Guillaume SescousseLyon Neuroscience Research Center, French National Centre for Scientific Research
Guillaume Sescousse
PhD
About
88
Publications
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Introduction
Additional affiliations
October 2018 - present
January 2018 - September 2018
Lyon Neuroscience Research Centre
Position
- PostDoc Position
February 2011 - December 2017
Publications
Publications (88)
Background
The hypothesis that dopamine plays an important role in the pathophysiology of pathological gambling is pervasive. However, there is little to no direct evidence for a categorical difference between pathological gamblers and healthy controls in terms of dopamine transmission in a drug-free state. Here we provide evidence for this hypothe...
Importance:
Disrupted reward processing, mainly driven by striatal dysfunction, is a key characteristic of addictive behaviors. However, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have reported conflicting results, with both hypoactivations and hyperactivations during anticipation and outcome notification of monetary rewards in addiction...
Near-misses in gambling games are losing events that come close to a win. Near-misses were previously shown to recruit reward-related brain regions including the ventral striatum, and to invigorate gambling behavior, supposedly by fostering an illusion of control. Given that pathological gamblers are particularly vulnerable to such cognitive illusi...
Pathological gambling is an addictive disorder characterized by a persistent and compulsive desire to engage in gambling activities. This maladaptive behaviour has been suggested to result from a decreased sensitivity to experienced rewards, regardless of reward type. Alternatively, pathological gambling might reflect an imbalance in the sensitivit...
Problématique : Le trouble déficit de l’attention – hyperactivité (TDAH) est caractérisé par une perturbation des fonctions attentionnelles et de la planification des tâches (fonctions exécutives), plus ou moins associée à une hyperactivité - impulsivité. Les psychostimulants, qui ont une action dopaminergique, constituent la principale classe phar...
Enactive cognition emphasizes co‐constructive roles of humans and their environment in shaping cognitive processes. It is specifically engaged in the mental simulation of behaviors, enhancing the connection between perception and action. Here we investigated the core network of brain regions involved in enactive cognition as applied to mental simul...
With the advent of digital technologies, online sports betting is spurring a fast‐growing expansion. In this study, we examined how sports betting availability modulates the brain connectivity of frequent sports bettors with [problem bettors (PB)] or without [non‐problem bettors (NPB)] problematic sports betting. We conducted functional connectivit...
Schizophrenia is characterized by the misattribution of emotional significance to neutral faces, accompanied by overactivations of the limbic system. To understand the disorder’s genetic and environmental contributors, investigating healthy first-degree relatives is crucial. However, inconsistent findings exist regarding their ability to recognize...
Enactive cognition emphasizes co-constructive roles of humans and their environment in shaping cognitive processes. It is specifically engaged in the mental simulation of behaviors, enhancing the connection between perception and action. Here we investigated the core network of brain regions involved in enactive cognition as applied to mental simul...
Enactive cognition emphasizes co-constructive roles of humans and their environment in shaping cognitive processes. It is specifically engaged in the mental simulation of behaviors, enhancing the connection between perception and action. Here we investigated the core network of brain regions involved in enactive cognition as applied to mental simul...
With the advent of digital technologies, online sports betting is spurring a fast-growing expansion. In this study, we examined how sports betting availability modulates the brain connectivity of frequent sports bettors with (problem bettors, PB) or without (non-problem bettors; NPB) problematic sports betting. We conducted functional connectivity...
Given that sexual behavior is usually pleasurable and highly rewarding, it is surprising that there is as yet no known research to empirically assess how premature ejaculation (PE) patients respond to the rewarding aspect of sexual behavior. This study was designed to address this issue by evaluating how these men respond to the anticipation and he...
Given that sexual behavior is usually pleasurable and highly rewarding, it is surprising that there is as yet no known research to empirically assess how premature ejaculation (PE) patients respond to the rewarding aspect of sexual behavior. This study was designed to address this issue by evaluating how these men respond to the anticipation and he...
Brain imaging studies have shown that stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), which plays a pivotal role in high-order cognitive control processes, modulates brain reactivity to reward-related cues. Nevertheless, the impact of contextual factors such as reward availability (the reward that is depicted in the cue exposure tas...
BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS
Formal thought disorder (FTD) is a multidimensional syndrome mainly occurring along the psychosis continuum. Cannabis use is known to increase symptoms of psychosis, particularly positive symptoms. However, the impact of cannabis use on FTD in individuals presenting symptoms along the psychosis continuum remains unclear. T...
Brain imaging studies have shown that stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), which plays a pivotal role in high-order cognitive control processes, modulates brain reactivity to reward-related cues. Nevertheless, the impact of contextual factors such as reward availability (the reward that is depicted in the cue exposure tas...
Psychological theories consider autonomic arousal to be a reinforcer for problem gambling. Structural characteristics such as near-misses, which are non-win events that come close to a real win, have been shown to elicit win-like responses while increasing motivation and gambling persistence. This study investigated the autonomic and subjective res...
Background and aims
Despite the inclusion of the Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder (CSBD) in the International Classification of Diseases, very little is known about the underlying affective and cognitive processes. To fill this gap, we compared CSBD subjects and Healthy-Controls (HC) across negative/positive valence, cognitive and sensorimotor s...
Understanding how the brain processes reward is an important and complex endeavor, which has involved the use of a range of complementary neuroimaging tools, including electroencephalography (EEG). EEG has been praised for its high temporal resolution but, because the signal recorded at the scalp is a mixture of brain activities, it is often consid...
Reduced anticipatory reward-related activity, especially in the ventral striatum (VS), may underly adolescent vulnerability to develop nicotine dependence. It remains unclear whether nicotine uptake caused by environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure, known to be associated with future smoking, might prompt similar changes in the brain's reward sy...
The preservation of our environment requires sustainable ways of thinking and living. This study aimed to explore the core network of brain regions involved in the prospective thinking about (un)sustainable behaviors. We used a neuroimaging cue-exposure paradigm requesting participants (N=86) to report behaviors that were the most feasible for them...
The unprecedented development and ubiquity of sports betting constitutes an emerging public health concern. It is crucial to provide markers that could help to better identify people experiencing sports betting-related harms. The current study investigated whether problem gambling status, sports betting passion, and trait self-control modulate brai...
Neuroimaging studies have shown that, despite the abstractness of music, it may mimic biologically rewarding stimuli (e.g., food) in its ability to engage the brain's reward circuitry. However, due to the lack of research comparing music and other types of reward, it is unclear to what extent the recruitment of reward-related structures overlaps am...
Understanding how the brain processes reward is an important and complex endeavor, which has involved the use of a range of complementary neuroimaging tools, including electroencephalography (EEG). EEG has been praised for its high temporal resolution but, because the signal recorded at the scalp is a mixture of brain activities, it is often consid...
Neuroimaging studies have shown that, despite the abstractness of music, it may mimic biologically rewarding stimuli (e.g. food) in its ability to engage the brain's reward circuity. However, due to the lack of research comparing music and other types of reward, it is unclear to what extent the recruitment of reward-related structures overlaps amon...
Background
Prior work has proposed that major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with a specific cognitive bias: Depressed patients seem to learn more from punishment than reward. This learning bias has been associated with blunting of reward-related neural responses in the striatum. A key question is whether negative learning bias is also pre...
Backgrounds
The classification of addictions and impulse control disorders is changing as reflected in the 11th version of International Classification of Disorders (WHO, 2018). However, studies focusing on direct comparison of structural brain differences in behavioral and substance addictions are limited.
Aim
Here, we contrast gray matter volume...
Name: "Brain mechanisms underlying episodic future thinking of sustainable behaviors";
Data Available on https://openneuro.org/datasets/ds002770/versions/1.0.2;
Number of subject = 86;
Session = 1;
Trials = 72;
Within-group conditions = 2 ("do less" vs. "do more");
BIDSVersion: "1.0.0rc1";
Funding: "This work is supported by Luxembourg National Res...
BACKGROUNDS: The concepts of addictions and impulse control disorders are changing as reflected in the 11thversion of International Classification of Disorders (ICD-11, WHO, 2018). However, studies focusing on direct comparison of structural brain differences in behavioral and substance addictions are limited.AIM: Here we contrast gray matter volum...
Background
While most research into predictors of problematic alcohol use has focused on adolescence, young adults are also at elevated risk, and differ from adolescents and adults in terms of exposure to alcohol and neurodevelopment. Here we examined predictors of alcohol use among young adults at a 1-year follow-up using a broad predictive modell...
