Event-related potentials in a two-choice oddball task of impaired behavioral inhibitory control among males with tendencies towards cybersex addiction

Reduced inhibition control ability in children with ADHD due to coexisting learning disorders: an fNIRS study

Introduction

Inhibition control, as the core component of executive function, might play a crucial role in the understanding of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and specific learning disorders (SLD). Inhibition control deficits have been observed in children with ADHD or SLD. This study sought to test in a multi-modal fashion (i.e., behavior and plus brain imaging) whether inhibition control abilities would be further deteriorated in the ADHD children due to the comorbidity of SLD.

Method

A total number of 90 children (aged 6-12 years) were recruited, including 30 ADHD, 30 ADHD+SLD (children with the comorbidity of ADHD and SLD), and 30 typically developing (TD) children. For each participant, a 44-channel functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) equipment was first adopted to capture behavioral and cortical hemodynamic responses during a two-choice Oddball task (a relatively new inhibition control paradigm). Then, 50 metrics were extracted, including 6 behavioral metrics (i.e., OddballACC, baselineACC, totalACC, OddballRT, baselineRT, and totalRT) and 44 beta values in 44 channels based on general linear model. Finally, differences in those 50 metrics among the TD, ADHD, and ADHD+SLD children were analyzed.

Results

Findings showed that: (1) OddballACC (i.e., the response accuracy in deviant stimuli) is the most sensitive metric in identifying the differences between the ADHD and ADHD+SLD children; and (2) The ADHD+SLD children exhibited decreased behavioral response accuracy and brain activation level in some channels (e.g., channel CH35) than both the ADHD and TD children.

Discussion

Findings seem to support that inhibition control abilities would be further decreased in the ADHD children due to the comorbidity of SLD.

Increased sensitivity for negative emotional images in individuals with problematic pornography use

Background

Despite the frequent comorbidity of affective and addictive disorders, the significance of affective dysregulation in problematic pornography use (PPU) is commonly disregarded. The objective of this study is to investigate whether individuals with PPU demonstrate increased sensitivity to negative emotional stimuli in comparison to healthy controls (HCs).

Methods

Electrophysiological responses were captured via event-related potentials (ERPs) from 27 individuals with PPU and 29 HCs. They completed an oddball task involving the presentation of deviant stimuli in the form of highly negative (HN), moderately negative (MN), and neutral images, with a standard stimulus being a neutral kettle image. To evaluate participants' subjective feelings of valence and arousal, the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) was employed.

Results

Regarding subjective evaluations, individuals with PPU indicated diminished valence ratings for HN images as opposed to HCs. Concerning electrophysiological assessments, those with PPU manifested elevated N2 amplitudes in response to both HN and MN images when contrasted against neutral images. Additionally, PPU participants displayed an intensified P3 response to HN images in contrast to MN images, a distinction not evident within the HCs.

Discussion

These outcomes suggest that individuals with PPU exhibited heightened reactivity toward negative stimuli. This increased sensitivity to negative cues could potentially play a role in the propensity of PPU individuals to resort to pornography as a coping mechanism for managing stress regulation.

The Impact of Problematic Social Media Use on Inhibitory Control and the Role of Fear of Missing Out: Evidence from Event-Related Potentials

Introduction

The general deficit in inhibitory control of problematic social media users has received widespread attention. However, the neural correlates of problematic social media use (PSMU) and inhibitory control remain unclear. Additionally, the co-occurrence of the fear of missing out (FoMO) with social media use is common, yet its role in the relationship between PSMU and inhibitory control has not been investigated.

Methods

This study aimed to examine the electrophysiological correlates of PSMU and inhibitory control using a modified two-choice oddball task combined with event-related potentials (ERPs), and to explore the role of FoMO in this relationship. A total of 66 participants with varying degrees of PSMU were included in the analysis based on the Problematic Mobile Social Media Usage Questionnaire.

Results

The study found that PSMU could impact inhibitory control. Specifically, as the PSMU score increases, the N2 amplitude is greater for social media-related pictures, and the P3 amplitude is smaller, while no significant differences are observed for neutral pictures. This suggests that PSMU affects inhibitory control by consuming more cognitive resources in the early conflict detection stage and leading to insufficient cognitive resources in the later stages of the inhibitory process. Furthermore, FoMO played a mediating role between PSMU and inhibitory control. PSMU could further impact inhibitory control through FoMO.

