Is (poly-) substance use associated with impaired inhibitory control? A mega-analysis controlling for confounders.

Many studies have reported that heavy substance use is associated with impaired response inhibition. Studies typically focused on associations with a single substance, while polysubstance use is common. Further, most studies compared heavy users with light/non-users, though substance use occurs along a continuum.

Mood and restrained eating moderate food-associated response inhibition in obese individuals with binge eating disorder.

Recent research suggests that obese individuals with binge eating disorder (BED) show deficits in response inhibition, but findings are not consistent, especially when food-associated stimuli are presented. The aim of the present study was to assess the role of moderating factors by taking into account restrained eating and mood. Seventeen obese women with BED, 20 obese women without BED and 20 normal-weight controls (NW) were recruited.

Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer: A new paradigm to assess pathological mechanisms with regard to the use of Internet applications.

At present, there is a considerable lack of human studies that investigated the impact of conditioned cues on instrumental responding although these processes are considered as core mechanisms contributing to the development and maintenance of addictive behaviours. No studies are available that assessed these processes with regard to Internet gaming or Internet shopping applications. We thus developed a Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT)-Paradigm implementing appetitive stimuli related to Internet gaming and Internet shopping applications and investigated whether an outcome-specific PIT-Effect is observed.

Cognitive control functions in individuals with obesity with and without binge-eating disorder.

Objective: Deficits in cognitive control are thought to contribute to the maintenance of obesity (OB). Cognitive control is referred to as impulsivity and binge-eating disorder (BED) is characterized by high levels of impulsivity. The present study sought to elucidate which cognitive control functions differentiate between severe OB with and without BED also taking into account hunger as a moderating factor.

An app-based blended intervention to reduce body dissatisfaction: A randomized controlled pilot study.

Objective: As a common experience in the general population, dissatisfaction with one's body is associated with a variety of psychological problems and unhealthy behaviors, including the development of eating disorders. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to develop and evaluate an app-based intervention to reduce body dissatisfaction.

Method: Participants reporting elevated levels of body dissatisfaction were randomly allocated to an app-based intervention (n = 26) or to a wait list group (n = 27).

Do alcohol-dependent patients show different neural activation during response inhibition than healthy controls in an alcohol-related fMRI go/no-go-task?

Rationale: Alcohol dependence is associated with impaired response inhibition and heightened cue reactivity towards alcohol-related stimuli. Several brain areas, but mainly prefrontal structures, have been linked to response inhibition in addiction. This study aimed at combining both aspects: salience of drug-associated cues and response inhibition using a go/no-go task with alcohol-associated stimuli during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Short-term effects of media exposure to the thin ideal in female inpatients with an eating disorder compared to female inpatients with a mood or anxiety disorder or women with no psychiatric disorder.

Objective: Previous research demonstrated that the exposure to media portrayals of the thin body ideal negatively affects body satisfaction and mood of healthy women and thus represents a sociocultural risk factor for the development of eating disorders. However, at present, it is not known whether negative effects of the thin ideal are pronounced in eating-disordered patients.

Method: Female inpatients with a current diagnosis of anorexia nervosa (N = 36), bulimia nervosa (N = 32), or mood or anxiety disorder (N = 31), and women with no current psychiatric diagnosis were randomly assigned to exposure to magazine pictures depicting the thin female body ideal or landscape scenes in two experimental phases (leafing through a magazine followed by instructed imagination of a picture from the magazine).

Risk for exercise dependence, eating disorder pathology, alcohol use disorder and addictive behaviors among clients of fitness centers.

Background And Aims: Exercise dependence (EXD) is considered a behavioral addiction that is often associated with eating disorders. To date, only few studies examined the potential overlap between EXD and other addictive behaviors. Therefore, the present study aimed at investigating the relationship of EXD with pathological buying, pathological video gaming (offline and online), hypersexual behavior, and alcohol use disorder in a sample of clients of fitness centers.

Effects of D-cycloserine on extinction of mesolimbic cue reactivity in alcoholism: a randomized placebo-controlled trial.

