Article

Event-related brain potentials as indicator of smoking cue-reactivity

October 1999
Clinical Neurophysiology 110(9):1570-84

Source
PubMed

Authors:

Reactivity to smoking cues, shown previously by autonomic and self-report variables, was investigated in smokers and nonsmokers using event-related brain potentials (ERPs). Average ERPs to 20 color pictures of people smoking and 20 neutral pictures depicting nonsmoking themes, randomly mixed with 4 repetitions/stimulus, were measured from 20 light-moderate smokers and 18 nonsmokers, following a stressor. Smoker status and stimulus type effects on ERPs and principal components factor scores (FS) were tested by repeated-measures ANOVAs. Smokers' N268 showed significant medial and midline smoking cue-reactivity (ERP to smoking-related minus neutral stimuli); while a P300-like, P412, showed significant smoking cue-reactivity over medial and left hemisphere scalp. FS analyses confirmed most of the foregoing. P412 smoking cue-reactivity was correlated with unpleasantness-pleasantness cue-reactivity but not with urge-to-smoke cue-reactivity. Nonsmokers' N268 stimulus differences were not significant, but significant P412 stimulus effects (unconfirmed by FS analyses) were found in central-to-posterior and in left parietal-temporal areas. Smokers' N268 is identified with a process detecting stimuli incongruent with tobacco-addicted states; and P412 smoking cue-reactivity is discussed in terms of an automatic, perceptual-categorization system, consistent with Tiffany's drug-use and Johnson's P300 models. Implications of ERP smoking cue-reactivity for study of tobacco and other addictions are discussed.

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2016

The current study tested whether the amplitude of the P3 event-related potential (ERP) elicited by smoking cues is (a) associated with the degree of self-reported craving reactivity, and (b) moderated by degree of tobacco dependence. Because alcohol and cigarettes are frequently used together, and given recent evidence indicating that individual differences in alcohol sensitivity influence reactivity to alcohol cues, we also investigated whether alcohol sensitivity moderated neural responses to smoking cues. ERPs were recorded from young adult smokers (N = 90) while they participated in an evaluative categorization oddball task involving 3 types of targets: neutral images, smoking-related images, and images of drinking straws. Participants showing larger P3 amplitudes to smoking cues and to straw cues (relative to neutral targets) reported greater increases in craving after cue exposure. Neither smoking status (daily vs. occasional use) nor psychometric measures of tobacco dependence consistently or specifically moderated P3 reactivity to smoking cues. Lower alcohol sensitivity was associated with larger P3 to smoking cues but not comparison straw cues (relative to neutral targets). This effect was further moderated by tobacco dependence, with the combination of lower sensitivity and higher dependence associated with especially pronounced P3 reactivity to smoking cues. The findings suggest the smoking-cue elicited P3 ERP component indexes an approach-oriented incentive motivational state accompanied by a subjective sense of cigarette craving. Self-reported low sensitivity to the pharmacologic effects of alcohol may represent a marker of drug cue reactivity and therefore deserves attention as a potential moderator in smoking cue exposure studies. (PsycINFO Database Record

Cue-reactivity and attentional bias in smokers and non-smokers: an ERP study

Article

Ivo Van den Berg

Effect of Parental Smoking Behavior and Motives on Preadolescents’ Neural Attention to Smoking-Related Cues

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2022

Objective: The goal of the present study was to investigate neural responses to smoking cues in preadolescent children of smokers and nonsmokers. Method: To accomplish this, we recruited 111 8–12-year-old children (Mage = 122.13 months; SD = 17.41; 50 female) and their parents. Participants were presented with 60 pictures of smoking-related and control cues that were matched in color, intensity, and size in random order on a computer screen. Pictures depicted people interacting with the relevant objects or the relevant objects were presented alone. Neural activity in the form of electroencephalogram was recorded during the presentation of the pictures, and event-related potentials elicited by these stimuli were examined. Parents answered questions about how often they smoked cigarettes and about their motives for smoking. Results: Results demonstrated that P3 amplitude was larger to smoking-related cues compared to non-smoking-related cues for children of smokers in the central, parietal, and occipital regions. This effect was only seen for pictures depicting people interacting with the stimuli (e.g., a person holding a cigarette). In contrast, responses did not differ across conditions in children of nonsmokers. Moreover, P3 amplitudes were larger for children of parents who reported that smoking provided greater positive and negative reinforcement. Conclusions: These findings provide important insights about the mechanisms involved in the relationship between parental and child smoking.

Examining Differences in Attentional Bias to Smoking-Related Cues Among Black and White Cigarette Smokers: An Event-Related Potential Pilot Study

Article

Jul 2020
NEUROSCI LETT

Black cigarette smokers experience higher craving, lower cessation rates, and increased health complications from tobacco use than Whites. We examined psychophysiological and behavioral differences in attentional bias to smoking cues between Black and White smokers. Thirty-one participants (Blacks, n = 20; MAge = 45 and Whites, n = 11, MAge = 47.64) discriminated line orientations while ignoring temporally flanking lines and smoking-related, positive-, negative-, and neutral-images as behavioral responses and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. Results revealed a three-way interaction in reaction time among Group (White, Black), Congruity (congruent vs. incongruent flankers) and Cue (smoking-related, positive, negative) factors, F(2,58) = 3.63, p = .03, MSe = .001, η2 = .002. Smoking-related cues yielded the largest congruity effects in Whites, but the smallest congruity effects in Blacks. Random presentation of smoking-related cues (re: baseline) weakened P1 ERP amplitude (125 ms after stimulus onset) in Whites, but not Blacks (Cue x Group x Task, F(3,87) = 3.44, p < .05, MSe = 65.96, η2 = .01), suggesting an early sensory effect of smoking cues in Whites. The difference between Whites and Blacks in P2 amplitude (226 ms; amplitude weaker in Whites) was greatest to the smoking-related cues (Cue x Group, F(3,87) = 2.81, p < .05, MSe = 60.68, η2 = .01), indicating a stronger draw in attention from smoking cues in Whites. Findings suggest White and Black smokers respond differently to smoking-related cues during early sensory processing. Findings need to be replicated.

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2019

Purpose: Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) have been used in addiction studies to evaluate cognitive performance and craving in individuals with Substance Use Dependence (SUD). This paper reviews studies that used ERPs to investigate cue reactivity, inhibitory control and error processing in SUDs to integrate new findings. Materials and Methods: Five abused substances are included in the investigation, i.e. alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, cocaine, and methamphetamine. For each substance, the main recent findings related to the ERPs are specifically discussed, according to the latency of ERPs. Results: Individuals with SUD allocate more attention resources to the cognitive processing of substance related cues, indexed by increased amplitude of middle and late latency ERPs. Laboratory observations also show amplitude enlargement for early latency ERPs. Individuals with SUD reveal a deficiency in the inhibitory control and conscious error processing, indexed by attenuated N2 and Pe amplitude. Conclusion: This study expands the findings of previous related reviews implying that substance abusers allocate more attention resources to drug cues indexed by enlarged P3 and LPP amplitude. Regarding P3 elicited in inhibitory control tasks, there is not still convergent results, while N2 and Pe become attenuated as reported in previous reviews. The cognitive and motor inhibitory component (P3) changes show a controversial result.

Evidence for a differential visual M300 brain response in gamblers

Article

Sep 2018
CLIN NEUROPHYSIOL

Objective: Gambling disorder is the first behavioral addiction recognized in the DSM-5. This marks the growing realization that both behavioral and substance-related addictions are manifestations of an 'addicted brain', displaying similar altered neurophysiological mechanisms. A decreased electrophysiological visual P300 is considered a hallmark effect of substance-related addictions, but has not yet been shown in behavioral addictions. Methods: Magnetoencephalographic recordings of 15 gamblers and 17 controls were taken as they performed a cue-reactivity paradigm in which they passively viewed addiction- and non-addiction-related cues. Results: The main finding of the study is a reduction in the magnetic counterpart of P300 (M300) for gamblers beyond cue condition over frontal regions. Additionally, we found a significant group by cue-type interaction. Gamblers exhibited heightened sensitivity to addiction-related cues in regions corresponding to the frontoparietal attentional network, whereas controls exhibited an opposite effect localized to the right insula. Conclusions: The results suggest that a reduced P300 characterizes addictions in general, not just substance-related addictions, thus providing important neurophysiological support for the inclusion of behavioral addictions in the DSM-5 and in the incentive-sensitization theory. Significance: The study offers important insights into neural mechanisms underlying behavioral addictions, and may assist in developing better prevention and intervention strategies.

Electrophysiological mechanisms of biased response to smoking-related cues in young smokers

Article

Jun 2016

Cigarette smoking during young adult may result in serious health issues in later life. Hence, it is extremely necessary to study the smoking neurophysiological mechanisms in this critical transitional period. However, few studies revealed the electrophysiological mechanisms of cognitive processing biases in young adult smokers. In present study, nineteen young smokers with 12 hours abstinent and 19 matched nonsmokers were recruited. By employing event-related potentials (ERP) measurements during a smoking cue induced craving task, electrophysiological brain responses were compared between the young adult smokers and nonsmokers. The Slow Positive Wave (SPW) amplitude of smoking-related cues was enhanced in young adult smokers compared with nonsmokers. In addition, increased P300/SPW component of smoking-related cues relative to neutral cues were found in young adult smokers. Meanwhile, a positive correlation between Cigarette Per Day (CPD) and the amplitude of ERPs wave (P300/SPW) at anterior (Fz), central (Cz) were observed in young adult smokers. Our findings provided direct electrophysiological evidence for the cognitive processing bias of smoking cue and may shed new insights into the smoking behavior in young adult smokers.

Cerebral Activity to Opposite-Sex Voices Reflected by Event-Related Potentials

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2014
PLOS ONE

Human voice is a gender discriminating cue and is important to mate selection. This study employed electrophysiological recordings to examine whether there is specific cerebral activity when presented with opposite-sex voices as compared to same-sex voices. Male voices and female voices were pseudo-randomly presented to male and female participants. In Experiment 1, participants were instructed to determine the gender of each voice. A late positivity (LP) response around 750 ms after voice onset was elicited by opposite-sex voices, as reflected by a positive deflection of the ERP to opposite-sex voices than that to same-sex voices. This LP response was prominent around parieto-occipital recording sites, and it suggests an opposite-sex specific process, which may reflect emotion- and/or reward-related cerebral activity. In Experiment 2, participants were instructed to press a key when hearing a non-voice pure tone and not give any response when they heard voice stimuli. In this task, no difference were found between the ERP to same-sex voices and that to opposite-sex voices, suggesting that the cerebral activity to opposite-sex voices may disappear without gender-related attention. These results provide significant implications on cognitive mechanisms with regard to opposite-sex specific voice processing.

Emotional Graphic Cigarette Warning Labels Reduce the Electrophysiological Brain Response to Smoking Cues

Article

Dec 2013
ADDICT BIOL

There is an ongoing public debate about the new graphic warning labels (GWLs) that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposes to place on cigarette packs. Tobacco companies argued that the strongly emotional images FDA proposed to include in the GWLs encroached on their constitutional rights. The court ruled that FDA did not provide sufficient scientific evidence of compelling public interest in such encroachment. This study's objectives were to examine the effect of the GWLs on smokers' electrophysiological and behavioral correlates of smoking addiction and to determine whether labels rated higher on the emotional reaction (ER) scale are associated with greater effects. We studied 25 non-treatment-seeking smokers. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants viewed a random sequence of paired images, in which visual smoking (Cues) or non-smoking (non-Cues) images were preceded by GWLs or neutral images. Participants reported their cigarette craving after viewing each pair. Dependent variables were magnitude of P300 ERPs and self-reported cigarette craving in response to Cues. We found that subjective craving response to Cues was significantly reduced by preceding GWLs, whereas the P300 amplitude response to Cues was reduced only by preceding GWLs rated high on the ER scale. In conclusion, our study provides experimental neuroscience evidence that weighs in on the ongoing public and legal debate about how to balance the constitutional and public health aspects of the FDA-proposed GWLs. The high toll of smoking-related illness and death adds urgency to the debate and prompts consideration of our findings while longitudinal studies of GWLs are underway.