Conclusion

This study provides electrophysiological evidence for deficits in inhibitory control in PSMU and suggests that FoMO may further reduce inhibitory control in PSMU individuals.

Effects of fear of missing out on inhibitory control in social media context: evidence from event-related potentials

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of fear of missing out (FoMO) on inhibitory control in social media context. The present study used a two-choice oddball task combined with event-related potentials (ERPs) technology to measure inhibitory control. Based on the Fear of Missing Out Scale, participants with varying degrees of FoMO were recruited to complete two studies. A total of 78 participants in Study 1 completed a two-choice oddball task (stimuli "W" or "M"). The results showed that FoMO did not have a significant impact on general inhibitory control at both the behavioral and electrophysiological levels. To further examine the effect of FoMO in social media context. In Study 2, 72 participants completed a modified two-choice oddball task with three types of pictures (high and low social media-related and neutral). The behavioral results revealed that as FoMO scores increased, inhibitory control decreased. ERP analysis revealed that with higher FoMO scores, social media-related pictures elicited larger N2 amplitude and smaller P3 amplitude, but not for neutral pictures. This suggests that FoMO undermines inhibitory control by consuming more cognitive resources in the early conflict detection stage and leading to insufficient cognitive resources in the later stages of the inhibitory process. These findings suggest that FoMO can undermine inhibitory control in the social media context. Considering the indispensable use of social media in the digital age, addressing and understanding the influence of FoMO on inhibitory control could be essential for promoting healthy digital behaviors and cognitive functions.

Depressive states in healthy subjects lead to biased processing in frontal-parietal ERPs during emotional stimuli

Subthreshold depressive (sD) states and major depression are considered to occur on a continuum, and there are only quantitative and not qualitative differences between depressive states in healthy individuals and patients with depression. sD is showing a progressively increasing prevalence and has a lifelong impact, and the social and clinical impacts of sD are no less than those of major depressive disorder (MDD). Because depression leads to biased cognition, patients with depression and healthy individuals show different visual processing properties. However, it remains unclear whether there are significant differences in visual information recognition among healthy individuals with various depressive states. In this study, we investigated the event-related potentials (ERPs) and event-related spectrum perturbation (ERSP) of healthy individuals with various depressive states during the perception of emotional visual stimulation. We show that different neural activities can be detected even among healthy individuals. We divided healthy participants into high, middle, and low depressive state groups and found that participants in a high depressive state had a lower P300 amplitude and significant differences in fast and slow neural responses in the frontal and parietal lobes. We anticipate our study to provide useful parameters for assessing the evaluation of depressive states in healthy individuals.

Decision making and executive functions in problematic pornography use

Introduction

Previous research on cognitive functions in Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder (CSBD) and problematic pornography use (PPU) reported inconsistent findings and mostly included sexual pictures in the used tasks. The role of general executive functions and cognitive competences (without the presence of appetitive stimuli) in the context of PPU is largely unexplored.

Methods

This study investigated differences between individuals with high versus low problem severity of PPU regarding decision making and executive functions. The sample of the laboratory study consisted of N = 102 male adults. Besides measures of trait impulsivity, we used standard neuropsychological tests (Trail Making Test and three-back working memory task) and an intertemporal risky choice paradigm, the Cards & Lottery Task (CLT).

Results

The results show heightened impulsivity (urgency and deficits in perseverance) in individuals with high PPU, but no differences regarding performance in the CLT and executive function tasks.

Discussion

The findings indicate that PPU might be associated with impulsive behavior when experiencing strong emotions (urgency) and deficient cognitive performance especially in the presence of sexual stimuli but not in general.

Family functioning and problematic internet pornography use among adolescents: a moderated mediation model

Background

In recent years, the issue of problematic Internet pornography use (PIPU) among adolescents has become increasingly prominent, attracting widespread attention from society. Family functioning has been recognized as a protective factor for PIPU, but the underlying mediating and moderating mechanisms remain unclear. The purpose of this study is (a) to investigate the mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between family functioning and PIPU, and (b) to examine the moderating role of the need to belong in this mediating pathway.

Methods

A total of 771 high school students (Mage = 16.19, SD = 0.90) were surveyed using the Problematic Internet Pornography Use Scale, Family Assessment Device, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Need to Belong Scale.

