drinking planning strategies can contribute to prevent risky driving. In women, specific links between sensation seeking and DUI suggest the need for personality-tailored prevention strategies.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-2021
DOI: 10.1111/ADD.15469
Abstract: To evaluate and compare the effects of three cognitive boosting intervention approaches (computerised cognitive training, cognitive remediation and pharmacological cognitive enhancers) on measures of impulsive action and impulsive choice. Systematic review and meta‐analysis of publications that reported original controlled trials of cognitive boosting interventions. Studies conducted anywhere in the world. No language restrictions were applied. Treatment‐seeking adults with substance use disorder or gambling disorder. Our primary outcome was a reduction in impulsive action or choice on a validated cognitive measure post‐intervention. We assessed risk of bias using the Cochrane Collaboration tool and determined pooled estimates from published reports. We performed random‐effects analyses for impulsive action and impulsive choice outcomes and planned moderator analyses. Of 2204 unique studies identified, 60 were included in the full‐text review. Twenty‐three articles were considered eligible for inclusion in the qualitative synthesis and 16 articles were included in our meta‐analysis. Articles eligible for pooled analyses included five working memory training (computerised cognitive training) studies with 236 participants, three goal management training (cognitive remediation) studies with 99 participants, four modafinil (cognitive enhancer) studies with 160 participants and four galantamine (cognitive enhancer) studies with 131 participants. Study duration ranged from 5 days to 13 weeks, with immediate follow‐up assessments. There were no studies identified that specifically targeted gambling disorder. We only found evidence for a benefit on impulsive choice of goal management training, although only in two studies involving 66 participants (standardised mean difference (SMD) = 0.86 95% CI = 0.49–1.23 P = 0.02 I 2 = 0%, P = 0.95). Cognitive remediation, and specifically goal management training, may be an effective treatment for addressing impulsive choice in addiction. Preliminary evidence does not support the use of computerised cognitive training or pharmacological enhancers to boost impulse control in addiction.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2010
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-11-0002
DOI: 10.1111/JOPY.12686
Abstract: Social processing (SP) deficits manifest across numerous mental disorders. However, this research has been plagued by heterogeneity and a piecemeal approach whereby skills are examined in isolation rather than as part of an integrated cognitive system. Here, we combined two dimensional frameworks of psychopathology to address these limitations. We utilized the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD) to distill trait‐related heterogeneity within a community s le ( n = 200), and the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) ‘Systems for Social Processes’ to comprehensively assess SP. We first applied latent class analyses (LCA) to derive AMPD‐based groups and subsequently contrasted the performance of these groups on a SP test battery that we developed to align with the RDoC SP constructs. Our LCA yielded four distinct subgroups. The recognizable trait profiles and psychopathological symptoms of these classes suggested they were clinically meaningful. The subgroups differed in their SP profiles: one displayed deficits regarding the self , a second displayed deficits in understanding others , a third displayed more severe deficits including affiliation problems, whilst the fourth showed normal performance. Our results support the link between clusters of maladaptive personality traits and distinctive profiles of SP deficits, which may inform research on disorders involving SP dysfunctions.
Publisher: FapUNIFESP (SciELO)
Date: 04-2015
DOI: 10.1590/1980-4415V29N51A20
Abstract: Parte de un trabajo doctoral, enmarcado dentro de la línea de formación de profesores, es analizar las tareas de enseñanza propuestas por docentes en un curso de formación realizado en Chile, en el año 2012, en donde sus participantes tienen que identificar un problema profesional referido a la enseñanza del álgebra y profundizar sobre el mismo diseñando, implementando y analizando tareas matemáticas para una clase. Luego de presentar algunos descriptores de las tareas, con una metodología cualitativa empleamos el análisis de contenido para describir la evolución de las tareas de enseñanza propuestas por dos profesoras participantes de este curso formativo. El análisis de los datos ponen de manifiesto cómo las docentes afrontan un problema de su práctica, incorporando nuevos elementos de actuación respecto al diseño de tareas, incrementando en sus conocimientos, en específico, en relación con la noción de modelación, avanzando en este proceso en su desarrollo profesional.
Start Date: 12-2015
End Date: 10-2019
Amount: $197,662.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2018
End Date: 12-2021
Amount: $328,944.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity