Regulation of Craving: Stress-challenge and re-exposure effects

渴望的调节：压力挑战和重新暴露的影响

• 批准号: 417958660
• 负责人: Professorin Dr. Tanja Endrass
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Professur für Allgemeine Psychologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2018-12-31 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/417958660?language=en
• 关键词: Regulation; Craving; Stress; challenge; re

Stress and craving are important predictors for relapse in patients with substance use disorders. Prior work has shown that patients can reduce self-reported craving by imagining the long-term negative consequences of using when confronted with substance cues (e.g. images of people smoking). Neurally, this was associated with activity of the prefrontal cortex and it was shown that activity of areas such as the ventral striatum and amygdala, which are closely linked with craving, were reduced.The aim of the first study is to examine the influence of stress on the capacity to regulate craving for cigarettes and its neural substrates (using functional magnetic resonance imaging; fMRI) in heavy smokers. Male heavy smokers are randomly assigned to a stress induction (socially evaluated cold pressor task) or control condition and perform a regulation of craving task involving a smoking and food (control) condition during a fMRI scan. Saliva samples will be taken at several time points and we assume that stress-induced effects of catecholamines and glucocorticoids interfere with prefrontally mediated control mechanisms and thus impair regulatory success (at the behavioral and neural level). Further, we will evaluate whether the level of executive functioning predicts maintained regulatory capacity in the face of stress. The aim of the second study of this proposal is to compare the prospective effects of strategies to regulate craving and its electrophysiological correlates using the electroencephalogram (EEG). Here, the late positive potential (LPP) will serve as a robust marker of attention for substance cues and their potential to elicit craving. During a single EEG session, heavy smokers perform a regulation of craving task, which involves imagination of the long-term negative consequences of smoking and distraction through solving arithmetic problems. After a short break, participants will be re-exposed to the previously presented substance cues, without instructions to regulate craving. We assume that strategies involving elaboration of a substance cue are more successful on the long run than strategies to reduce craving by mere distraction. Smokers should be able to rapidly reduce craving and the LPP amplitude associated with smoking cues through both strategies. However, upon re-exposure, smokers should report more craving and higher LPP amplitudes in response to smoking cues previously subject to distraction relative to smoking cues previously subject to imagining the long-term negative consequences of smoking.Since regulation strategies are frequently successful in the laboratory but much more difficult to implement in real life, this project will improve our understanding of factors facilitating or impairing regulatory success and how they interact. Furthermore, the EEG study will facilitate understanding and characterization of “rebound effects” associated with some regulation strategies and their effects on craving and cue-exposure.

压力和渴望是物质使用障碍患者复发的重要预测因素。先前的研究表明，患者可以通过想象在面对物质线索(例如人们吸烟的图像)时使用的长期负面后果来减少自我报告的渴望。在神经方面，这与前额叶皮质的活动有关，研究表明，与烟瘾密切相关的腹侧纹状体和杏仁核等区域的活动减少。第一项研究的目的是考察压力对重度吸烟者调节烟瘾及其神经底物能力的影响(使用功能磁共振成像；fMRI)。男性重度吸烟者被随机分配到压力诱导(社会评估的冷加压任务)或控制条件下，并在fMRI扫描期间执行涉及吸烟和食物(控制)条件的渴望调节任务。唾液样本将在几个时间点采集，我们假设儿茶酚胺和糖皮质激素的应激诱导效应干扰了前额叶介导的控制机制，从而损害了调控的成功(在行为和神经水平)。此外，我们将评估行政职能水平是否预示着在面临压力时保持监管能力。这项建议的第二项研究的目的是利用脑电(EEG)比较控制渴求的策略及其电生理相关性的预期效果。在这里，晚期正向电位(LPP)将作为关注物质线索及其引发渴望的潜力的一个强有力的标志。在一次脑电活动中，重度吸烟者进行渴望任务的调节，其中包括想象吸烟的长期负面后果，并通过解决算术问题来分散注意力。在短暂的休息之后，参与者将重新接触到之前提供的物质提示，而不是调节渴望的指示。我们假设，从长远来看，与仅仅通过分心来减少渴望的策略相比，涉及详细说明物质线索的策略更成功。吸烟者应该能够通过这两种策略迅速减少渴望和与吸烟线索相关的LPP幅度。然而，在再次暴露时，吸烟者应该报告更多的渴望和更高的LPP幅度，以回应之前容易分心的吸烟线索，而不是以前想象吸烟的长期负面后果的吸烟线索。由于调节策略在实验室经常是成功的，但在现实生活中更难实施，这个项目将提高我们对促进或阻碍调节成功的因素以及它们如何相互作用的理解。此外，脑电研究将有助于理解和描述与某些调控策略相关的“反弹效应”及其对渴求和线索暴露的影响。