Rationale: Mesocorticolimbic reactivity to alcohol-associated cues has been shown to be associated with relapse to renewed drinking and to be decreased by cue-exposure-based extinction training (CET). Evidence from preclinical studies suggests that the extinction of conditioned alcohol-seeking behavior might be facilitated by drugs increasing N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-associated memory consolidation.

Objectives: In this study, we assessed the efficacy of CET treatment supplemented with the partial NMDA-receptor agonist D-cycloserine (DCS) at reducing mesolimbic cue reactivity (CR), craving, and relapse risk in alcoholism.

The impact of cognitive impairment and impulsivity on relapse of alcohol-dependent patients: implications for psychotherapeutic treatment.

Recent models of the development of addiction propose a transition from a pleasure-driven to a heavily automatized behaviour, marked by a loss of cognitive control. This study investigated the deficits in different components of cognitive functions including behavioural inhibition in response to alcohol-related stimuli in alcohol-dependent patients (ADP) and healthy controls (HC). The aims of the study were to identify which particular cognitive functions are impaired in ADP.

Is binge drinking in young adults associated with an alcohol-specific impairment of response inhibition?

Background/aims: Little is known about the association of binge drinking with impulsivity related to trait- or state-like aspects of behavior. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate whether binge drinkers show an impairment of inhibitory control in comparison to non-binge drinkers when confronted with alcohol-associated or control stimuli, and whether this is reflected in self-reported impulsivity.

Methods: A go/no-go task with pictures of alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages as well as control stimuli was administered to binge drinkers and a gender-matched group of non-binge drinkers.

Hunger modulates behavioral disinhibition and attention allocation to food-associated cues in normal-weight controls.

Overeating, weight gain and obesity are considered as a major health problem in Western societies. At present, an impairment of response inhibition and a biased salience attribution to food-associated stimuli are considered as important factors associated with weight gain. However, recent findings suggest that the association between an impaired response inhibition and salience attribution and weight gain might be modulated by other factors.

Association of leptin with food cue-induced activation in human reward pathways.

Context: Overlapping neurobiological pathways between obesity and addiction disorders are currently in discussion. Whereas the hypothalamic regulation of energy homeostasis by endocrine feedback signals has been widely investigated, its interplay with mesolimbic reward-associated pathways represents a rich field of future research.

Objective: To assess changes in regional brain activation in response to food-related cues in association with body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) and the plasma concentration of the appetite-regulating peptide leptin.

Factors affecting cognitive function of opiate-dependent patients.

Background: A wide range of studies found that opiate-dependent patients suffer from cognitive impairment due to a number of different factors. However, this issue has never been examined systematically. Thus, the aim of the present study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of factors that might contribute to cognitive impairment of opiate-dependent patients and specifically differentiates between various cognitive abilities as these might be impacted differently.

Validating incentive salience with functional magnetic resonance imaging: association between mesolimbic cue reactivity and attentional bias in alcohol-dependent patients.

Alcohol-associated cues are able to elicit brain activations in mesocorticolimbic networks that are related to the rewarding properties of the drug. Some authors hypothesize that the activation of the mesocorticolimbic reward system triggers an attention allocation to alcohol-associated cues. Yet, no functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies examining this proposition are available.

Attention shift towards smoking cues relates to severity of dependence, smoking behavior and breath carbon monoxide.

The aim of this study was to assess the severity of dependence as a factor affecting the attentional bias of smokers towards smoking-related stimuli and to clarify contradictory results of previous studies. A visual dot probe task was administered to 51 smokers and 41 nonsmokers to assess the attentional bias. Smokers were classified into a group of less severely dependent and a group of more severely dependent smokers according to the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence, the number of cigarettes smoked per day or the CO concentration in the expired air.

Implications from addiction research towards the understanding and treatment of obesity.

Recent research indicates similarities between obesity and addictive disorders on both the phenomenological and neurobiological level. In particular, neuroendocrine and imaging studies suggest a close link between the homeostatic regulation of appetite on the on hand, and motivation and reward expectancy on the other. In addition, findings from neuropsychological studies additionally demonstrate alterations of cognitive function in both obesity and addictive disorders that possibly contribute to a lack of control in resisting consumption.

