Risk-taking and risky decision-making in Internet gaming disorder: Implications regarding online gaming in the setting of negative consequences.

Individuals with Internet gaming disorder (IGD) continue gaming despite adverse consequences. However, the precise mechanism underlying this behavior remains unknown. In this study, data from 20 IGD subjects and 16 otherwise comparable healthy control subjects (HCs) were recorded and compared when they were undergoing risk-taking and risky decision-making during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Prenatal cocaine exposure, illicit-substance use and stress and craving processes during adolescence.

Background: Prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) is associated with increased rates of illicit-substance use during adolescence. In addition, both PCE and illicit-substance use are associated with alterations in cortico-striato-limbic neurocircuitry, development of which is ongoing throughout adolescence. However, the relationship between illicit-substance use, PCE and functional neural responses has not previously been assessed concurrently.

Novelty, conditioning and attentional bias to sexual rewards.

The Internet provides a large source of novel and rewarding stimuli, particularly with respect to sexually explicit materials. Novelty-seeking and cue-conditioning are fundamental processes underlying preference and approach behaviors implicated in disorders of addiction. Here we examine these processes in individuals with compulsive sexual behaviors (CSB), hypothesizing a greater preference for sexual novelty and stimuli conditioned to sexual rewards relative to healthy volunteers.

Commentary on: Are we overpathologizing everyday life? A tenable blueprint for behavioral addiction research. Defining and classifying non-substance or behavioral addictions.

Multiple controversies exist currently in the field of behavioral addictions. The opinion article by Billieux, Schimmenti, Khazaal, Maurage and Heeren (2015) proposes an approach to considering which behaviors might be considered as foci for addictions. The article raises multiple important points that foster further dialog and highlight the need for additional research.

Neurobiological features of binge eating disorder.

Biobehavioral features associated with binge-eating disorder (BED) have been investigated; however, few systematic reviews to date have described neuroimaging findings from studies of BED. Emerging functional and structural studies support BED as having unique and overlapping neural features as compared with other disorders. Neuroimaging studies provide evidence linking heightened responses to palatable food cues with prefrontal areas, particularly the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), with specific relationships to hunger and reward-sensitivity measures.

A Feasibility Study of Bilateral Anodal Stimulation of the Prefrontal Cortex Using High-Definition Electrodes in Healthy Participants.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) studies often use one anode to increase cortical excitability in one hemisphere. However, mental processes may involve cortical regions in both hemispheres. This study's aim was to assess the safety and possible effects on affect and working memory of tDCS using two anodes for bifrontal stimulation.

Investigating Maternal Brain Structure and its Relationship to Substance Use and Motivational Systems.

Substance use during pregnancy and the postpartum period may have significant implications for both mother and the developing child. However, the neurobiological basis of the impact of substance use on parenting is less well understood. Here, we examined the impact of maternal substance use on cortical gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) volumes and whether this was associated with individual differences in motivational systems of behavioral activation and inhibition.

Behavioural and brain responses related to Internet search and memory.

The ready availability of data via searches on the Internet has changed how many people seek and perhaps store and recall information, although the brain mechanisms underlying these processes are not well understood. This study investigated brain mechanisms underlying Internet-based vs. non-Internet-based searching.

Correlates of gambling on high-school grounds.

Objective: This study examined adolescent gambling on school grounds (GS+) and how such behavior was associated with gambling-related attitudes. Further, we examined whether GS+ moderated associations between at-risk problem-gambling (ARPG) and gambling behaviors related to gambling partners.

Method: Participants were 1988 high-school students who completed survey materials.

Self-reported impulsivity is negatively correlated with amygdalar volumes in cocaine dependence.

Although impulsivity has been associated with cocaine dependence and other addictive behaviors, the biological factors underlying impulsivity have yet to be precisely determined. This study aimed to examine relationships between impulsivity and volumes of the amygdala and hippocampus in cocaine-dependent and healthy comparison individuals. The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) was used to assess impulsivity.

A preliminary study of dopamine D2/3 receptor availability and social status in healthy and cocaine dependent humans imaged with [(11)C](+)PHNO.