Data available at: https://openneuro.org/datasets/ds002513
DATASET DOI: 10.18112/openneuro.ds002513.v1.0.0
BIDS Version: 1.0.0rc1
Files: 522, Size: 30.18GB, Subjects: 65, Session: 1
Available Tasks: cueexposure
Available Modalities: T1w, bold, events, fieldmap
Funding: Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR); CORE – Junior Track [BETHAB]
Learning psycho(bio)logy has developed a solid corpus of evidence and theory regarding behavior control modes. The present article briefly reviews that literature and its influence on recent models in which the transition from goal-directed to compulsive behavior is identified as the main process underlying substance use disorders.
This literature...
Alcohol is mainly consumed in social settings, in which people often adapt their drinking behavior to that of others, also called imitation of drinking. Yet, it remains unclear what drives this drinking in a social setting. In this study, we expected to see stronger brain and behavioral responses to social compared to non‐social alcohol cues, that...
Purpose of Review:
The goal of this review is to provide new insights as to how and why functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research on gambling cue reactivity can contribute to significant progress towards the understanding of gambling disorder. After having offered a detailed description of experimental paradigms and a comprehensive summ...
Aims
Psychotic symptoms can occur in the general population, and alcohol use disorder (AUD) is an identified vulnerability factor. However, it remains unclear how AUD is associated with psychotic symptoms, depending on the underlying psychiatric condition.
We aimed to compare the prevalence of psychotic symptoms among subjects with different types...
Gambling disorder is a serious psychiatric condition characterized by decision-making and reward processing impairments that are associated with dysfunctional brain activity in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). However, it remains unclear whether OFC functional abnormalities in gambling disorder are accompanied by structural abnormalities. We address...
Alcohol is mainly consumed in social settings, in which people often adapt their drinking behavior to that of others, also called imitation of drinking. Yet, it remains unclear what drives this drinking in a social setting. In this study, we expected to see stronger brain and behavioral responses to social compared to non-social alcohol cues, that...
Background
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a natural compound of cannabis, which exerts complex and widespread immunomodulatory, antioxidant, anxiolytic, and antiepileptic properties. Many experimental data suggest that CBD could have several types of application in alcohol use disorder (AUD) and alcohol-related damage on the brain and the liver.
Aim
To pro...
Impaired brain processing of alcohol‐related rewards has been suggested to play a central role in alcohol use disorder. Yet, evidence remains inconsistent and mainly originates from studies in which participants passively observe alcohol cues or taste alcohol. Here, we designed a protocol in which beer consumption was predicted by incentive cues an...
Impulse control disorders (ICDs) in Parkinson's disease (PD) are associated with dopaminergic dysfunction and treatment, but have no satisfactory therapeutic solution. While studies assessing the neurofunctional bases of ICDs are important for advancing our understanding and management of ICDs, they remain sparse and inconsistent. Based on a system...
Most studies that have investigated the brain mechanisms underlying learning have focused on the ability to learn simple stimulus-response associations. However, in everyday life, outcomes are often obtained through complex behavioral patterns involving a series of actions. Parallel learning systems might be important to reduce the complexity of th...
Background
Impaired brain processing of alcohol-related rewards has been suggested to play a central role in alcohol use disorder. Yet, evidence remains inconsistent, and mainly originates from studies in which participants passively observe alcohol cues or taste alcohol. Here we designed a protocol in which beer consumption was predicted by incent...
Gambling disorder is a serious psychiatric condition which is characterized by decision-making and reward processing impairments underlain by dysfunctional brain activity in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). However, it remains unclear whether OFC dysfunction in gambling disorder is associated with structural abnormalities. We addressed this question...
Reports of regional grey matter volume (GMV) anomalies in patients with gambling disorder (PGD) are inconsistent, which can be attributed to methodological disparity and inattention to individual variability. Voxel-based morphometry was used to compare GMV between 25 PGD and 25 healthy controls. Additionally, the study explored associations of inte...
Dopamine has been associated with risky decision-making, as well as with pathological gambling, a behavioral addiction characterized by excessive risk-taking behavior. However, the specific mechanisms through which dopamine might act to foster risk-taking and pathological gambling remain elusive. Here we test the hypothesis that this might be achie...
