Choosing to regulate: does choice enhance craving regulation?

Altered Heart Rate Variability During Mobile Game Playing and Watching Self-Mobile Gaming in Individuals with Problematic Mobile Game Use: Implications for Cardiac Health

Introduction

The surge in mobile gaming, fueled by smartphone and internet accessibility, lacks a comprehensive understanding of physiological changes during gameplay.

Methods

This study, involving 93 participants (average age 21.75 years), categorized them into Problematic Mobile Gaming (PMG) and non-problematic Mobile Gaming (nPMG) groups based on Problematic Mobile Gaming Questionnaire (PMGQ) scores. The PMGQ is a 12-item scale developed in Taiwan to assess symptoms of problematic mobile gaming. The research delved into heart rate variability (HRV) alterations during real-time mobile gaming and self-gaming video viewing.

Results

Results showed that the PMG group significantly presents a lower root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), and High Frequency (lnHF) than does the nPMG group (F=4.73, p=0.03; F=10.65, p=0.002, respectively) at the baseline. In addition, the PMG group significantly displayed elevated HF and low-frequency to high-frequency (LF/HF) in the mobile-gaming (F=7.59, p=0.007; F=9.31, p=0.003) condition as well as in the watching self-gaming videos (F=9.75, p=0.002; F=9.02, p=0.003) than did the nPMG.

Conclusion

The study suggests targeted interventions to mitigate autonomic arousal, offering a potential avenue to address adverse effects associated with problematic mobile gaming behavior. The PMG group displayed increased craving scores after real-time mobile gaming and watching self-gaming video excerpts, unlike the nPMG group. Elevated LF/HF ratios in frequent gaming cases heightened autonomic arousal, presenting challenges in relaxation after mobile gaming. These findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of the complex interplay between mobile gaming activities, physiological responses, and potential intervention strategies.

Cognitive reappraisal of food craving and emotions: a coordinate-based meta-analysis of fMRI studies

Growing evidence supports the effectiveness of cognitive reappraisal in down-regulating food desire. Still, the neural bases of food craving down-regulation via reappraisal, as well as their degree of overlap vs specificity compared with emotion down-regulation, remain unclear. We addressed this gap through activation likelihood estimation meta-analyses of neuroimaging studies on the neural bases of (i) food craving down-regulation and (ii) emotion down-regulation, alongside conjunction and subtraction analyses among the resulting maps. Exploratory meta-analyses on activations related to food viewing compared with active regulation and up-regulation of food craving have also been performed. Food and emotion down-regulation via reappraisal consistently engaged overlapping activations in dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal, posterior parietal, pre-supplementary motor and lateral posterior temporal cortices, mainly in the left hemisphere. Its distinctive association with the right anterior/posterior insula and left inferior frontal gyrus suggests that food craving down-regulation entails a more extensive integration of interoceptive information about bodily states and greater inhibitory control over the appetitive urge towards food compared with emotion down-regulation. This evidence is suggestive of unique interoceptive and motivational components elicited by food craving reappraisal, associated with distinctive patterns of fronto-insular activity. These results might inform theoretical models of food craving regulation and prompt novel therapeutic interventions for obesity and eating disorders.

Striatal response to negative feedback in a stop signal task operates as a multi-value learning signal

Background and aim

We examined error-driven learning in fMRI activity of 217 subjects in a stop signal task to obtain a more robust characterization of the relation between behavioral measures of learning and corresponding neural learning signals than previously possible.

Methods

The stop signal task is a two-alternative forced choice in which participants respond to an arrow by pressing a left or right button but must inhibit that response on 1 in 7 trials when cued by an auditory "stop signal." We examined post-error learning by comparing brain activity (BOLD signal) and behavioral responses on trials preceded by successful (correct stop) vs. failed (failed stop) inhibition.

Results

There was strong evidence of greater bilateral striatal activity in the period immediately following correct (vs. failed) stop trials (most evident in the putamen; peak MNI coordinates [-26 8 -2], 430 voxels, p < 0.001; [24 14 0], 527 voxels, p < 0.001). We measured median activity in the bilateral striatal cluster following every failed stop and correct stop trial and correlated it with learning signals for (a) probability and (b) latency of the stop signal. In a mixed-effects model predicting activity 5-10 s after the stop signal, both reaction time (RT) change (B = -0.05, t = 3.0, χ2 = 11.3, p < 0.001) and probability of stop trial change (B = 1.53, t = 6.0, χ2 = 43.0, p < 0.001) had significant within-subjects effects on median activity. In a similar mixed model predicting activity 1-5 s after the stop signal, only probability of stop trial change was predictive.

Conclusions

A mixed-effects model indicates the striatal activity might be a learning signal that encodes reaction time change and the current expected probability of a stop trial occuring. This extends existing evidence that the striatum encodes a reward prediction error signal for learning within the stop signal task, and demonstrates for the first time that this signal seems to encode both change in stop signal probability and in stop signal delay.