Results

Correlation analysis showed a significant negative correlation between family functioning and PIPU (r = -0.25, p < 0.001), a significant positive correlation between self-esteem and family functioning (r = 0.38, p < 0.001), a significant negative correlation between self-esteem and PIPU (r = -0.24, p < 0.001), and a significant positive correlation between need to belong and PIPU (r = 0.16, p < 0.01). Mediation analysis showed that self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between family functioning and PIPU, with a mediation effect of -0.06. Further moderated mediation analysis showed that for adolescents with higher need to belong, the mediating effect of self-esteem was stronger.

Conclusions

For adolescents with high belonging needs who are at high risk for PIPU, good family functioning may have a protective effect by boosting self-esteem.

Impaired behavioral inhibitory control of self-injury cues between adolescents with depression with self-injury behavior and those without during a two-choice oddball task: an event-related potential study

Background

This study aimed to objectively evaluate the severity of impulsivity [behavior inhibitory control (BIC) impairment] among adolescents with depression. In particular, those involved in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) behaviors, compared with those engaged in suicidal behaviors and adolescents without any self-injury behavior, using event-related potentials (ERPs) and event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) within the two-choice oddball paradigm.

Methods

Participants with a current diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD) engaged in repetitive NSSI for five or more days in the past year (n = 53) or having a history of at least one prior complete suicidal behavior (n = 31) were recruited in the self-injury group. Those without self-injury behavior were recruited in the MDD group (n = 40). They completed self-report scales and a computer-based two-choice oddball paradigm during which a continuous electroencephalogram was recorded. The difference waves in P3d were derived from the deviant minus standard wave, and the target index was the difference between the two conditions. We focused on latency and amplitude, and time-frequency analyses were conducted in addition to the conventional index.

Results

Participants with self-injury, compared to those with depression but without self-injury, exhibited specific deficits in BIC impairment, showing a significantly larger amplitude. Specifically, the NSSI group showed the highest value in amplitude and theta power, and suicidal behavior showed a high value in amplitude but the lowest value in theta power. These results may potentially predict the onset of suicide following repetitive NSSI.

Conclusion

These findings contribute to substantial progress in exploring neuro-electrophysiological evidence of self-injury behaviors. Furthermore, the difference between the NSSI and suicide groups might be the direction of prediction of suicidality.

Evoked Acute Stress Alters Frontal Midline Neural Oscillations Affecting Behavioral Inhibition in College Students

PURPOSE

The current research of the effect of acute stress on individual behavioral inhibition remains divergent. The present study aims to explore the effects of acute stress on behavioral inhibition in college students and to understand the neural oscillatory characteristics of their behavioral inhibition process.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We invited 27 college students (12 males and 15 females) to participate in the study. The experiment was conducted using the Trier Social Stress paradigm to evoke an acute stress state and an out-of-speech reading to set a neutral state. Participants completed a two-choice Oddball task in the acute stress state and the neutral state, respectively. We used a 64-channel EEG cap to record EEG data from university students during the experimental task. In combination with the ERO technique, we compared the reaction time, the number of errors, and the power of the alpha (8-13 Hz) and theta (4-8 Hz) frequency bands at the midline of the frontal lobe for subjects in both states. The correlation between the area under the stress area line and the alpha as well as theta frequency bands was also analyzed.

RESULTS

We found that in the two-choice Oddball task, the response inhibition time was shorter, the number of response errors decreased, and the alpha-band power values decreased in the acute stress state compared to the neutral state. For the standard stimulus, the theta-band power increase in the acute stress state.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that evoked acute stress promotes behavioral inhibition in college students by affecting their frontal midline neural oscillations.

The influence of pride emotion on executive function: Evidence from ERP

BACKGROUND

The current study examined the influence of positive "basic" emotions on executive function; there is limited evidence about the influence of positive "self-conscious"emotions, such as pride, on executive functions processes.

METHODS

Pride is a status-related self-conscious emotion and the present research explored the influence of pride on the subcomponents of executive function, using three experiments that adopted the digit size-parity switching, N-back, and dual choice oddball paradigms.