The influence of an educational course on language expression and treatment of gaming addiction for massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) players

Article

Apr 2013
COMPUT EDUC

Addiction to Massive Multiple Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) among juveniles has become a serious problem in Korea and has led to legislation prohibiting juveniles from playing games after midnight. One key factor in gaming addiction is the so-called narrative, or story, gamers create for themselves while playing. This study investigated how a course in writing and speaking using narrative characteristics and content borrowed from the MMORPG “Dungeon & Fighter (DF)” influenced language expression and gaming addiction. A total of 59 male high school students who were addicted to online gaming voluntarily participated in an experiment involving an educational course aimed at improving their writing and speaking. Participants were randomly divided into two groups, an experimental group of 27 students and a control group of 32 students (the control group participated in a general course addressing topics and various social issues unrelated to gaming). The experiment consisted of a total of 21 sessions lasting 2 h per day over a period of 2 months. The results of a follow-up examination revealed that participants in the experimental group improved their writing and speaking ability far more than those in the control group. In addition, a pilot ERP study suggested that the educational course in the experiment may reflect how gaming activity is processed in the brain, especially in the fronto-central areas, and thereby influence the course of addiction.

Investigating reinforcement learning processes in depression and substance use disorder: translational, computational and neuroimaging approaches.

Thesis

Full-text available

Jul 2022

Katharina Zühlsdorff

Reinforcement learning (RL) is the process by which an animal utilises its previous experience to improve outcomes of future choices by maximising reward and minimising punishment. This thesis investigates how RL processes are altered in psychiatric disorders such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and substance use disorder (SUD). The neural basis underlying RL is investigated using brain neuroimaging techniques and translational approaches in both rats and humans. Given the importance of RL and implicated cognitive impairments in psychiatric disorders such as cognitive inflexibility, this PhD thesis sets out to integrate relevant computational and neurobiological substrates, an objective that hitherto has not been widely researched. Chapter 3 presents the findings of a longitudinal study to investigate the behavioural and neural consequences of early-life maternal separation in rats as a way of simulating early life stress (ELS) in humans. The question addressed was whether early stress is necessary and sufficient for the development of stress-related behaviours relevant to depression. Animals underwent behavioural testing, including probabilistic reversal learning (PRL) to assess behavioural flexibility, and sequential fMRI to evaluate resting-state functional connectivity. Computational analyses revealed differences in reward and punishment learning rates in males arising from maternal separation (MS) and adulthood stress. In contrast, MS female rats showed differences in the 'stickiness' parameter, a latent variable aligned with a loss of flexibility and habit-like behaviour. Finally, MS females and MS males have opposite directional changes in connectivity, as females show lower functional connectivity from the amygdala to the anterior cingulate cortex, infralimbic cortex and insular cortex compared to males. The subsequent chapter uses a computational approach to investigate latent vulnerability variables in cocaine addiction. A longitudinal dataset acquired in rats was analysed, which involved behavioural phenotyping for several addiction vulnerability traits, including behavioural inflexibility, together with high-resolution MRI brain scans. It was found that future drug-related compulsivity was predicted by higher values of the stickiness parameter, reflecting an increase in perseverative responding commonly found in stimulant-dependent individuals. Structurally, a positive correlation between the volume of the anterior insular cortex and a parameter relating to how subjects explore versus exploit reward options was found. The remaining results chapters involve the analysis of three datasets collected from human participants. Chapter 5 includes data from a study involving PRL run concurrently with fMRI scanning. The participants in this study included healthy controls (HCs), as well as individuals with cocaine use disorder (CUD) and gambling disorder (GD). Contrary to previously published findings, no significant differences in alpha, beta or kappa were observed between controls and the CUD group. However, in pathological gamblers, a significant increase in side stickiness was found, showing that gamblers tend to repeat responding in the same spatial location regardless of the outcome on previous trials. Neurally, there is an altered balance in the tracking of reward and punishment expected value (EV) in GD, as well as a shifted balance in processing positive and negative punishment prediction errors (PPE) in CUD. Reward EV tracking in GD involved greater activity in the middle temporal gyrus, cingulate gyrus, precuneus cortex and amygdala, whereas during punishment EV tracking there was lower activity in the postcentral gyrus, superior parietal lobule and precuneus cortex compared to HCs. In response to positive PPEs, the frontal pole, superior frontal gyrus and cingulate gyrus showed lower activity in patients with CUD than controls, but the same group showed greater activity following negative PPEs in the superior and middle frontal gyrus. Chapter 6 includes behavioural and clinical data from samples of patients with SUD and/or MDD as well as healthy individuals. The main findings of this chapter were that patients with SUD have reduced reinforcement sensitivity and increased stimulus stickiness, as do patients diagnosed with both disorders. No evidence for an association between computationally derived variables and clinical measures (e.g., the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology – IDS) was found. The final results chapter presents a novel behavioural task that measures a different subtype of proactive cognitive flexibility, specifically, how healthy participants make decisions in the face of uncertainty and whether they shift their response when they are given the opportunity to repeat their choice following presentation of unreliable feedback. Participants changed their response more frequently following negative than positive feedback. Significant fMRI activations in the frontal pole, anterior cingulate cortex, frontal orbital cortex, and superior frontal gyrus were found when the response was changed rather than repeated. Furthermore, stronger connectivity between the anterior insula and parts of the occipital cortex was found during repeat trials. Finally, it was shown using a multivariate pattern fMRI analysis that behavioural responses on the next trial could be successfully predicted. The results in this thesis demonstrate the importance of RL in preclinical and clinical psychiatric cohorts. The parameter kappa is identified as a key behavioural marker across species. This parameter is altered as a result of ELS in rodents and can help predict rats that show high-compulsive behaviours on cocaine self-administration paradigms. In humans, kappa is affected in individuals with GD as well as SUD. Brain regions underlying RL parameters, including kappa, in both rodents and humans are identified, particularly highlighting the involvement of the cingulate gyrus in reinforcement learning across species. The results from the reversal learning task studies are then compared with findings from the behavioural and fMRI analyses of a new flexibility task, which extend our knowledge of cognitive flexibility beyond our current understanding of this construct.

Topiramate decreases the salience of motivationally relevant visual cues among smokers with alcohol use disorder

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2022
ALCOHOL CLIN EXP RES

Background There is preliminary evidence that the anticonvulsant topiramate increases the likelihood of both smoking and alcohol abstinence among smokers with alcohol use disorder (AUD), but its therapeutic mechanism has not been determined. We used event‐related potentials (ERPs) to evaluate topiramate's effect on the salience of drug‐related, emotional, and neutral pictorial cues to identify whether one of its potential therapeutic mechanisms involves reduction of the salience of motivationally relevant cues. Methods Participants enrolled in a multisite clinical trial treating smokers with AUD were randomly assigned to receive placebo, low‐dose topiramate (up to 125 mg/day), or high‐dose topiramate (up to 250 mg/day), along with brief behavioral compliance enhancement treatment. A subsample (n = 101) completed ERP assessments at baseline (1 week pre‐medication) and week 5 (5 weeks on medication; 1 week pre‐quit). We assessed the salience of pleasant, unpleasant, cigarette‐related, alcohol‐related, and neutral pictorial cues using the late positive potential (LPP) ERP component and measured self‐reported substance use, reinforcement, craving, and withdrawal. Results Five weeks of high‐dose topiramate treatment decreased LPP amplitudes in response to both emotional (pleasant and unpleasant) and drug‐related cues (alcohol and cigarette), but not to neutral cues. However, results showed that the LPPs were not significant mediators of the relationship between topiramate dose and post‐quit measures of substance use, reinforcement, craving, or withdrawal. Conclusions These findings suggest that high‐dose topiramate (up to 250 mg/day) decreases the motivational salience of both drug‐related and emotional cues among smokers with AUD. However, the nonsignificant mediation analyses preclude any firm conclusions about whether this effect represents one of topiramate's therapeutic mechanisms of action.

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2019

健美王

Neurophysiological Profile of Antismoking Campaigns

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2018
Comput Intell Neurosci

Over the past few decades, antismoking public service announcements (PSAs) have been used by governments to promote healthy behaviours in citizens, for instance, against drinking before the drive and against smoke. Effectiveness of such PSAs has been suggested especially for young persons. By now, PSAs efficacy is still mainly assessed through traditional methods (questionnaires and metrics) and could be performed only after the PSAs broadcasting, leading to waste of economic resources and time in the case of Ineffective PSAs. One possible countermeasure to such ineffective use of PSAs could be promoted by the evaluation of the cerebral reaction to the PSA of particular segments of population (e.g., old, young, and heavy smokers). In addition, it is crucial to gather such cerebral activity in front of PSAs that have been assessed to be effective against smoke (Effective PSAs), comparing results to the cerebral reactions to PSAs that have been certified to be not effective (Ineffective PSAs). The eventual differences between the cerebral responses toward the two PSA groups will provide crucial information about the possible outcome of new PSAs before to its broadcasting. This study focused on adult population, by investigating the cerebral reaction to the vision of different PSA images, which have already been shown to be Effective and Ineffective for the promotion of an antismoking behaviour. Results showed how variables as gender and smoking habits can influence the perception of PSA images, and how different communication styles of the antismoking campaigns could facilitate the comprehension of PSA’s message and then enhance the related impact.

Neurophysiological Measures of the Perception of Antismoking Public Service Announcements Among Young Population

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2018
FRONT HUM NEUROSCI

Tobacco constitutes a global emergency with totally preventable millions of deaths per year and smoking-related illnesses. Public service announcements (PSAs) are the main tool against smoking and by now their efficacy is still assessed through questionnaires and metrics, only months after their circulation. The present study focused on the young population, because at higher risk of developing tobacco addiction, investigating the reaction to the vision of Effective, Ineffective and Awarded antismoking PSAs through: electroencephalography (EEG), autonomic activity variation (Galvanic skin response—GSR- and Heart Rate—HR-) and Eye-Tracking (ET). The employed indices were: the EEG frontal alpha band asymmetry and the frontal theta; the Emotional Index (EI), deriving from the GSR and HR signals matching; the ET Visual Attention (VA) index, based on the ratio between the total time spent fixating an area of interest (AOI) and its area. Smokers expressed higher frontal alpha asymmetry values in comparison to non-smokers. Concerning frontal theta, Awarded PSAs reported the highest values in comparison to both Effective and Ineffective PSAs. EI results highlighted that lowest values were expressed by Heavy Smokers (HS), and Effective PSAs obtained the highest EI values. Finally, concerning the Effective PSAs, regression analysis highlighted a correlation between the number of cigarettes smoked by participants (independent variable) and frontal alpha asymmetry, frontal theta and EI values. ET results suggested that for the Ineffective PSAs the main focus were texts, while for the Effective and Awarded PSAs were the visual elements. Results support the use of methods aimed at assessing the physiological reaction for the evaluation of PSAs images, in particular when considering the smoking habits of target populations.