The effects of age on the severity of problem drinking: Mediating effects of positive alcohol expectancy and neural correlates

Aging is associated with reduction in the severity of alcohol misuse. However, the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying the age-related changes remain unclear. Here, we tested the hypothesis that age-related diminution of positive alcohol expectancy (AE) mediated the effects of age on problem drinking and investigated the neural correlates of the mediating effects. Ninety-six drinkers 21-85 years of age, including social drinkers and those with mild/moderate alcohol use disorder (AUD), were assessed for global positive (GP) AE and problem drinking, each with the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and with brain imaging during alcohol cue exposure. We processed imaging data with published routines; identified the correlates shared between whole-brain regression against age, GP and AUDIT scores; and performed mediation and path analyses to explore the interrelationships between the clinical and neural variables. The results showed that age was negatively correlated with both GP and AUDIT scores, with GP score completely mediating the correlation between age and AUDIT score. Lower age and higher GP correlated with shared cue responses in bilateral parahippocampal gyrus and left middle occipital cortex (PHG/OC). Further, higher GP and AUDIT scores were associated with shared cue responses in bilateral rostral anterior cingulate cortex and caudate head (ACC/caudate). Path analyses demonstrated models with significant statistical fit and PHG/OC and ACC/caudate each interrelating age to GP and GP to AUDIT scores. These findings confirmed change in positive AE as a psychological mechanism mitigating alcohol misuse as individuals age and highlighted the neural processes of cue-reactivity interrelating age and alcohol use severity.

Interactions between emotions and eating behaviors: Main issues, neuroimaging contributions, and innovative preventive or corrective strategies

Emotional eating is commonly defined as the tendency to (over)eat in response to emotion. Insofar as it involves the (over)consumption of high-calorie palatable foods, emotional eating is a maladaptive behavior that can lead to eating disorders, and ultimately to metabolic disorders and obesity. Emotional eating is associated with eating disorder subtypes and with abnormalities in emotion processing at a behavioral level. However, not enough is known about the neural pathways involved in both emotion processing and food intake. In this review, we provide an overview of recent neuroimaging studies, highlighting the brain correlates between emotions and eating behavior that may be involved in emotional eating. Interaction between neural and neuro-endocrine pathways (HPA axis) may be involved. In addition to behavioral interventions, there is a need for a holistic approach encompassing both neural and physiological levels to prevent emotional eating. Based on recent imaging, this review indicates that more attention should be paid to prefrontal areas, the insular and orbitofrontal cortices, and reward pathways, in addition to regions that play a major role in both the cognitive control of emotions and eating behavior. Identifying these brain regions could allow for neuromodulation interventions, including neurofeedback training, which deserves further investigation.

Neurocognitive Effects of Self-Determined Choice and Emotional Arousal on Time Estimation

Even though effects of emotion and motivation on cognition are well documented, the interaction of all three factors is rarely investigated. Here, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to examine the effects of self-determined choice-as an experimental manipulation of intrinsic motivation - and emotional stimulus content on task preparation and engagement in a temporal production task. Behavioral results indicated a modulation of time processing depending on choice and emotional content. Underlying EEG signals revealed differential modulations by choice on the contingent negative variation (CNV) during task and response preparation and by emotional content on the late positive potential (LPP) in response to the onset of an emotional picture during temporal production. Also, we obtained preliminary evidence for interaction effects of choice and emotional content on the LPP. The feedback-related negativity (FRN) in response to information regarding temporal production success was also affected by interactions of choice and emotional content. These findings indicate that besides separate effects of motivation and emotion, there may be time windows during task engagement in which both factors jointly affect cognitive processing. These results are interpreted as dynamic modulations of attentional resource allocation.

After-effects of self-control: The reward responsivity hypothesis

Exercising self-control can be phenomenologically aversive. Insofar as individuals strive to maintain a positive emotional state, one consequence of exercising self-control may thus be a temporarily tuning toward or amplification of reward-related impulses (perhaps arising to countermand the aversive feelings that stem from self-control). Reward-relevant after-effects are relatively underappreciated in self-control research. In the current paper, we review theory and research pertaining to the idea that exercising self-control increases reward responsivity. First, we review theoretical models of self-control focusing on the relationship between control systems and reward systems. Second, we review behavioral studies regarding the effects of exercising self-control on subsequent reactivity to food, money, drugs, and positive emotional images. Third, we review findings from functional neuroimaging and electroencephalographic research pertaining to the reward responsivity hypothesis. We then call for additional research to integrate how, when, and under what circumstances self-control exertion influences reward processing. Such an endeavor will help to advance research and theory on self-control by offering a more precise characterization of the dynamic interactions between control systems and reward systems.