RESULTS

The behavioral results suggested that cognitive load and behavior inhibition effects in the pride emotion were significantly higher than the neutral emotion. The ERP results showed that the pride emotion elicited smaller P3 difference wave for the switching task and dual choice oddball task. In the N-back task, the pride emotion elicited larger N1 amplitude and smaller P2 difference wave compared to the neutral emotion. A comparison among results from the three experiments indicated that pride emotion restrains all subcomponents of executive function, though with different manifestations of the impact.

CONCLUSION

Experiencing positive emotions is typically viewed as desirable and adaptive in educational settings; however, pride as a unique positive emotion may damage people's cognitive performance, indicating that we need to be cautious when performing cognitive operations in a pride mood.

Electrophysiological Evidence of Enhanced Processing of Novel Pornographic Images in Individuals With Tendencies Toward Problematic Internet Pornography Use

Novelty seeking is regarded as a core feature in substance use disorders. However, few studies thus far have investigated this feature in problematic Internet pornography use (PIPU). The main aim of the present study was to examine group differences in electrophysiological activity associated with novelty processing in participants with high tendencies toward PIPU vs. low tendencies using event-related potentials (ERPs). Twenty-seven participants with high tendencies toward PIPU and 25 with low tendencies toward PIPU completed a modified three-stimulus oddball task while electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. Participants were instructed to detect neutral target stimuli from distracting stimuli. The distracting stimuli contained a familiar sexual stimulus and a set of novel sexual stimuli. The novel-familiar difference waves were calculated to identify specific group difference in novelty effect. While both groups demonstrated a sustained novelty effect in the late positive potential (LPP) within the 500–800 ms time windows, the novelty effect was greater in the high tendencies toward PIPU group than in the low tendencies toward PIPU group. This result suggests that individuals with high tendencies toward PIPU allocate more attentional resources for novelty processing. Enhanced brain responding to novel sexual stimuli may facilitate pornographic consumption and play an essential role in the development and maintenance of PIPU.

The Role of Impulsivity and Reward Deficiency in "Liking" and "Wanting" of Potentially Problematic Behaviors and Substance Uses

A few studies have examined the changes in substance- and behavior-related "wanting" and "liking" of human subjects, the key properties of Incentive Sensitization Theory (IST). The aim of this study was to examine the dissociation between "wanting" and "liking" as a function of usage frequency, intensity, and subjective severity in individuals across four substances (alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, and other drugs) and ten behaviors (gambling, overeating, gaming, pornography use, sex, social media use, Internet use, TV-series watching, shopping, and work). Also, the potential roles of impulsivity and reward deficiency were investigated in "wanting," "liking," and wellbeing. The sex differences between "wanting" and "liking" were also examined. Based on our findings using structural equation modeling with 749 participants (503 women, M age = 35.7 years, SD = 11.84), who completed self-report questionnaires, "wanting" increased with the severity, frequency, and intensity of potentially problematic use, while "liking" did not change. Impulsivity positively predicted "wanting," and "wanting" positively predicted problem uses/behaviors. Reward deficiency positively predicted problem uses/behaviors, and both impulsivity and problem uses/behaviors negatively predicted wellbeing. Finally, women showed higher levels of "wanting," compared to men. These findings demonstrate the potential roles of incentive sensitization in both potentially problematic substance uses and behaviors.

Approach-Avoidance pattern of attentional bias in individuals with high tendencies toward problematic Internet pornography use

Attentional bias plays a vital role in the occurrence and development of addictive behaviors. However, little is known about attentional processes in problematic Internet pornography use (PIPU), and previous studies have reported mixed results. The current study examined the components of attentional processing to sexual stimuli using an exogenous cueing task designed to differentiate between attentional engagement and disengagement. Two different stimulus presentation times (100 and 500 ms) were used to present the pornographic and neutral images to differentiate the early and late stages of attentional bias. Individuals with high (n = 40) and low (n = 40) PIPU tendencies were compared. The results demonstrated that individuals with high tendencies toward PIPU showed enhanced attentional engagement with pornographic stimuli in the early stage of attentional processing (100 ms), followed by attentional avoidance in the late stages of attentional processing (500 ms). Moreover, the severity of PIPU symptoms was positively correlated with attentional engagement scores in the short picture-time trials (100 ms) and weakly negatively correlated with attentional disengagement scores in the long picture-time trials (500 ms). This approach-avoidance pattern of attentional biases is in line with a recent theoretical model that emphasizes that appetitive and aversive motivational processes jointly determine attentional bias.