Нейровизуализации в клинике расстройств, связанных с употреблением психоактивных веществ (введение в проблему)

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2018

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2016
PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY

RationaleGiven that most attempts to quit smoking fail, it is critical to increase knowledge about the mechanisms involved in smoking relapse and resumption (i.e., the increase in smoking over time after a quit attempt). Neurocognitive measures, such as event-related potentials (ERPs), may provide novel insights into smoking relapse and resumption. Objectives The objective of the present study is to investigate the association between smoking relapse and resumption and ERPs reflecting smoking cue reactivity (i.e., P300, LPP), inhibitory control (i.e., N2, P3), and error processing (i.e., error-related negativity (ERN), Pe). Methods Seventy-two smokers viewed smoking and neutral pictures and performed a Go-NoGo and an Eriksen Flanker task, while ERPs were measured using electroencephalography. All smokers started a quit attempt in the week following the laboratory visit. Smoking behavior after the quit attempt was measured at 4, 8, and 12 weeks. Both relapse (i.e., 7-day point prevalence at 12 weeks) and smoking resumption (i.e., the number of cigarettes a day at 4, 8, and 12 weeks) were used as outcome measures. ResultsLogistic regression analyses showed that smaller P3 amplitudes, reflecting brain activation associated with inhibitory control, are related to an increased relapse risk. Latent growth curve analyses showed that reduced post-error slowing, the main behavioral measure reflecting error processing, is associated with stronger smoking resumption. ERPs reflecting smoking cue reactivity were unrelated to smoking relapse or resumption. Conclusions The finding that smaller inhibitory control-related P3 amplitudes are associated with increased relapse risks suggests that strategies to increase inhibitory control in smokers are worth further investigation in the search for more effective smoking cessation interventions.

Tobacco cues in India: An ecological momentary assessment

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2016

Background Tobacco use in India is a major health concern; however, little is known about the influence of tobacco-related social and environmental cues on tobacco use. This study uses ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine real-time tobacco use and exposure to social and environmental cues. Methods In Hyderabad and Kolkata, participants were recruited, and an EMA application was installed on their mobile phones. Momentary prompts (MP) were randomly used to collect real-time information and end-of-day (EOD) prompts gathered retrospective information on daily basis. Besides personal tobacco use, the surveys asked about exposure to social (e.g., presence of others using tobacco) and environmental cues (e.g., visual and olfactory stimuli). Using the data aggregation approach, bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to examine the association of tobacco use and cue exposure. Moderating roles of participants’ socio-demographic characteristics were also tested to gain an in-depth understanding of the relationship. Results Among the 205 participants, around a third (MP, 33.7 %; EOD, 37.6 %) used tobacco at least once during the study period. Tobacco-related social and environmental cues related were commonly reported. In the bivariate models, tobacco use was associated with gender, age, and all the examined social and environmental cues except for seeing restrictions on tobacco use. In the multivariate models, tobacco use was associated with age, gender, seeing others using tobacco, and seeing restrictions on tobacco use. Seeing others in one’s immediate group using tobacco was the strongest predictor of tobacco use in both MP and EOD assessments. Gender and age did not moderate the relationship between cue exposure and tobacco use, although males reported higher tobacco use and cue exposure in general. Conclusions This research provides data on the ubiquity of social and environmental tobacco cues in India. The EMA approach was feasible and informative. Future cessation interventions and advocacy efforts should address the high prevalence of tobacco use and exposure to pro-tobacco use cues especially among Indian males. Health education campaigns for promoting tobacco use restrictions in private places as well as changing the norms of tobacco use in social settings are recommended.

Attentional bias to smoking and other motivationally relevant cues is affected by nicotine exposure and dose expectancy

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2016

We investigated the effects of acute nicotine dose and expected dose on attentional bias (AB) to smoking and affective cues in overnight nicotine-deprived smokers (n=51; 24 women) using a balanced placebo design, which counterbalanced given nicotine dose (Given-NIC vs. Given-DENIC) with instructed nicotine dose expectancy (Told-NIC vs. Told-DENIC). Before and after smoking a study cigarette, smokers completed a vigilance task where they pressed buttons to every third consecutive even or odd digit, while ignoring intermittent smoking, pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral picture distracters. We examined the early posterior negativity (EPN) and late positive potential (LPP) components of the event-related potentials (ERPs) to the distracters, reaction time (RT) to the target digits, and ratings of the study cigarettes. The EPN was sensitive to both given and instructed nicotine dose, while the instructed dose moderated the impact of given dose for the LPP. The RT metrics were sensitive to given but not to instructed dose. The effects of given dose on ratings following cigarette smoking (e.g. enjoyment) were moderated by the instructed dose. The ERP findings suggest that the anticipated effects of nicotine improve attention much like receiving actual nicotine.

An EEG investigation of learning and decision making in smokers

Article

Mar 2014

Chris Retzler

To improve the efficacy of addiction treatments it is important to understand the learning and behavioural processes involved. The experimental work presented here aims to further our understanding of the behaviour and related brain activity of smokers, using a range of experimental paradigms and Electroencephalographic (EEG) techniques. A range of behavioural tasks adapted from the animal literature for use with humans, were utilised to explore the choices made by smokers and the effect of smoking-related cues on drug-seeking behaviour. Tasks included concurrent choice and variations of the Pavlovian to Instrumental Transfer (PIT) task. EEG data was recorded during these experiments, and analysed using Event Related Potential (ERP) and frequency measures, to identify a neural component related to these effects. Resting EEG data was also collected and analysed to investigate the relationship between EEG frequency measures and individual difference measures. Behavioural results broadly replicated those found in both animal and human research; smoking related cues enhanced responding for smoking- related outcomes showing Pavlovian control of Instrumental behaviour. Extinction of the Pavlovian cues did not reduce instrumental responses in the transfer stage of a PIT task. However no ERP or frequency components were found that consistently correlated with these behavioural effects. The resting EEG data showed higher beta levels (less desynchronisation) in those with longer histories of smoking (four years and over) suggestive of either sensitisation or the loss of inhibitory neural control in long term smokers. In summary, the behavioural data adds support to a growing body of literature regarding the effects of cues on the behaviour of addicted individuals. More work and perhaps other techniques need to be utilised in order to explore the neural correlates of these behavioural effects and the resting data suggests a promising route for further research.

ERPs to Alcohol Images among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Female College Freshmen

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2015

Abstract: Research suggests that young women, particularly Latinas, may be at risk for problem drinking during the home-to-college transition. In this study, we used ERP cue-reactivity to explore physiological correlates of alcohol use and expectancies across the freshman year in Hispanic (H) and Non-Hispanic White (N-H) women. In the fall (t1) and spring (t2) semesters of their freshman year of college, 40 women (16 H) reported alcohol use and expectancies. At each session, N200 and P300 ERPs were elicited by two oddball tasks (counterbalanced within session): 1) to detect alcohol targets while ignoring control items (household object distracters) and frequently presented nonsense shapes and 2) to detect object targets while ignoring alcohol distracters and nonsense shapes. P300 amplitude was larger for targets (versus non-targets) and for alcohol images (versus control images), but did not change over time or differ by ethnicity. P300 latency results included time x target and ethnicity x target interactions. Latency differences for target images were attenuated at t2, and N-Hs were more reactive to stimuli classed as targets regardless of whether these depicted alcohol or control images. N200s had higher amplitude and longer latency at t2, suggesting a change with acclimation to the college setting, but did not differ by target status, image type or ethnic group. P300 latency was positively correlated with the personalismo subscale of acculturation indicating that individuals with more social, people-oriented personalities were more distracted by alcohol images when they appeared as non-targets. N200 amplitude was correlated with positive alcohol expectancies, and this pattern changed over time (t1 versus t2), suggesting subtle, expectancy-related changes in alcohol processing as students acclimated to the college setting. Taken together, these results suggest that the cue-reactivity paradigm described here may be a useful tool for examining subtle physiological correlates of college drinking.

A framework combining delta event-related oscillations (EROs) and synchronisation effects

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2009
Comput Intell Neurosci

Time-varying coefficient models for joint modeling binary and continuous outcomes in longitudinal data

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2016
STAT SINICA

Motivated by an empirical analysis of ecological momentary assessment data (EMA) collected in a smoking cessation study, we propose a joint model-ing technique for estimating the time-varying association between two intensively measured longitudinal responses: a continuous one and a binary one. A major challenge in joint modeling these responses is the lack of a multivariate distribution. We suggest introducing a normal latent variable underlying the binary response and factorizing the model into two components: a marginal model for the continuous response, and a conditional model for the binary response given the continuous response. We develop a two-stage estimation procedure and establish the asymptotic normality of the resulting estimators. We also derived the standard error formulas for estimated coefficients. We conduct a Monte Carlo simulation study to assess the finite sample performance of our procedure. The proposed method is illustrated by an empirical analysis of smoking cessation data, in which the important question of interest is to investigate the association between urge to smoke, continuous response , and the status of alcohol use, the binary response, and how this association varies over time.

Reduced neural response to food cues following exercise is accompanied by decreased energy intake in obese adolescents

Article

Oct 2015

Background: Acute exercise has been found to favor a transient anorexigenic effect in obese adolescents. Although the role of some gastro-peptides has been suggested as an explanation for this observed reduced energy intake after exercise, it is unknown whether neural pathways involved in the regulation of food intake are modulated in youth. Methods: Body composition (DXA) and aerobic capacities were assessed in 19 obese adolescent boys. Participants were randomized to remain at rest in a sitting position (CON condition) or to exercise 45 min at 65% of their maximal capacities (EX condition) by the end of the morning. An attentional computer task with electroencephalography recording was completed immediately after the exercise or sitting period to measure an event-related component (P3b) reflecting the level of cognitive engagement in the processing of food cues. A lunch test-meal was offered ad libitum and appetite feelings assessed at regular intervals using visual analogue scales. Results: The 45-minute cycling exercise set at 65% VO2max induced a mean energy expenditure of 399±75 kcal. Both absolute (P<0.05) and relative (P<0.001) subsequent energy intake were significantly reduced after EX (1037±260 kcal and 639±256 kcal respectively) compared with CON (1116±243 kcal and 1011±239 kcal respectively). The energy ingested derived from each macronutrient and self-reported appetite remained unchanged. While the amplitudes of the P3b component evoked by food and non-food visual stimuli were not significantly different during CON, the response to food cues was significantly reduced compared with non-food stimuli after exercise (P<0.01). Discussion: An acute exercise favors decreased neural response to food cues compared with non-food ones in obese adolescents which may contribute to their subsequently reduced energy intake.International Journal of Obesity accepted article preview online, 09 October 2015. doi:10.1038/ijo.2015.215.

Mixed Effects Models for Recurrent Events Data with Partially Observed Time-Varying Covariates: Ecological Momentary Assessment of Smoking

Article

Sep 2015
BIOMETRICS

Cigarette smoking is a prototypical example of a recurrent event. The pattern of recurrent smoking events may depend on time-varying covariates including mood and environmental variables. Fixed effects and frailty models for recurrent events data assume that smokers have a common association with time-varying covariates. We develop a mixed effects version of a recurrent events model that may be used to describe variation among smokers in how they respond to those covariates, potentially leading to the development of individual-based smoking cessation therapies. Our method extends the modified EM algorithm of Steele (1996) for generalized mixed models to recurrent events data with partially observed time-varying covariates. It is offered as an alternative to the method of Rizopoulos, Verbeke, and Lesaffre (2009) who extended Steele's (1996) algorithm to a joint-model for the recurrent events data and time-varying covariates. Our approach does not require a model for the time-varying covariates, but instead assumes that the time-varying covariates are sampled according to a Poisson point process with known intensity. Our methods are well suited to data collected using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), a method of data collection widely used in the behavioral sciences to collect data on emotional state and recurrent events in the every-day environments of study subjects using electronic devices such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) or smart phones.