Background: Previous work in healthy non-human primates and humans has shown that social status correlates positively with dopamine 2/3 receptor (D2/3R) availability imaged with antagonist radioligands and positron emission tomography (PET). Further work in non-human primates suggests that this relationship is disrupted by chronic cocaine administration. This exploratory study examined the relationship between social status and D2/3R availability in healthy (HH) and cocaine dependent (CD) humans using the D3-preferring, agonist radioligand, [(11)C](+)PHNO.

Brain Activity During Cocaine Craving and Gambling Urges: An fMRI Study.

Although craving states are important to both cocaine dependence (CD) and pathological gambling (PG), few studies have directly investigated neurobiological similarities and differences in craving between these disorders. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess brain activity in 103 participants (30 CD, 28 PG, and 45 controls) while they watched videos depicting cocaine, gambling, and sad scenarios to investigate the neural correlates of craving. We observed a three-way urge type × video type × diagnostic group interaction in self-reported craving, with CD participants reporting strong cocaine cravings to cocaine videos, and PG participants reporting strong gambling urges to gambling videos.

Brain pathways to recovery from alcohol dependence.

This article highlights the research presentations at the satellite symposium on "Brain Pathways to Recovery from Alcohol Dependence" held at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting. The purpose of this symposium was to provide an up to date overview of research efforts focusing on understanding brain mechanisms that contribute to recovery from alcohol dependence. A panel of scientists from the alcohol and addiction research field presented their insights and perspectives on brain mechanisms that may underlie both recovery and lack of recovery from alcohol dependence.

Alexithymia level and response to computer-based training in cognitive behavioral therapy among cocaine-dependent methadone maintained individuals.

Background: Alexithymia, a characteristic marked by poor ability to identify, define and communicate emotions, has been associated with poorer treatment outcome, including traditional clinician delivered CBT. Computerized cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT4CBT), an effective adjunct to treatment, may provide a means of conveying skills without requiring interaction with a clinician.

Methods: Seventy-three methadone maintained, cocaine dependent individuals participating in an 8-week randomized clinical trial comparing standard methadone maintenance to methadone maintenance plus CBT4CBT completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) at pretreatment, post-treatment, and follow-ups conducted one, two, and 6 months after treatment.

Gambling behaviors and attitudes in adolescent high-school students: Relationships with problem-gambling severity and smoking status.

Background And Aims: Smoking is associated with more severe/extensive gambling in adults. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between smoking and gambling in adolescents.

Methods: Analyses utilized survey data from 1591 Connecticut high-school students.

Catehol-o-methyltransferase gene Val158met polymorphism as a potential predictor of response to computer-assisted delivery of cognitive-behavioral therapy among cocaine-dependent individuals: Preliminary findings from a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Findings from uncontrolled studies suggest that the COMT Val108/158Met polymorphism may affect response to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in some populations. Using data from a randomized controlled trial evaluating computerized CBT (CBT4CBT), we evaluated treatment response by COMT genotype, with the a priori hypothesis that Val carriers would have improved response to computerized delivery of CBT.

Methods: 101 cocaine-dependent individuals, of whom 81 contributed analyzable genetic samples, were randomized to standard methadone maintenance treatment plus CBT4CBT or standard treatment alone in an 8 week trial.

Choice impulsivity: Definitions, measurement issues, and clinical implications.

Impulsivity critically relates to many psychiatric disorders. Given the multifaceted construct that impulsivity represents, defining core aspects of impulsivity is vital for the assessment and understanding of clinical conditions. Choice impulsivity (CI), involving the preferential selection of smaller sooner rewards over larger later rewards, represents one important type of impulsivity.

Rapid-response impulsivity: definitions, measurement issues, and clinical implications.

Impulsivity is a multifaceted construct that is a core feature of multiple psychiatric conditions and personality disorders. However, progress in understanding and treating impulsivity is limited by a lack of precision and consistency in its definition and assessment. Rapid-response impulsivity (RRI) represents a tendency toward immediate action that occurs with diminished forethought and is out of context with the present demands of the environment.

Current considerations regarding food addiction.

"Food addiction" is an emerging area, and behavioral and biological overlaps have been observed between eating and addictive disorders. Potential misconceptions about applying an addiction framework to problematic eating behavior may inhibit scientific progress. Critiques of "food addiction" that focus on descriptive differences between overeating and illicit drugs are similar to early criticisms of the addictiveness of tobacco.