Effects of cue-exposure treatment on neural cue reactivity in alcohol dependence: a randomized trial.

Background: In alcohol-dependent patients, alcohol-associated cues elicit brain activation in mesocorticolimbic networks involved in relapse mechanisms. Cue-exposure based extinction training (CET) has been shown to be efficacious in the treatment of alcoholism; however, it has remained unexplored whether CET mediates its therapeutic effects via changes of activity in mesolimbic networks in response to alcohol cues. In this study, we assessed CET treatment effects on cue-induced responses using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

The effect of pictorial warnings on cigarette packages on attentional bias of smokers.

Given that previous studies demonstrated that smoking-related cues (like cigarette packages) grab the attention of smokers and thereby contribute to craving and tobacco seeking we investigated how pictorial health warnings presented on cigarette packages affect attention allocation towards cigarette packages. The WHO advises the use of pictorial health warnings on cigarette packages. However, at present no experimental studies are available investigating if pictorial warnings modulate incentive properties of cigarette packages.

Effects of repeated withdrawal from alcohol on recovery of cognitive impairment under abstinence and rate of relapse.

Aims: Several authors suggest that withdrawal from alcohol could cause neurotoxic lesions in the frontal lobe and thereby affect cognitive function. In line with this, previous studies have demonstrated greater cognitive impairment of alcohol-dependent patients with two or more previous detoxifications (Hi-detox) compared with patients with less than two detoxifications (Lo-detox). The aim of the present study was to investigate whether repeated withdrawal from alcohol affects recovery of cognitive function and is related to relapse.

What prevents young adolescents from smoking? Self-reported motives of 12-15-year-old non-smokers.

Objectives: This study investigated the real motives of German non-smokers.

Methods: In the German SToP ("Sources of Tobacco for Pupils") Study 707 non-smoking pupils were asked to write down their motives for being non-smokers. A total of 1324 partially very elaborate free text statements (mean/range: 1.

Acute alcohol impairs conditioning of a behavioural reward-seeking response and inhibitory control processes--implications for addictive disorders.

Aims: To investigate whether acute alcohol would affect performance of a conditioned behavioural response to obtain a reward outcome and impair performance in a task measuring inhibitory control to provide new knowledge of how the acute effects of alcohol might contribute to the transition from alcohol use to dependence.

Design: A randomized controlled between-subjects design was employed.

Settings: The laboratory of experimental psychology at the University of Sussex.

Avoidance of alcohol-related stimuli increases during the early stage of abstinence in alcohol-dependent patients.

Aims: The aim of this study was to analyse initial orienting processes as well as maintenance of attention towards alcohol cues in recently detoxified alcoholics and light social drinkers. Furthermore, we investigated the influence of pre-treatment alcohol consumption and abstinence duration onto alcohol-related attentional bias.

Methods: We used an alcohol-visual-dot-probe-task with two different stimulus onset asynchronies (SOA) to examine processes of initial orienting and maintenance of attention separately (50 and 500 ms SOA).

Impairment of cognitive abilities and decision making after chronic use of alcohol: the impact of multiple detoxifications.

Aims: In the present study, the effect of previous detoxifications on prefrontal function and decision making was examined in alcohol-dependent patients. Further, we examined whether the length of abstinence affects cognitive function.

Methods: Forty-eight alcohol-dependent patients were recruited from an inpatient detoxification treatment facility and cognitive function was compared to a control group of 36 healthy controls.

Acute alcohol decreases performance of an instrumental response to avoid aversive consequences in social drinkers.

Background: Recent studies demonstrated that alcohol impairs inhibitory control of behavioural responses.

Aims: We questioned whether alcohol via its disinhibiting effects would also impair the inhibition of an instrumental avoidance response in the presence of a safety signal.

Design: Thirty-six moderate social drinkers were randomly allocated to receiving either alcohol (0.