Abnormal reward functioning across substance use disorders and major depressive disorder: Considering reward as a transdiagnostic mechanism

Article

Feb 2015

Food cue-elicited brain potentials in obese and healthy-weight individuals

Article

Jul 2007

In western societies the abundant availability of rewarding food is believed to contribute considerably to the current obesity epidemic. Obese individuals are assumed to be particularly sensitive and reactive to environmental food cues. Food cue reactivity suggests enhanced processing of food stimuli in the brain. Electrophysiological indices of information processing are event-related potentials (ERP). As is demonstrated in addiction and psychopathology research, amplitudes of long-latency ERPs (P3 and Late Positive Potentials [LPP]) are modulated by the motivational significance of processed information: in cue-exposure paradigms motivationally salient stimuli elicit larger ERP amplitudes than non-relevant stimuli. The present study investigated ERPs (P3, LPP, and an early ERP component between 150 and 300 ms) elicited by pictures of palatable foods and non-food control pictures in an obese (N=20, 4 males, BMI: 36.69±6.47 kg/m2, age: 28.65±6.59 yr) and normal-weight sample (N=20, 4 males; BMI: 22.68±1.53 kg/m2; age: 28.65±6.08 yr). Overall, significantly enlarged ERP amplitudes were observed for food cues as compared to non-food cues at lateral parietal–occipital and lateral central–temporal electrode sites. Particularly parietal–occipital ERP amplitudes correlated positively with self-reported increase of food craving and physiological hunger during the exposure session. However, no differences between obese and normal-weight participants were observed. These findings demonstrate that food information is processed differently in the human brain as compared to non-food information, in a way that reflects the natural reinforcing value of food.

The Motivational Salience of Cigarette-Related Stimuli Among Former, Never, and Current Smokers

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2014

While smokers are known to find smoking-related stimuli motivationally salient, the extent to which former smokers do so is largely unknown. In this study, we collected event-related potential (ERP) data from former and never smokers and compared them to a sample of current smokers interested in quitting who completed the same ERP paradigm prior to smoking cessation treatment. All participants (n = 180) attended 1 laboratory session where we recorded dense-array ERPs in response to cigarette-related, pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral pictures and where we collected valence and arousal ratings of the pictures. We identified 3 spatial and temporal regions of interest, corresponding to the P1 (120-132 ms), early posterior negativity (EPN; 244-316 ms), and late positive potential (LPP; 384-800 ms) ERP components. We found that all participants produced larger P1 responses to cigarette-related pictures compared to the other picture categories. With the EPN component, we found that, similar to pleasant and unpleasant pictures, cigarette-related pictures attracted early attentional resources, regardless of smoking status. Both former and never smokers produced reduced LPP responses to cigarette-related and pleasant pictures compared to current smokers. Current smokers rated the cigarette-related pictures as being more pleasant and arousing than the former and never smokers. The LPP and picture-rating results suggest that former smokers, like never smokers, do not find cigarette-related stimuli to be as motivationally salient as current smokers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Risk assessment and reward processing in problem gambling investigated by event-related potentials and fMRI-constrained source analysis

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2014
BMC PSYCHIATRY

Background The temporo-spatial dynamics of risk assessment and reward processing in problem gamblers with a focus on an ecologically valid design has not been examined previously.Methods We investigated risk assessment and reward processing in 12 healthy male occasional gamblers (OG) and in 12 male problem gamblers (PG) with a combined EEG and fMRI approach to identify group-differences in successively activated brain regions during two stages within a quasi-realistic blackjack game.ResultsBoth groups did not differ in reaction times but event-related potentials in PG and OG produced significantly different amplitudes in middle and late time-windows during high-risk vs. low-risk decisions. Applying an fMRI-constrained regional source model during risk assessment resulted in larger source moments in PG in the high-risk vs. low-risk comparison in thalamic, orbitofrontal and superior frontal activations within the 600-800 ms time window. During reward processing, PG showed a trend to enhanced negativity in an early time window (100-150 ms) potentially related to higher rostral anterior cingulate activity and a trend to centro-parietal group-differences in a later time window (390-440 ms) accompanied by increased superior-frontal (i.e., premotor-related) source moments in PG vs. OG.Conclusions We suggest that problem gambling is characterized by stronger cue-related craving during risk assessment. Reward processing is associated with early affective modulation followed by increased action preparation for ongoing gambling in PG.

Neural Correlates of Sexual Cue Reactivity in Individuals with and without Compulsive Sexual Behaviours

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2014
PLOS ONE

Although compulsive sexual behaviour (CSB) has been conceptualized as a "behavioural" addiction and common or overlapping neural circuits may govern the processing of natural and drug rewards, little is known regarding the responses to sexually explicit materials in individuals with and without CSB. Here, the processing of cues of varying sexual content was assessed in individuals with and without CSB, focusing on neural regions identified in prior studies of drug-cue reactivity. 19 CSB subjects and 19 healthy volunteers were assessed using functional MRI comparing sexually explicit videos with non-sexual exciting videos. Ratings of sexual desire and liking were obtained. Relative to healthy volunteers, CSB subjects had greater desire but similar liking scores in response to the sexually explicit videos. Exposure to sexually explicit cues in CSB compared to non-CSB subjects was associated with activation of the dorsal anterior cingulate, ventral striatum and amygdala. Functional connectivity of the dorsal anterior cingulate-ventral striatum-amygdala network was associated with subjective sexual desire (but not liking) to a greater degree in CSB relative to non-CSB subjects. The dissociation between desire or wanting and liking is consistent with theories of incentive motivation underlying CSB as in drug addictions. Neural differences in the processing of sexual-cue reactivity were identified in CSB subjects in regions previously implicated in drug-cue reactivity studies. The greater engagement of corticostriatal limbic circuitry in CSB following exposure to sexual cues suggests neural mechanisms underlying CSB and potential biological targets for interventions.

Sexual desire, not hypersexuality, is related to neurophysiological responses elicited by sexual images

Article

Jul 2013

Modulation of sexual desires is, in some cases, necessary to avoid inappropriate or illegal sexual behavior (downregulation of sexual desire) or to engage with a romantic partner (upregulation of sexual desire). Some have suggested that those who have difficulty downregulating their sexual desires be diagnosed as having a sexual 'addiction'. This diagnosis is thought to be associated with sexual urges that feel out of control, high-frequency sexual behavior, consequences due to those behaviors, and poor ability to reduce those behaviors. However, such symptoms also may be better understood as a non-pathological variation of high sexual desire. Hypersexuals are thought to be relatively sexual reward sensitized, but also to have high exposure to visual sexual stimuli. Thus, the direction of neural responsivity to sexual stimuli expected was unclear. If these individuals exhibit habituation, their P300 amplitude to sexual stimuli should be diminished; if they merely have high sexual desire, their P300 amplitude to sexual stimuli should be increased. Neural responsivity to sexual stimuli in a sample of hypersexuals could differentiate these two competing explanations of symptoms. Fifty-two (13 female) individuals who self-identified as having problems regulating their viewing of visual sexual stimuli viewed emotional (pleasant sexual, pleasant-non-sexual, neutral, and unpleasant) photographs while electroencephalography was collected. Larger P300 amplitude differences to pleasant sexual stimuli, relative to neutral stimuli, was negatively related to measures of sexual desire, but not related to measures of hypersexuality. Implications for understanding hypersexuality as high desire, rather than disordered, are discussed.

Cue Reactivity in Smokers: An Event-Related Potential Study

Article

Aug 2013

Drugs-of-abuse may increase the salience of drug cues by sensitizing the dopaminergic (DA) system (Robinson & Berridge, 1993), leading to differential attention to smoking stimuli. Event-related potentials (ERPs) have been used to assess attention to smoking cues but not using an ERP component associated with DA-mediated salience evaluation. In this study the DA-related P2a and the P3, were compared in smokers (N=21) and non-smokers (N=21) during an attention selection cue exposure task including both cigarette and neutral images. We predicted that both the P2a and P3 would be larger to targets than non-targets, but larger to non-target cigarette images than non-target neutral images only in the smokers, reflecting smokers' evaluation of smoking stimuli as relevant even when they were not targets. Results indicated that smokers showed behavioral cue reactivity, with more false alarms to cigarette images (responding to cigarette images when they were not targets) than non-smokers; however, both smokers and non-smokers had a larger P2a and P3 to cigarette images. Thus, while smokers showed behavioral evidence of differential salience evaluation of the cigarette images, this group difference was not reflected in differential brain activity. These findings may reflect characteristics of the ERPs (both ERP components were smaller in the smokers), the smoking sample (they were not more impulsive, i.e. reward sensitive, than the non-smokers, in contrast to prior studies) and the design (all participants were aware that the aim of the study was related to smoking).

CLINICAL STUDY: Cocaine craving is associated with electrophysiological brain responses to cocaine‐related stimuli

Article

Sep 2008
ADDICT BIOL

Several studies show that substance dependence disorders are characterized by an enhanced processing of substance-related stimuli. The present study was designed to examine the association between craving levels and selective processing of drug cues in cocaine-dependent patients using event-related brain potentials (ERPs). In abstinent cocaine-dependent patients and a healthy control group, we studied the late positive potential (LPP) amplitudes elicited by neutral and cocaine-related stimuli. The results show that cocaine-dependent patients have an enhanced electrophysiological response in the late LPP time window to cocaine-related stimuli as compared to controls, suggesting an enhanced processing of these stimuli. Most importantly, a robust association was observed between cocaine craving and LPP amplitude. High craving levels were associated with larger LPP amplitudes at central electrode sites in the right hemisphere. These findings are in line with theories linking motivational aspects and appetitive stimulus processing. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that ERPs are a useful index to assess motivational properties of stimuli in cocaine-dependent patients. These findings suggest that electrophysiological measures may have clinical relevance in substance use disorders.

Decomposing the late positive potential to cannabis cues in regular cannabis users: A temporal-spatial principal component analysis

Article

Nov 2023
PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY

Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is increasing in the United States, yet, specific neural mechanisms of CUD are not well understood. Disordered substance use is characterized by heightened drug cue incentive salience, which can be measured using the late positive potential (LPP), an event‐related potential (ERP) evoked by motivationally significant stimuli. The drug cue LPP is typically quantified by averaging the slow wave's scalp‐recorded amplitude across its entire time course, which may obscure distinct underlying factors with differential predictive validity; however, no study to date has examined this possibility. In a sample of 105 cannabis users, temporo‐spatial Principal Component Analysis was used to decompose cannabis cue modulation of the LPP into its underlying factors. Acute stress was also inducted to allow for identification of specific cannabis LPP factors sensitive to stress. Factor associations with CUD severity were also explored. Eight factors showed significantly increased amplitudes to cannabis images relative to neutral images. These factors spanned early (~372 ms), middle (~824 ms), and late (>1000 ms) windows across frontal, central, and parietal‐occipital sites. CUD phenotype individual differences were primarily associated with frontal, middle/late latency factor amplitudes. Acute stress effects were limited to one early central and one late frontal factor. Taken together, results suggest that the cannabis LPP can be decomposed into distinct, temporal‐spatial factors with differential responsivity to acute stress and CUD phenotype variability. Future individual difference studies examining drug cue modulation of the LPP should consider (1) frontalcentral poolings in addition to conventional central‐parietal sites, and (2) later LPP time windows.