Altered Neural Reactivity in Adolescents With Nonsuicidal Self-Injury During Exposure to Self-Injury Related Cues: Electrophysiological Evidence From a Two-Choice Oddball Paradigm

BACKGROUND

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) may be a type of addiction, that is characterized by cue reactivity. We aimed to explore the behavioral performance and neural reactivity during exposure to self-injury cues in adolescents with NSSI and major depressive disorder (MDD).

METHODS

Eighteen MDD patients, 18 MDD patients with NSSI, and 19 healthy controls (HC) were recruited to perform a two-choice oddball paradigm. All subjects were 12-18 years old. Neutral cues and self-injury related cues separately served as deviant stimuli. Difference waves in N2 and P3 (N2d and P3d) were derived from deviant waves minus standard waves. Accuracy cost and reaction time (RT) cost were used as behavioral indexes, while the N2d and P3d were used as electrophysiological indexes; the N2d reflects early conflict detection, and the P3d reflects the process of response inhibition.

RESULTS

No significant main effects of group or cue or an effect of their interaction were observed on accuracy cost and P3d latency. For RT cost, N2d amplitude, and N2d latency, there was a significant main effect of cue. For P3d amplitude, there was a significant main effect of cue and a significant group × cue interaction. In the NSSI group, the P3d amplitude with self-injury cues was significantly larger than that with neutral cues. However, there was no such effect in the MDD and HC groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescents with NSSI showed altered neural reactivity during exposure to self-injury cue. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm our results.

Electrophysiological evidence of enhanced early attentional bias toward sexual images in individuals with tendencies toward cybersex addiction

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Attentional bias is a key factor in addictive behavior maintenance. However, whether attentional bias has a similar effect on cybersex addiction is unclear. We investigated differences in the attentional processing of sexually explicit images between individuals with high tendencies toward cybersex addiction (TCA) versus low tendencies using behavioral and electrophysiological indices.

METHODS

Twenty-eight individuals with high TCA and 29 with low TCA performed an addiction Stroop task comprising sexual and neutral images in colored frames. Participants were asked to respond to the frame color and not the image contents, and behavioral and event-related potentials were recorded.

RESULTS

Behaviorally, an addiction Stroop interference effect was found in the high TCA group, as shown by the longer reaction times to judge the frame colors of sexual images. Electrophysiologically, a P200 (150-220 ms) enhancement was present in response to sexual images compared with neutral ones, which was absent in the low TCA group. The event-related potential correlates with the addiction Stroop interference effect, indicating that the attentional bias underlying the addiction Stroop interference operates at an automatic level. A general, sexually related bias was found in the late positive potential (300-700 ms) amplitude, although between-group differences were insignificant.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicate that sexual stimuli grab the attentional resources of individuals with high TCA at early automatic stages of attentional processing. Increased cue reactivity to sexual stimuli may contribute to pornographic consumption and play a crucial role in sustaining problematic excessive use of online pornography.

Cognitive processes related to problematic pornography use (PPU): A systematic review of experimental studies

INTRODUCTION

Some people experience symptoms and negative outcomes derived from their persistent, excessive, and problematic engagement in pornography viewing (i.e., Problematic Pornography Use, PPU). Recent theoretical models have turned to different cognitive processes (e.g., inhibitory control, decision making, attentional bias, etc.) to explain the development and maintenance of PPU, but empirical evidence derived from experimental studies is still limited. In this context, the present systematic review aimed to review and compile the evidence around cognitive processes related to PPU.

METHODS

A systematic review was performed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines to compile evidence regarding cognitive processes related to PPU. We retained and analyzed 21 experimental studies addressing this topic.

RESULTS

Studies were focused on four cognitive processes: attentional bias, inhibitory control, working memory, and decision making. In brief, PPU is related to (a) attentional biases toward sexual stimuli, (b) deficient inhibitory control (in particular, to problems with motor response inhibition and to shift attention away from irrelevant stimuli), (c) worse performance in tasks assessing working memory, and (d) decision making impairments (in particular, to preferences for short-term small gains rather than long-term large gains, more impulsive choice patterns than non-erotica users, approach tendencies toward sexual stimuli, and inaccuracies when judging the probability and magnitude of potential outcomes under ambiguity).

CONCLUSION

This systematic review offers a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge regarding the cognitive features related to PPU, and points out new areas that warrants further research.