Attentional Bias & Affect in Stress-Vulnerable Smokers

注意偏差

• 批准号: 6767208
• 负责人: DAVID G GILBERT
• 金额: $ 35.75万
• 依托单位: SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY CARBONDALE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-06-01 至 2008-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6767208
• 关键词: anxiety; attention; behavioral /social science research tag; bias; choice; clinical research; cues; drug addiction; electroencephalography; gender difference; human subject; nicotine; nicotine replacement; personality; psychological shock; psychological stressor; psychopharmacology; questionnaires; smoking cessation; visual stimulus

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The primary objective of this proposal is to characterize more fully when and why stress-prone individuals, compared to others, are more likely to experience larger increases in stress-related forms of negative affect when they quit smoking. Evidence suggests that stress-prone individuals focus their attention on cues associated with potential stressors and that nicotine may alter attentional processes in such a manner as to reduce subjective stress (negative affect). Thus, it is hypothesized that nicotine acts as a form of serf-medication for stress-prone individuals because it attenuates attentional bias to stressors (cue predicting aversive events and negative emotional stimuli), thereby decreasing negative emotional states (subjective stress). This attenuation of negative attentional bias and associative processing by nicotine is hypothesized to result from nicotine's enhancing attentional and associative bias to positive and neutral stimuli that in turn compete with and inhibit negative affect-related processing. That is, nicotine is predicted to enhance the salience of neutral and positive stimuli and to reduce the salience of negative stimuli. Nicotine-induced attentional and associative biasing is hypothesized to occur most strongly in situations where the subject has a significant degree of freedom of attentional choice. Thus, the effects of attentional choice (two-picture/movie viewing with one stressful and one neutral or positive alternative) versus no-choice (one stressful picture/movie viewing with no alternative) conditions on nicotine's ability to reduce negative affect will be assessed by presenting blocks with a series of single or dual pictures/mini-movies on a computer monitor. Mood will be assessed before and after each picture/mini-movie series block. In the no-choice task, single pictures will be presented centrally on the computer screen. In the choice task, dual picture images or mini-movies will be presented simultaneously in the left and right visual field. In the choice condition, subjects will be instructed to allocate as much or little of their gaze time to a given picture/mini-movie, but to always be gazing at one of two pictures/movies, in the no-choice condition, subjects will be required to gaze at each picture for the duration of its presentation. Neutral or positive pictures/movies will be interspersed in both the choice and no-choice tasks. Eye-gaze patterns during the choice task and no-choice task will be obtained with an infrared, computerized tracking system. In the choice task, maximal stress-reducing effects of nicotine are predicted to occur during blocks with a high frequency of negative pictures. Nicotine is predicted to reduce gaze directed toward negative pictures and to enhance attention to positive pictures. In the no-choice task, nicotine is expected to have maximal dysphoria-reducing effects when a low frequency of negative pictures is combined with intervening positive pictures. Potential moderating influences of gender, history of traumatic and chronic stress, and individual differences in trait anxiety, depression, and anhedonia will be assessed with regression analyses. This work will use new experimental procedures and technologies, including the precise assessment of individual differences in continuously monitored eye-gaze patterns with an infrared, computerized tracking system. The new knowledge derived from these studies will be useful in developing empirical model-based treatment strategies aimed at increasing smoking abstinence. An EEG stress response index (alpha asymmetry) will be used in a subgroup of subjects during each of the 3 proposed studies.

描述（由申请人提供）： 这项建议的主要目的是更充分地描述何时以及为什么压力倾向的人，与其他人相比，更有可能在戒烟时经历更大的压力相关形式的负面影响。有证据表明，易受压力影响的人会将注意力集中在与潜在压力源相关的线索上，尼古丁可能会以减少主观压力（负面影响）的方式改变注意力过程。因此，假设尼古丁作为压力倾向个体的一种自我药物，因为它减弱了对压力源的注意力偏差（预测厌恶事件和负面情绪刺激的线索），从而减少了负面情绪状态（主观压力）。尼古丁对负性注意偏差和联想加工的这种衰减被假设是由于尼古丁增强了对正性和中性刺激的注意和联想偏差，而正性和中性刺激又与负性影响相关加工竞争并抑制负性影响相关加工。也就是说，预计尼古丁会增强中性和积极刺激的显著性，并降低消极刺激的显著性。尼古丁引起的注意和联想偏置的假设发生最强烈的情况下，受试者有一个显着的自由度的注意选择。因此，将通过在计算机显示器上呈现一系列单张或双张图片/迷你电影来评估注意力选择（观看两张图片/电影，其中一张图片/电影具有压力，另一张图片/电影具有中性或积极的选择）与无选择（观看一张图片/电影，其中没有选择）条件对尼古丁降低负面影响的能力的影响。情绪将在每个图片/迷你电影系列块之前和之后进行评估。在无选择任务中，单个图片将集中呈现在计算机屏幕上。在选择任务中，双画面图像或迷你电影将同时呈现在左右视野中。在选择条件下，受试者将被指示将尽可能多或少的凝视时间分配给给定的图片/迷你电影，但始终凝视两张图片/电影中的一张，在无选择条件下，受试者将被要求在其呈现期间凝视每张图片。中性或积极的图片/电影将穿插在选择和无选择任务中。在选择任务和无选择任务期间的眼睛注视模式将通过红外计算机跟踪系统获得。在选择任务中，预测尼古丁的最大减压作用发生在负面图片频率高的区块期间。尼古丁可以减少人们对负面图片的注视，提高人们对正面图片的注意力。在无选择任务中，当低频率的负面图片与干预的正面图片相结合时，尼古丁预期具有最大的减少焦虑的作用。将采用回归分析评估性别、创伤和慢性应激史以及特质焦虑、抑郁和快感缺乏的个体差异的潜在调节影响。这项工作将使用新的实验程序和技术，包括用红外线计算机跟踪系统对连续监测的眼睛注视模式中的个体差异进行精确评估。从这些研究中获得的新知识将有助于开发旨在提高戒烟率的基于经验模型的治疗策略。在3项拟定研究的每一项中，将在受试者亚组中使用EEG应激反应指数（α不对称性）。