A Review of the Effects of Perceived Drug Use Opportunity on Self-Reported Urge

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2001

Although persons addicted to drugs reliably report experiencing cravings or urges during drug cue exposure, less is known about factors that may moderate this effect. This article reviews cue exposure studies with people who smoke, are dependent on alcohol, or are addicted to cocaine or opiates. Perceived drug use opportunity is found to affect urge ratings. Specifically, people who are addicted to substances and who perceive an opportunity to consume their drug of choice report higher urges than do those who do not anticipate being able to use the drug. This factor was proposed to explain why those in treatment for substance dependence report urges that are about half the strength of those in nontreatment settings. The impact of perceived drug use opportunity on urge is considered from a variety of perspectives, including conditioning theories, a cognitive appraisal framework, and motivated reasoning theory. Conceptual and methodological implications of perceived drug use opportunity are addressed.

Attentional Bias and Smoking

Chapter

Jan 2019

Early onset cigarette smokers exhibit greater P300 reactivity to smoking-related stimuli and report greater craving

Article

Mar 2018
BRAIN RES

Adolescence is a period during which a number of critical neuromaturation processes occur and the vulnerability for developing nicotine dependence is extremely high. Thus, early-onset (EO; age < 16 years old), relative to late-onset (LO; age ≥ 16 years old), tobacco smoking may be uniquely deleterious for developmentally immature systems that regulate neural signaling reactivity. This study investigated how age of tobacco smoking onset affects neurophysiological measures of smoking cue reactivity and reported craving in adult smokers. EO smokers (EOS; n = 8; 4 females), LO smokers (LOS; n = 10; 5 females), and healthy non-smokers (HNS; n=10; 5 females) participated in an event-related potential (ERP) cue reactivity study with tactile and image stimuli. Participants handled neutral objects during one interval and smoking-related objects during a second interval. After each interval, they viewed smoking-related, neutral, or arousing images using an oddball paradigm. P300 ERPs and craving for tobacco were recorded during each session. P300 amplitudes were significantly higher in central midline (Cz) channel to smoking, but not neutral or arousing, images after handling smoking objects. Specifically, Cz P300 smoking amplitudes were significantly greater in EOS, relative to LOS and HNS, and associated with greater craving at baseline. There were no other group differences in mood or craving. EOS exhibited greater P300 reactivity to smoking-related stimuli, relative to LOS, suggesting a more sensitized neural response. EO smoking during early neuromaturation may alter neurophysiological signaling involved in responding to smoking-related stimuli, which could impact the outcome of smoking cessation interventions.

Psychiatric Disturbances of Attention

Chapter

Jan 2014

Ronald Cohen

Attentional disturbances occurring among people with four psychiatric conditions will be considered: (1) affective disorders, (2) schizophrenia, (3) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and (4) anxiety/stress disorders. For each of these disorders, the nature and the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms that account for disturbances of attention will be considered. We will also discuss evidence from the field of behavioral medicine that implicates attention as contributing to particular health risk factors, including pain, obesity, physical activity, and substance dependence, particularly smoking and heavy alcohol and drug use.

The Intersection between Neurobiological and Psychological Theories of Substance Use Disorders

Chapter

Sep 2015

Substance use disorders (SUD) rank among the most widespread and costly illnesses nationwide. SUD are characterized by marked dysfunction in reward-seeking behavior. A defining feature of SUD is the excessive pursuit and use of a substance that is disproportionate to the hedonic (pleasurable) impact derived from it. Given that reward-related abnormalities are omnipresent in SUD, it is important to understand the impact abnormalities in reward processing have on these clinical phenomena. This chapter summarizes and synthesizes the findings in reward processing and SUD. First, it provides a brief overview of the basic neuroscience literature on reward. Next, the chapter reviews the specific neural abnormalities that have been identified, to date, within SUD. Finally, it integrates the basic neurobiological patterns with important psychological theories, specifically self-medication and distress tolerance.

Two new neurophysiological indices of cocaine craving: evoked brain potentials and cue modulated startle reflex

Article

Dec 2004
J PSYCHOPHARMACOL

Craving for cocaine is one of the hallmarks of cocaine dependence. One of the problems with craving is its measurement. Traditional psychophysiological indices such as skin conductance and heart rate have yielded contradictory results. These measures of craving were found to correlate only moderately with self-reported craving. In the present study, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and the cue modulated startle response (CMSR) are evaluated as indices for cocaine craving. Twenty-one abstinent cocaine-dependent subjects were divided into high and low cravers group based on the median split of self-reported craving scores. ERPs and CMSR were measured when subjects watched neutral, pleasant, unpleasant and cocaine-related pictures. Overall, it was found that cocaine-dependent subjects showed augmented slow-positive waves (SPWs) of the ERP on the cocaine pictures compared to neutral pictures. Only high cravers showed larger SPWs on the cocaine cues, suggesting an association between cue-elicited SPWs and self-reported cocaine craving. By contrast to the ERP measures, CMSR did not differentiate between cocaine pictures and neutral pictures. In addition, no differences between the low- and high cravers on the CMSR measure were found. The present results show that the evoked-potentials paradigm provides promising results to index cue-elicited craving. The use of startle modulation deserves further investigation.

Responsiveness to Drug Cues and Natural Rewards in Opiate Addiction Associations With Later Heroin Use

Article

Feb 2009
ARCH GEN PSYCHIAT

Context: Although drug cues reliably activate the brain's reward system, studies rarely examine how the processing of drug stimuli compares with natural reinforcers or relates to clinical outcomes. Objectives: To determine hedonic responses to natural and drug reinforcers in long-term heroin users and to examine the utility of these responses in predicting future heroin use. Design: Prospective design examining experiential, expressive, reflex modulation, and cortical/attentional responses to opiate-related and affective stimuli. The opiate-dependent group was reassessed a median of 6 months after testing to determine their level of heroin use during the intervening period. Setting: Community drug and alcohol services and a clinical research facility. Participants: Thirty-three opiate-dependent individuals (mean age, 31.6 years) with stabilized opiate-substitution pharmacotherapy and 19 sex- and age-matched healthy non-drug users (mean age, 30 years). Main Outcome Measures: Self-ratings, facial electromyography, startle-elicited postauricular reflex, and event-related potentials combined with measures of heroin use at baseline and follow-up. Results: Relative to the control group, the opiate-dependent group rated pleasant pictures as less arousing and showed increased corrugator activity, less postauricular potentiation, and decreased startle-elicited P300 attenuation while viewing pleasant pictures. The opiate-dependent group rated the drug-related pictures as more pleasant and arousing, and demonstrated greater startle-elicited P300 attenuation while viewing them. Although a startle-elicited P300 amplitude response to pleasant (relative to drug-related) pictures significantly predicted regular (at least weekly) heroin use at follow-up, subjective valence ratings of pleasant pictures remained the superior predictor of use after controlling for baseline craving and heroin use. Conclusions: Heroin users demonstrated reduced responsiveness to natural reinforcers across a range of psychophysiological measures. Subjective rating of pleasant pictures robustly predicted future heroin use. Our findings highlight the importance of targeting anhedonic symptoms within clinical treatment settings.

The earthquake interference effect and traumatic episodic memory: Evidence from two ERP studies

Article

Jan 2013

Attentional interference effect was related to the characteristics of stimuli, and also connected with survivors' traumatic episodic memory. To test this hypothesis through two modified Stroop test at the same time segment. In Study One, 24 subjects were invited, respectively coming from Chengdu ([Chinese Source]) and Chongqing city ([Chinese Source]). The experimental materials consisted of two kinds of stimulus: earthquake-related words (ERWs)( e.g.,[Chinese Source](aftershock),[Chinese Source](save)), earthquake-unrelated words (EUWs)( e.g.,[Chinese Source](kite),[Chinese Source](fishing)). 16 undergraduates participated another experiment (Study Two), who came from the hardest hit areas of the Wenchuan earthquake. The stimulus consisted of disaster-related words (DRWs) (e.g., (aftershock), (collapse)), rescue-related words (RRWs) (e.g.,[Chinese Source](save),[Chinese Source](salvation)), and earthquake-unrelated words (EUWs) (e.g.,[Chinese Source](kite),[Chinese Source](fishing)).The results indicated that the earthquake interference effect originated from the earthquake episodic and autobiographical memory. The first, earthquake-related stimulus elicited enhancing interference effect for individuals close proximity to earthquake epicenter (Study One). The second, both DRWs and RRWs interfered with the selective attention of survivors in the hardest hit areas without pathological symptoms (Study Two). From this view, making the earthquake episodic memory fade may be conducive to help the survivors recover from the traumatic events.

Drug craving and addiction: Integrating psychological and neuropsychopharmacological approaches

Article

Jul 2003

Ingmar Franken

In the present review, an integrated approach to craving and addiction is discussed, which is based on recent insights from psychology and neuropsychopharmacology. An integrated model explains craving and relapse in humans by the psychological mechanism of "attentional bias" and provides neuropsychopharmacological mechanisms for this bias. According to this model, cognitive processes mediate between drug stimulus and the subject's response to this stimulus and subsequent behavioral response (e.g., drug use, relapse). According to the model, a conditioned drug stimulus produces an increase in dopamine levels in the corticostriatal circuit, in particular the anterior cingulate gyrus, amygdala, and nucleus accumbens, which in turn serves to draw the subject's attention towards a perceived drug stimulus. This process results in motor preparation and a hyperattentive state towards drug-related stimuli that, ultimately, promotes further craving and relapse. Evidence for this attentional bias hypothesis is reviewed from both the psychopharmacological and the neuroanatomical viewpoints. The attentional bias hypothesis raises several suggestions for clinical approaches and further research.

The neuropsychology of attention: Second edition

Book

Dec 2013

Ronald Cohen

It has been 15 years since the original publication of Neuropsychology of Attention. At the time of its publication, attention was a construct that had long been of theoretical interest in the field of psychology and was receiving increased research by cognitive scientists. Yet, attention was typically viewed as a nuisance variable; a factor that needed to be accounted for when assessing brain function, but of limited importance in its own right. There is a need for a new edition of this book within Neuropsychology to present an updated and integrated review of what is know about attention, the disorders that affect it, and approaches to its clinical assessment and treatment. Such a book will provide perspectives for experimental neuropsychological study of attention and also provide clinicians with insights on how to approach this neuropsychological domain. © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014. All rights reserved.

The CHRNA3 rs578776 Variant is Associated with an Intrinsic Reward Sensitivity Deficit in Smokers

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2013

A compromised brain reward system has been postulated as a key feature of drug dependence. We examined whether several polymorphisms of genes found to regulate nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) and dopamine expression were related to an intrinsic reward sensitivity (IRS) deficit we previously identified among a subgroup of smokers using event-related potentials (ERPs). We examined genetic polymorphisms within the CHRNA5-A3-B4 gene cluster (CHRNA3 rs578776, CHRNA5 rs16969968, LOC123688 rs8034191, and CHRNA3 rs1051730), the ANKK1 gene (rs1800497), and the D2 dopamine receptor gene (DRD2 rs1079597, DRD2 rs1799732) from 104 smokers of European ancestry in a smoking cessation trial. Prior to treatment, we recorded ERPs evoked by emotional (both pleasant and unpleasant), neutral, and cigarette-related pictures. Smokers were assigned to two groups (IRS+/IRS−) based on the amplitude of the late positive potential (LPP) component to the pictures, a neural marker of motivational salience. Smokers (n = 42) with blunted brain responses to intrinsically rewarding (pleasant) pictures and enhanced responses to cigarette pictures were assigned to the IRS− group, while smokers (n = 62) with the opposite pattern of LPP responding were assigned to the IRS+ group. Carriers of the protective minor T allele (T/T, C/T) of the CHRNA3 rs578776 were less likely to be members of the IRS− group than those homozygous for the at-risk C allele (C/C). The CHRNA3 rs578776 polymorphism did not differ on questionnaires of nicotine dependence, depressed mood, or trait affective disposition and did not predict abstinence at 6 months after the quit date. These results suggest that polymorphisms of genes influencing nAChR expression are related to an endophenotype of reward sensitivity in smokers.