Elucidating the Effect of a Brief Drinking Intervention Using Neuroimaging: A Preliminary Study

BACKGROUND

Brief interventions have empirical support for acutely reducing alcohol use among non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers. Neuroimaging techniques allow for the examination of the neurobiological effect of behavioral interventions, probing brain systems putatively involved in clinical response to treatment. Few studies have prospectively evaluated whether psychosocial interventions attenuate neural cue reactivity that in turn reduces drinking in the same population. This study aimed to examine the effect of a brief intervention on drinking outcomes, neural alcohol cue reactivity, and the ability of neural alcohol cue reactivity to prospectively predict drinking outcomes.

METHODS

Non-treatment-seeking heavy drinking participants were randomized to receive a brief interview intervention (n = 22) or an attention-matched control (n = 24). Immediately following the intervention or control, participants underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan comprised of the alcohol taste cues paradigm. Four weeks after the intervention (or control), participants completed a follow-up visit to report on their past-month drinking. Baseline and follow-up percent heavy drinking days (PHDD) were calculated for each participant.

RESULTS

There was no significant effect of the brief intervention on PHDD at follow-up or on modulating neural activation to alcohol relative to water taste cues. There was a significant association between neural response to alcohol taste cues and PHDD across groups (Z > 2.3, p < 0.05), such that individuals who had greater neural reactivity to alcohol taste cues in the precuneus and prefrontal cortex (PFC) had fewer PHDD at follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

This study did not find an effect of the brief intervention on alcohol use in this sample, and the intervention was not associated with differential neural alcohol cue reactivity. Nevertheless, greater activation of the precuneus and PFC during alcohol cue exposure predicted less alcohol use prospectively suggesting that these neural substrates subserve the effects of alcohol cues on drinking behavior.

Regulating Craving by Anticipating Positive and Negative Outcomes: A Multivariate Pattern Analysis and Network Connectivity Approach

During self-control, we may resist short-term temptations in order to reach a favorable future (e.g., resisting cake to stay healthy). The neural basis of self-control is typically attributed to "cold," unemotional cognitive control mechanisms which inhibit affect-related regions via the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Here, we investigate the neural underpinnings of regulating cravings by mentally evoking the positive consequences of resisting a temptation (e.g., being healthy) as opposed to evoking the negative consequences of giving in to a temptation (e.g., becoming overweight). It is conceivable that when using these types of strategies, regions associated with emotional processing [e.g., striatum, ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)] are involved in addition to control-related prefrontal and parietal regions. Thirty-one participants saw pictures of unhealthy snacks in the fMRI scanner and, depending on the trial, regulated their craving by thinking of the positive consequences of resisting, or the negative consequences of not resisting. In a control condition, they anticipated the pleasure of eating and thus, allowed the craving to occur (now-condition). In line with previous studies, we found activation of a cognitive control network during self-regulation. In the negative future thinking condition, the insula was more active than in the positive condition, while there were no activations that were stronger in the positive (> negative) future thinking condition. However, additionally, multivariate pattern analysis showed that during craving regulation, information about the valence of anticipated emotions was present in the vmPFC, the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the insula. Moreover, a network including vmPFC and PCC showed higher connectivity during the positive (> negative) future thinking condition. Since these regions are often associated with affective processing, these findings suggest that "hot," affective processes may, at least in certain circumstances, play a role in self-control.

The dynamic nature of food reward processing in the brain

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The dominant view in the literature is that increased neural reactivity to high-caloric palatable foods in the mesocorticolimbic system is a stable-specific characteristic of obese people. In this review, we argue that this viewpoint may not be justified, and we propose that the neural response to food stimuli is dynamic, and in synchrony with the current motivational and cognitive state of an individual. We will further motivate why a clear mental task in the scanner is a necessity for drawing conclusions from neural activity, and why multivariate approaches to functional MRI (fMRI) data-analysis may carry the field forward.

RECENT FINDINGS

From the reviewed literature we draw the conclusions that: neural food-cue reactivity depends strongly on cognitive factors such as the use of cognitive regulation strategies, task demands, and focus of attention; neural activity in the mesocorticolimbic system is not proportionate to the hedonic value of presented food stimuli; and multivariate approaches to fMRI data-analysis have shown that hedonic value can be decoded from multivoxel patterns of neural activity.

SUMMARY

Future research should take the dynamic nature of food-reward processing into account and take advantage from state-of-the-art multivariate approaches to fMRI data-analysis.

Autonomy can support affect regulation during illness and in health

The benefits of autonomy to self-regulation, health, and well-being are well established. However, relatively few studies have investigated how autonomy might influence affect regulation. In this commentary, we argue that autonomy is an important motivational factor that interacts with affect regulation and may be particularly relevant in health contexts, such as cancer, that can limit individual autonomy. We describe the relationship between autonomy and affect regulation and illustrate ways in which autonomy can be supported broadly as well as during various phases in the cancer trajectory.