Dopamine is central to a number of cognitive functions and brain disorders. Given the cost of neurochemical imaging in humans, behavioral proxy measures of dopamine have gained in popularity in the past decade, such as spontaneous eye blink rate (sEBR). Increased sEBR is commonly associated with increased dopamine function based on pharmacological...
Background
Alcohol use is prevalent during emerging adulthood [1]. Most studies investigating reward processing in alcohol users have used alcohol pictures [2] or monetary rewards [3], which are secondary reinforcers. In the current study, we developed a new paradigm based on the well-known Monetary-Incentive-Delay task, in which we crucially used...
Dopamine has been associated with risky decision-making, as well as with pathological gambling, a behavioural addiction characterized by excessive risk-taking behaviour. However, the specific mechanisms through which dopamine might act to foster risk-taking and pathological gambling remain elusive. Here we test the hypothesis that this might be ach...
Increased cognitive distortions (i.e. biased processing of chance, probability and skill) are a key psychopathological process in disordered gambling. The present study investigated state and trait aspects of cognitive distortions in 22 individuals with Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) and 22 healthy controls. Participants completed the Gambling Rela...
Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are often treated with dopaminergic medication. Dopaminergic medication is known to improve both motor and certain nonmotor symptoms, such as depression. However, it can contribute to behavioral impairment, for example, by enhancing risky choice. Here we characterize the computational mechanisms that contribut...
Dopamine is central to a number of cognitive functions and brain disorders. Given the cost of neurochemical imaging in humans, behavioral proxy measures of dopamine have gained in popularity in the past decade, such as spontaneous eye blink rate (sEBR). Increased sEBR is commonly associated with increased dopamine function based on pharmacological...
Most studies that have investigated the brain mechanisms underlying learning have focused on the ability to learn simple stimulus-response associations. However, in everyday life, outcomes are often obtained through complex behavioral patterns involving a series of actions. In such scenarios, parallel learning systems are important to reduce the co...
In Reply Van Holst et al provide a thoughtful comment on our meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies investigating reward processing in addiction.¹ Their letter mainly focuses on 2 methodological points.
The neural mechanisms underlying response inhibition and related disorders are unclear and controversial for several reasons. First, it is a major challenge to assess the psychological bases of behaviour, and ultimately brain–behaviour relationships, of a function which is precisely intended to suppress overt measurable behaviours. Second, response...
The habenula (Hb) is an evolutionary well-conserved structure located in the epithalamus. The Hb receives inputs from the septum, basal ganglia, hypothalamus, anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortex, and projects to several midbrain centers, most importantly the inhibitory rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg) and the excitatory interpedunc...
Pornography consumption is highly prevalent, particularly among young adult males. For some individuals, problematic pornography use (PPU) is a reason for seeking treatment. Despite the pervasiveness of pornography, PPU appears under-investigated, including with respect to the underlying neural mechanisms. Using functional magnetic resonance imagin...
Pornography consumption is highly prevalent, particularly among young adult males. For some individuals, problematic pornography use (PPU) is a reason for seeking treatment. Despite the pervasiveness of pornography, PPU appears under-investigated, including with respect to the underlying neural mechanisms.
Using functional magnetic resonance imagi...
Background:
Depression is one of the most common and debilitating non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). The neurocognitive mechanisms underlying depression in PD are unclear and treatment is often suboptimal.
Methods:
We investigated the role of striatal dopamine in reversal learning from reward and punishment by combining a controlled...
There is an increasing number of neuroimaging studies using visual sexual stimuli (VSS), especially within the emerging field of research on compulsive sexual behaviors (CSB). A central question in this field is whether behaviors such as excessive pornography consumption share common brain mechanisms with widely studied substance and behavioral add...
Background
Depression is one of the most common and debilitating non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The neurocognitive mechanisms underlying depression in PD are unclear and treatment is often suboptimal.
Methods
We investigated the role of striatal dopamine in reversal learning from reward and punishment by combining a controlled med...
Depression, a common non-motor symptom of Parkinson’s disease (PD), is accompanied by impaired decision making and an enhanced response to aversive outcomes. Current strategies to treat depression in PD include dopaminergic medication. However, their use can be accompanied by detrimental side effects, such as enhanced risky choice. The mechanisms u...