Cognitive and neuropsychopharmacological processes in human drug craving

Article

Ingmar Franken

Mu suppression as an indicator of activation of the perceptual‐motor system by smoking‐related cues in smokers

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2013
PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY

The goal of the current study was to determine whether activation of the mirror neuron system, as measured by mu rhythm desynchronization, varied as a function of image content in smokers compared with nonsmokers. EEG activity was recorded while participants passively viewed images depicting smoking-related and nonsmoking-related stimuli. In half of the images, cues were depicted alone (inactive), while for the remaining images, cues were depicted with humans interacting with them (active). For the nonsmoking stimuli, smokers and nonsmokers showed greater mu suppression to the active cues compared to the inactive cues. However, for the smoking-related stimuli, smokers showed greater perception-action coupling for the active cues as reflected in their enhanced mu suppression, compared to nonsmokers. The results of the current study support the involvement of the perceptual-motor system in the activation of motivated drug use behaviors.

Brain waves in Impulsivity Spectrum Disorders

Chapter

Mar 2012

Impulsivity has proven to be an important psychological construct reflected in both normal and pathological human behaviors and traits. However, the definition, measurement, and manifestations of the construct are varied and multifarious. Impulsive behaviors are observed in a wide range of psychiatric/behavioral disorders, including alcohol/substance use and abuse disorders (AUDs/SUDs), conduct disorder (CD), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), antisocial (ASPD), narcissistic and borderline personality (BPD) disorders, pathological gambling, and eating disorders, and are variously termed as 'impulsive' or 'impulse-control', 'externalizing', or 'disinhibitory' disorders. Studies utilizing sensitive and non-invasive electrophysiological techniques to analyze brain waves in impulsive conditions and disorders have elucidated brain functioning associated with these conditions. These electrophysiological procedures primarily include electroencephalogram (EEG), event-related potentials (ERPs), and event-related oscillations (EROs). Major electrophysiological findings across the majority of the 'impulsivity spectrum disorders' include excessive beta power in the resting EEG, decreased P3 amplitude of the ERP, and decreased ERO delta and theta power. This chapter attempts to summarize, explain and synthesize key findings of studies that have used electrophysiological methods to elucidate and understand impulsivity in its normal and pathological manifestations.

Restrictive feeding practices and adiposity are differentially related to P3b cortical responses to food stimuli in children

Article

Dec 2012
APPETITE

Across two studies, we examined the association between adiposity, restrictive feeding practices and cortical processing bias to food stimuli in children. We assessed P3b event-related potential (ERP) during visual oddball tasks in which the frequently presented stimulus was non-food and the infrequently presented stimulus was either a food (Study 1) or non-food (Study 2) item. Children responded to the infrequently presented stimulus and accuracy and speed responses were collected. Restrictive feeding practices, children's height and weight were also measured. In Study 1, the difference in P3b amplitude for infrequently presented food stimuli, relative to frequently presented non-food stimuli, was negatively associated with adiposity and positively associated with restrictive feeding practices after controlling for adiposity. There was no association between P3b amplitude difference and adiposity or restriction in Study 2, suggesting that the effects seen in Study 1 were not due to general attentional processes. Taken together, our results suggest that attentional salience, as indexed by the P3b amplitude, may be important for understanding the neural correlates of adiposity and restrictive feeding practices in children.

Alpha Oscillations in Response to Affective and Cigarette-Related Stimuli in Smokers

Article

Oct 2012
NICOTINE TOB RES

Introduction: The presence of cigarette-related cues has been associated with smoking relapse. These cues are believed to activate brain mechanisms underlying emotion, attention, and memory. Electroencephalography (EEG) alpha desynchronization (i.e., reduction in alpha power) has been suggested to index the engagement of these mechanisms. Analyzing EEG alpha desynchronization in response to affective and smoking cues might improve our understanding of how smokers process these cues, and the potential impact of this processing on relapse. Methods: Before the start of a medication-assisted cessation attempt, we recorded EEG from 179 smokers during the presentation of neutral, pleasant, unpleasant, and cigarette-related pictures. Wavelet analysis was used to extract EEG alpha oscillations (8-12 Hz) in response to these pictures. Alpha oscillations were analyzed as a function of picture valence and arousal dimensions. Results: Emotional and cigarette-related stimuli induced a higher level of alpha desynchronization (i.e., less power in the alpha frequency band) than neutral stimuli. In addition, the level of alpha desynchronization induced by cigarette-related stimuli was similar to that induced by highly arousing stimuli (i.e., erotica and mutilations). Conclusions: These results suggest that, for smokers, cigarette-related cues are motivationally significant stimuli that may engage emotional, attentional, and memory-related neural mechanisms at a level comparable to that seen in response to highly arousing stimuli. This finding suggests that activation of emotional, attentional, and memory-related brain mechanisms may be an important contributor to cue-induced smoking relapse.

Induction of Smoking Urge Through Imaginal and In Vivo Procedures: Physiological and Self-Report Manifestations

Article

Full-text available

Feb 1997

This experiment assessed reactivity to imaginal and in vivo smoking and control cues. One hundred current smokers were assessed during 2 sessions separated by a 6-hr interval, and half of the participants were abstinent from smoking over this interval. Verbal and physiological reactivity measures were selected based on their relevance for several models of urge. Results indicated that imaginal and in vivo smoking cues were equally effective at eliciting high levels of self-reported urges. Smoking deprivation led to a general enhancement in urge report, rather than a specific increase to smoking cues. Physiological responding differed somewhat as a function of urge induction method, although autonomic responses to smoking cues were uniformly consistent with the direct effects of nicotine. There was no relationship between verbal and physiological urge indices. Implications of the findings for several contemporary models of drug urges are discussed.

The evolution of language in relation to lateral action

Chapter

Full-text available

Jan 1978

Marcel Kinsbourne

A triarchic model of P300 amplitude

Article

Full-text available

Jul 1986

Ray Johnson

A model of P300 amplitude is proposed that reduces the many hypothetical constructs invoked to explain variations in P300 amplitude to three dimensions: 1) Subjective Probahility, 2) Stimulus Meaning, and 3) Information Transmission. Evidence is presented to support the assertion that variables on the subjective prwbability and stimulus meaning dimensions have independent and additive contributions to overall P300 amplitude. The amplitude contributions of both of these dimensions, however, are modulated by a multiplicative relation with the proportion of transmitted stimulus information. Within each dimension, the fundamental experimental variables and their interrelations are specified. An example is presented to show how, by using an additive factors method, the respective amplitude effects of the probability and stimulus meaning dimensions can be separated. Supporting data are presented to show that the proposed model provides a reasonable and testable framework in which to conceptualize P300 results. DESCRIPTORS: Event-related potentials, P300. The prospect of having an electrophysio logical index of cognitive operations has led many re- searchers to explore the nature of the P300 com- ponent of the event-related brain potential (ERP). Since its discovery by Sutton and his colleagues (Sutton, Braren, Zubin, & John, 1965; Sutton, Tuet- ing, Zubin, & John, 1967), studies have demon- strated that P300 amplitude and latency can be used as indices of the nature and timing of a subject's cognitive response to a stimulus.' As a result of

Controlled and automatic human information processing: II. Perceptual learning, automatic attending and a general theory

Article

Full-text available

Mar 1977

Tested the 2-process theory of detection, search, and attention presented by the current authors (1977) in a series of experiments. The studies (a) demonstrate the qualitative difference between 2 modes of information processing: automatic detection and controlled search; (b) trace the course of the learning of automatic detection, of categories, and of automatic-attention responses; and (c) show the dependence of automatic detection on attending responses and demonstrate how such responses interrupt controlled processing and interfere with the focusing of attention. The learning of categories is shown to improve controlled search performance. A general framework for human information processing is proposed. The framework emphasizes the roles of automatic and controlled processing. The theory is compared to and contrasted with extant models of search and attention. (31/2 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Is the P300 component a manifestation of context updating?

Article

Full-text available

Sep 1988

Notes that to understand the endogenous components of the event-related potential (ERP), data about the components' antecedent conditions to form hypotheses about the information-processing function of the underlying brain activity must be used. These hypotheses generate testable predictions about the consequences of the component. The application of this approach to the analysis of the P300 component is reviewed. Certain factors suggest that P300 is a manifestation of activity occurring whenever one's model of the environment must be revised. Tests of 3 predictions based on this "context updating" model are reviewed. Open peer commentary follows. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Manipulation of Smoking Urges and Affect Through a Brief-Imagery Procedure: Self-Report, Psychophysiological, and Startle Probe Responses

Article

Full-text available

May 1995

The extent to which sentence imagery elicits effects comparable to those produced by long narratives was investigated. Smokers imagined sentences with varying affective content and that either contained or were devoid of smoking cues. Physiological responses were monitored, and smokers rated their urges and affect. Startle responses were also collected as an index of negative affect processing. Smoking-cue sentences produced augmented urges and startle responding. Smoking material also elevated negative affect during imagery of positive affect sentences. The affect manipulation produced changes in self-reported affect and facial electromyography consistent with the affective valence of the sentences. This procedure is similar to narrative imagery in the manipulation of smoking urges and affect under laboratory conditions. Results support the hypothesis that smoking urges enhance negative affect processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Relevance of Cue Reactivity to Understanding Alcohol and Smoking Relapse

Article

Full-text available

May 1988

Several learning-based theories have been forwarded to account for the problem of drug relapse, including conditioned withdrawal, conditioned compensatory responding, appetitive motivational models, and social learning models. The various models are compared and evaluated against available evidence from studies with humans pertaining to alcohol and tobacco addiction. Studies that are reviewed focus primarily on the antecedents and consequences of alcohol and smoking relapse, as well as on reactions to cues that have been associated with prior drug ingestion, in an attempt to understand their motivational relevance. Problems in evaluating the various relapse models in humans are discussed. It is concluded that the appetitive model is better supported than the withdrawal model, and the compensatory model is least supported. Reactions to substance use stimuli may play an important role in alcohol and smoking relapse. Concepts drawn from the various theoretical models are linked tentatively in a schematic diagram of a hypothesized sequence of cognitive/affective, physiological, and behavioral events that lead to initial drug use after a period of abstinence (slip) and then to continued use (a relapse). The treatment implications of some of the cue reactivity models are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Attentional Requirements of Automatic and Controlled Processing

Article

Full-text available

Jan 1990

The attentional demands of automatic and controlled processing were investigated in a dual task paradigm. Ss performed consistent and varied mapping versions of an S. Sternberg (see record 1966-10810-001) memory search task, both separately and together with a recognition running-memory task. In different conditions, Ss were instructed to maximize their performance on either the Sternberg or running memory tasks or to emphasize the tasks equally. Processing priority and memory load had large effects on performance when the variably mapped version of the Sternberg task was paired with the running memory task. Performance decrements in these conditions were accompanied by trade-offs in the amplitude of the P300 component of the event-related brain potential, presumably reflecting the distribution of attention between the tasks. Performance in the consistently mapped version of the Sternberg task was relatively unaffected by memory load or dual task demands. Large P300s, which were insensitive to manipulations of memory load and priority, were elicited in the consistently mapped conditions. These P300s appear to reflect the obligatory allocation of attention to task-relevant events during automatic processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Production of Smoking Urges Through Imagery: The Impact of Affect and Smoking Abstinence

Article

Full-text available

May 1996

This study investigated the impact of manipulations of affect and abstinence on urges to smoke produced through an imagery paradigm. One hundred smokers imagined audiotaped scripts describing positive affect and smoking urges, positive affect alone, negative affect and smoking urges, negative affect alone, neutral affect and smoking urges, and neutral affect alone. Each volunteer participated in 2 sessions scheduled 6 or 24 hr apart, and half the volunteers refrained from smoking over their intersession interval. Imagery produced effects in physiological responses, self-reported mood, and verbal reports of smoking urges as a function of the urge and affective content of the scripts. In Session 2, 6 or 24 hr of abstinence produced a generalized increase in urge report but no evidence of any selective increases in urge, mood, or physiological reactivity as a function of explicit urge or mood content of the scripts. The implications of these results for contemporary models of drug urges are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

The use of a dual-task procedure for the assessment of cognitive effort associated with cigarette craving

Article

Full-text available

Jun 1996

Two experiments used a dual-task procedure to investigate Tiffany’s (1990) proposal that drug craving should disrupt activities that demand nonautomatic cognitive processing. The primary task required smokers to imagine sentences that incorporated urge or no-urge descriptors. During imagery, the subjects also responded to a secondary reaction time (RT) task. Additional dependent variables collected during the imagery manipulation included craving report, mood report, heart rate (HR), and skin conductance levels (SCL). In study 1, imagery of urge sentences produced slower probe RTs and increases in HR and SCL, greater urge and negative mood reports, and lower positive mood ratings. This same pattern of results was replicated in the second study, which utilized sentence types more closely matched on no-urge content. These results support Tiffany’s (1990) cognitive processing theory and suggest an innovative approach to the investigation of drug craving.

The Relationship between Menstrual Phase and the P3 Component of ERPs

Article

Full-text available

Aug 1991

Event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral ratings were collected from 30 female subjects who were exposed to picture slides. The slides belonged to five affective categories whose content was babies, dermatological cases, ordinary people, male models, and female models. Based on the day of testing relative to their menstrual cycle, the subjects were grouped according to their expected levels of androgens, estrogen, or progesterone. The data were examined to determine whether any ERP component or behavioral rating (non-erotic/erotic, unpleasant/pleasant, simple/complex, and low arousal/high arousal) varied as a function of subjects' hormone defined menstrual phase. Only the P3 component was sensitive to menstrual phase. The P3 to babies and male models was largest when progesterone levels were high. High progesterone was also associated with a decrease in the complexity and eroticism of all slide categories. An increase in the pleasantness of all categories was evident when estrogen levels were high. The results are interpreted as support for an "adaptive context updating" theory of the P3 component of ERPs.

Tiffany ST, Drobes DJ. The development and initial validation of a questionnaire on smoking urges. Br J Addict 86: 1467-1476

Article

Full-text available

Dec 1991

A 32-item questionnaire on smoking urges was administered to 230 daily cigarette smokers assigned to one of three levels of cigarette deprivation (0, 1 or 6 hours). Factor analyses showed that a two-factor solution best described the item structure for each of the three deprivation levels and for the entire sample. Factor scales of 15 and 11 items derived from rotation to simple structure were highly reliable, 0.95 and 0.93, respectively, and moderately correlated (r = 0.71). Average scores on both scales increased significantly with level of deprivation, and the Factor 1 scale was significantly higher than the Factor 2 scale at all levels. Factor 1 scale items reflected primarily intention and desire to smoke, and anticipation of pleasure from smoking. Factor 2 scale items were comprised primarily of anticipation of relief from negative affect and nicotine withdrawal, and urgent and overwhelming desire to smoke.

Tiffany ST. A cognitive model of drug-use behavior: role of automatic and nonautomatic processes. Psychol Rev 97: 147-168

Article

Full-text available

Apr 1990

Stephen Tiffany

Contemporary urge models assume that urges are necessary but not sufficient for the production of drug use in ongoing addicts, are responsible for the initiation of relapse in abstinent addicts, and can be indexed across 3 classes of behavior: verbal report, overt behavior, and somatovisceral response. A review of available data does not provide strong support for these assumptions. An alternative cognitive model of drug use and drug urges is proposed that hypothesizes that drug use in the addict is controlled by automatized action schemata. Urges are conceptualized as responses supported by nonautomatic cognitive processes activated in parallel with drug-use action schemata either in support of the schema or in support of attempts to block the execution of the schema. The implications of this model for the assessment of urge responding and drug-use behavior are presented.

Approach-Withdrawal and Cerebral Asymmetry: Emotional Expression and Brain Physiology I

Article

Full-text available

Feb 1990

In this experiment, we combined the measurement of observable facial behavior with simultaneous measures of brain electrical activity to assess patterns of hemispheric activation in different regions during the experience of happiness and disgust. Disgust was found to be associated with right-sided activation in the frontal and anterior temporal regions compared with the happy condition. Happiness was accompanied by left-sided activation in the anterior temporal region compared with disgust. No differences in asymmetry were found between emotions in the central and parietal regions. When data aggregated across positive films were compared to aggregate negative film data, no reliable differences in brain activity were found. These findings illustrate the utility of using facial behavior to verify the presence of emotion, are consistent with the notion of emotion-specific physiological patterning, and underscore the importance of anterior cerebral asymmetries for emotions associated with approach and withdrawal.

Classification and Prediction of Smoking Relapse Episodes: An Exploration of Individual Differences

Article

Full-text available

Feb 1988

Relapse episodes were examined with a sample of 176 subjects from a smoking cessation program. Each subject successfully quit smoking and subsequently relapsed during a 1-year follow-up period. Descriptive analyses replicated previous retrospective descriptions of relapse situations. Situational descriptions were also cluster analyzed, and contrary to previous work, only a two-cluster solution was stable within the data set. The clusters described social and nonsocial situations. The hypothesis that situational characteristics of relapse are indicative of differences in prior learning was tested by relating relapse cluster to a number of prospective measures. The characteristics of relapse situations were not predictable from characteristics of a preintervention relapse, measures of prior smoking behavior, perceived stress, nicotine addiction, and situation specific self-efficacy. The situational characteristics of isolated incidents of smoking (slips) prior to relapse were significantly related to cluster membership of the relapse episode, suggesting some individual consistency within the maintenance phase of quitting.

Multiple P3s to Emotional Stimuli and Their Theoretical Significance

Article

Full-text available

Dec 1986

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to both predictive (consonant-vowel-consonant) and feedback (picture) stimuli as subjects learned associations between these stimuli. The consonantvowel-consonants (CVCs) were selected for lack of emotional content while the pictures (PICs) varied in emotional value (Learning Group; N=20). A second group of subjects was exposed to the same CVC-PIC stimuli but was required only to count the number of different CVCs and PICs (Counting Group; N=20). A principal components analysis with varimax rotation was performed on ERPs to PICs and revealed multiple late positive components (P3 and P4) and a slow positive wave (SPW). In both groups, the P3 and P4 factors varied with the emotional value of the stimuli. The learning group had a larger SPW than the counting group, and disconfirmed predictions elicited larger P4s than confirmed predictions. For CVC stimuli, only P4 increased as subjects learned CVC-PIC relationships. From the similar scalp and temporal distributions of P3 and P4, as well as their functional similarity, it was concluded that these two factors reflect the same neural process which is activated by the emotional value of stimuli. One possible function of this process is suggested.

The ten-twenty electrode system of the International Federation

Article

Jan 1959

H.H. Jasper

Connotative Meaning and Averaged Evoked Potentials

Chapter

Jan 1979

Robert M. Chapman

The effects of two kinds of experimental manipulation of semantic meaning were studied in Evoked Potentials (EPs), brain responses recorded from scalp monitors. Both kinds of semantic manipulation were based on Osgood’s rating analyses which described three primary dimensions of connotative meaning: Evaluation, Potency, and Activity (E, P, and A). One kind of experimental variable was the semantic class of the stimulus word (E+, E-, P+, P-, A+, A-). The other kind of experimental variable was the semantic dimension of the rating scale (E, P, A) which the subject used to make semantic judgments about the stimulus words. These variables were experimentally combined in that for each trial the subject used a designated semantic scale to judge a specified stimulus word while brain activity was recorded. Using multivariate procedures, both stimulus word class and scale dimension effects on the EPs were found. Individual subject analyses demonstrated the generality of the results by showing successful discrimination of word classes and scale dimensions for each of the ten subjects analyzed separately.

Visual Evoked Potentials and Affective Ratings of Semantic Stimuli

Chapter

Jan 1979

In the last decade it has become quite evident that eventrelated brain potentials not only reflect changes in the physical parameters of a stimulus but are also quite sensitive to psychol ogical variables. The relationship between event-related brain potentials and concomitant ongoing cognitive processing has been the subject of numerous investigations which have been thoroughly reviewed (Regan, 1972; Beck, 1975; Callaway, 1975; Thatcher and John, 1977).

Multivariate analysis of ERP data: a tutorial review

Article

Jan 1978

Attentional Requirements of Automatic and Controlled Processing

Article

Jan 1990

The attentional demands of automatic and controlled processing were investigated in a dual task paradigm. Subjects performed consistent and varied mapping versions of a Sternberg memory search task, both separately and together with a recognition running-memory task. In different conditions, subjects were instructed to maximize their performance on either the Sternberg or running memory tasks or to emphasize the tasks equally. Processing priority and memory load had large effects on performance when the variably mapped version of the Sternberg task was paired with the running memory task. Performance decrements in these conditions were accompanied by trade-offs in the amplitude of the P300 component of the event-related brain potential, presumably reflecting the distribution of attention between the tasks. Performance in the consistently mapped version of the Sternberg task was relatively unaffected by memory load or dual task demands. Large P300s, which were insensitive to manipulations of memory load and priority, were elicited in the consistently mapped conditions. These P300s appear to reflect the obligatory allocation of attention to task-relevant events during automatic processing.

Potentiels liés à l'événement: distribution de scalp

Article

May 1985

Gregory McCarthy

Research with the Mood Adjective Check List

Article

Jan 1965

W. Nowlis

Assessing cognitive and affective information processing functions of the brain by means of the late positive complex of the event-related potential

Article

Jan 1992

Examined the influence of cognitive and affective information processing on the late positive complex of the event-related potential by means of structural or affective processing of adjectives categorized as emotionally negative, neutral, or positive. A replication study with 86 adults tested 2 research hypotheses derived from a pilot study with 14 adults. Results suggest that affect and cognition are separate information processing functions of the brain and are mediated by different brain systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

P300 and Tracking Difficulty: Evidence For Multiple Resources in Dual‐Task Performance

Article

May 1980
PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY

Subjects performed a visual tracking task while performing a concurrent task in which tones were covertly counted. The P300 component of the event-related potentials elicited by the tones was examined to determine the extent to which its amplitude was affected by variations in the forcing-function bandwidth, or difficulty, of the tracking task. P300 decreased in magnitude when tones were counted in conjunction with the performance of the tracking task, relative to a single-task counting condition. Increasing tracking difficulty failed to reduce P300 amplitude further. A second experiment obviated the possibility that movement-related potentials caused the P300 attenuation resulting from the introduction of the tracking task. In Experiment 3, subjects performed a reaction time task in conjunction with tracking in order to establish the validity of the tracking difficulty manipulation. The results are interpreted in terms of a theory of functionally-specific processing resources.

Article

Jul 1997
PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY

To investigate the hypothesis of a right hemispheric superiority in negative emotional processing, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 17 sites (Fz, Cz, Pz, F3/4, F7/8, C3/4, T7/8, P3/4, P7/8, O1/2) in a visual half-field paradigm. While maintaining fixation, right-handed women viewed pictures of patients with dermatological diseases before (negative) and after (neutral) cosmetic surgery. A principal components analysis with Varimax rotation performed on ERPs revealed factors identified as N1, N2, early P3, late P3, late P3, and slow wave. Repeated measures analyses of variance performed on factor scores revealed a significant effect of emotional content for all factors except for N1. However, asymmetries in emotional processing were restricted to N2 and early P3, with maximal effects over the right parietal region. N2–P3 amplitude was augmented for negative and reduced for neutral stimuli over right hemisphere regions. Visual field presentation interacted with these asymmetries in enhancing amplitudes contralaterally for early but ipsilaterally for late ERP components. Overall, findings for N2 and P3 support theories of an asymmetry in emotional processing.

Assessing the development of automatic processing: An application of dual-task and event-related brain potential methodologies

Article

Jul 1988
BIOL PSYCHOL

Previous research has found that properties of automatic processing do not always co-occur, suggesting that the acquisition rates may differ. The present study investigated the acquisition rate of several of these properties by employing additive factors logic, dual task methodology, and event-related brain potentials. Seven subjects participated in a ten session experiment in which they performed two tasks, a visual/memory search task and a pursuit step tracking task, both together and separately. RT and P300 latency measures indicated that parallel processing of the display was achieved early in training in the consistent mapping condition. This processing was unaffected by dual task demands. An analysis of RT/P300 ratios suggests that another form of perceptual efficiency was achieved later in practice in both the varied and consistently mapped search tasks. This effect was larger in the consistent mapping condition. Reductions in the slope of the memory set function occurred significantly earlier for P300 latency than for RT, suggesting that the stimulus evaluation processes became automated more rapidly than the response selection components of memory search. Consistent with an analysis of the processing demands of the two tasks, the introduction of the tracking task and an increase in tracking difficulty produced equivalent interference during consistent and varied mapping conditions. Results are discussed in terms of models of skill, skill acquisition and component task automaticity.

Stimulus Intensity Control and the Cortical Evoked Response in Smokers and Non-Smokers

Article

Jun 1978

In order to examine the relationship between stimulus intensity control and tobacco smoking motivation, the cortical averaged evoked response (AER) to a number of flash intensities was studied in 10 non-smokers (NS), 10 tobacco deprived smokers (DS), and 10 non-deprived smokers (NDS). AERs to four flash intensities were recorded from the vertex (Cz) of subjects and in addition to latency and amplitude measures, the slope of the regression of amplitude with log flash intensity was obtained. Statistical analysis (employing a .05 rejection region) revealed that DS evidenced faster latencies and larger amplitudes than both NS and NDS groups who exhibited comparable responsiveness. No significant results were obtained with the slope measure. The data indicates that tobacco smoking has a “normalizing” effect on central nervous system (CNS) hyper-sensitivity observed in DS and this notion is discussed in relation to comparable physiological and behavioral work on humans and animals.

Topographic Brain Mapping of Emotion-Related Hemisphere Asymmetries

Article

Apr 1992

The study used topographic brain mapping of visual evoked potentials to investigate emotion-related hemisphere asymmetries. The stimulus material consisted of color photographs of human faces, grouped into two emotion-related categories: normal faces (neutral stimuli) and faces deformed by dermatological diseases (emotional stimuli). The pictures were presented tachistoscopically to 20 adult right-handed subjects. Brain activity was recorded by 30 EEG electrodes with linked ears as reference. The waveforms were averaged separately with respect to each of the two stimulus conditions. Statistical analysis by means of significance probability mapping revealed significant differences between stimulus conditions for two periods of time, indicating right hemisphere superiority in emotion-related processing. The results are discussed in terms of a 2-stage-model of emotional processing in the cerebral hemispheres.

Smokers’ reactions to interpersonal interaction presentation of smoking cues

Article

Nov 1992
ADDICT BEHAV

This study examined smokers' reactions to smoking cues and interpersonal interaction. Fifty-six smokers were assigned at random to the six cells of a factorial design which varied the level of interpersonal interaction (role play with a confederate vs. confederate absent) and the level of exposure to smoking cues (no cues vs. visual cues vs. visual plus olfactory cues). Measures of reactivity included changes from resting baseline on blood pressure, heart rate, self-reported smoking urge, and a measure of ad lib smoking behavior obtained after exposure to the experimental procedures. Results showed that blood pressure responses increased significantly from baseline only during the role play situation where the confederate manipulated an unlit cigarette or smoked a cigarette in view of the subjects. Although not significant, heart rate changes paralleled blood pressure changes, but urge ratings showed a different pattern of response to the manipulations. The latency to smoking a cigarette after the experimental manipulations was unaffected by the cues. The results suggest that modelling of smoking by others and exposure to some kinds of smoking cues may increase cardiovascular activation.

Hemispheric differences in mnemonic processing: The effects of left hemisphere interpretation

Article

Apr 1992
NEUROPSYCHOLOGIA

Several studies suggest that the abilities to make inferences and interpret events are stronger in the left hemisphere than the right hemisphere (Gazzaniga, M. S., The Social Brain. Basic Books, New York, 1985). Given that inference and interpretation are important aspects of normal memory functioning (Bartlett, F. C., Remembering: A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology, Cambridge University Press, 1932), one would expect this hemispheric difference to extend to mnemonic processing. Two split brain subjects were shown a series of pictures representing a common scene. Their memory for these pictures was later tested with a lateralized Yes-No recognition test where the distractor pictures were either consistent or inconsistent with the scene. The left hemisphere performed below chance on consistent distractor pictures whereas the right hemisphere was above chance on these pictures and performed at the same level of accuracy as the pictures originally presented. These results suggest that recognition performance in the left hemisphere was more strongly influenced by the expectations for actions common to a scene than the right hemisphere and provide evidence that the left hemisphere superiority in interpretation and inference effect memory performance.

Increased desire to smoke during acute stress

Article

Aug 1992

Conditions which promote smoking urges, or desire to smoke, are believed to be important in maintaining smoking behaviour, yet little controlled research has examined acute situational factors which increase desire to smoke. In this study, 16 male and 16 female smokers either smoked or sham-smoked with an unlit cigarette after brief abstinence during two sessions, one involving a stressful computer task and the other a non-stress task. Desire to smoke was greater during the stress vs. non-stress task for sham-smokers (p less than 0.01). Furthermore, although smoking desire decreased markedly after smoking in the smoking smokers (p less than 0.001), even this group tended to report greater desire to smoke during stress (p less than 0.10). There were no differences between males and females. These findings indicate that exposure to stressors increases desire to smoke, and suggest that such situations may be influential in maintaining smoking behaviour in smokers not attempting to quit.

Visual field differences in an object decision task

Article

Aug 1992

Two experiments are reported which investigate hemispheric processing in an object decision task. Experiment 1 used 40 pictures of objects, and 40 pictures of nonobjects, and subjects decided manually whether each lateralized stimulus represented an object. Results indicated an interaction between visual field and response (yes versus no). There was a right visual field advantage for positive responses, but no difference between visual field for negative responses. Positive responses were faster than negative responses, and this effect was more marked for right visual field presentations. These results were replicated in a second experiment. The results are interpreted as reflecting a left hemisphere superiority at accessing stored structural descriptions of known objects. The possibility that left and right hemispheres use different methods of carrying out the task is also discussed.

Subjective and brain-evoked responses to electrical pain stimulation: Effects of cigarette smoking and warning condition

Article

Sep 1991
PHARMACOL BIOCHEM BE

Infrahuman studies employing behavioral indices of pain reactivity have supported a central antinociceptive action of nicotine which appears to be selective and dependent on the class of pain elicited. Human investigations employing subjectively based ratings and judgments of pain intensity have been less conclusive regarding the painfulness of stimuli following nicotine/smoking administration. As the more objective brain-evoked potential (EP) measure has been shown to reflect pain intensity and to be sensitive to a variety of analgesics, this study attempted to examine, together with subjective responses, the effects of cigarette smoking on EPs to pain stimuli administered under varying warning conditions. Twelve male and twelve female smokers served as experimental subjects. In smoking and nonsmoking sessions, subjective intensity ratings (SR) and vertex EPs were assessed in response to electrical skin stimuli presented at a level 20% above pain threshold. Stimulation was either nonwarned or warned with warning conditions involving single or repeated presentations of electrical current at constant or increasing intensities 12 seconds prior to pain stimulation. SRs and peak-to-peak N1-P2 EP amplitudes were measured for each smoking session and warning condition. A significant condition effect was observed for SRs with increasing prepain warning stimulation resulting in the greatest pain ratings. Although smoking did not directly alter SRs or EPs to pain, smoking exposure, as measured by carbon monoxide, was found to be differentially correlated with EP alterations in male and female smokers depending on the warning condition.

Topography of event-related potentials elicited by visual stimuli

Article

Feb 1991
INT J PSYCHOPHYSIOL

This experiment was intended to explore the effects of the emotional connotation of stimuli on the hemispheric lateralization. Ten right-handed male subjects (Ss) were presented a set of slides of faces expressing a positive emotion, a negative emotion or emotional neutrality. The ERPs elicited by the face stimuli were recorded from 16 leads and topographic maps of P3 amplitude were created. The results show that when Ss had to discriminate between emotional (target) and neutral (non-target) faces, the main differences were seen predominantly over the right centroparietal area. On the contrary, when Ss had to detect a face particularity not related to the emotional content, the differences between target and non-target faces were bilaterally distributed. The present results support the hypothesis that the perception of emotional expressions is processed mainly by the right hemisphere.

Imagery and smoking urges: The manipulation of affective content

Article

Feb 1990
ADDICT BEHAV

This study investigated the impact of the affective content of imagery scripts used in an imagery paradigm designed to elicit smoking urges in a laboratory setting. Sixty cigarette smokers were instructed to vividly imagine 10 imagery scripts that described negative affect and explicit smoking urges, positive affect and explicit smoking urges, negative affect alone, positive affect alone, and neutral affect alone. Subjects' ratings of the vividness of their images across the five script types did not differ but ratings of urges and cravings indicated that scripts containing descriptions of smoking urges elicited strong reports of smoking urges/cravings comparable in magnitude across positive and negative affective content. Among scripts that did not explicitly describe smoking urges, negative affect scripts were more effective in generating smoking urges/craving than positive affect scripts, although positive affect scripts did produce significantly stronger urges/cravings than neutral affect scripts. An analysis of subjects' reports of the distribution of their strongest urges over imagery trials and regression analyses of the variables predictive of urge/craving report provided converging evidence that the content of the imagery scripts exerted considerable control over the generation of smoking urges in the imagery paradigm. The results indicated that the magnitude of urges and cravings produced by the imagery manipulation were clearly influenced by urge and affective content of the imagery scripts.

Cue Reactivity in Addictive Behaviors: Theoretical and Treatment Implications

Article

Jan 1991
Int J Addict

Several learning theory based models propose that substance users may have conditioned reactions to stimuli (cues) associated with substance use and that these reactions may increase the probability of relapse. The conditioned withdrawal, conditioned compensatory response, and appetitive motivational models were evaluated in light of empirical evidence from cue reactivity studies with alcoholics, smokers, opiate users, and cocaine users. The nature of the stimuli that elicit reactivity and the nature of the responses elicited are most consistent with an appetitive motivational model and do not appear to support the other two models. A few studies have been conducted or are underway that investigate the use of cue exposure with response prevention as a treatment to decrease cue reactivity. Preliminary work with alcoholics, opiate users and cocaine users is promising but insufficient evidence exists to evaluate this approach. The implications for theory and treatment are discussed.

Conditioning arbitrary stimuli to cigarette smoke intake: A preliminary study

Article

Feb 1990
J Subst Abuse

Event-related brain potentials as indicator of smoking cue-reactivity

Abstract

No full-text available