Attentional Bias & Affect in Stress-Vulnerable Smokers

注意偏差

• 批准号: 6895583
• 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/6895583
• 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)： 这项建议的主要目标是更全面地描述压力倾向者在戒烟后何时以及为什么比其他人更有可能经历与压力相关的负面影响的更大增加。有证据表明，有压力倾向的人会将注意力集中在与潜在压力源相关的线索上，尼古丁可能会以某种方式改变注意力过程，从而减少主观压力(负面情绪)。因此，我们假设尼古丁对有压力倾向的个体来说是一种自我治疗的形式，因为它减弱了对应激源的注意偏差(提示预测厌恶事件和负面情绪刺激)，从而减少了负面情绪状态(主观压力)。尼古丁对负性注意偏向和联想加工的减弱被认为是由于尼古丁增强了对积极和中性刺激的注意偏向和联想偏向，而这反过来又竞争和抑制了负性情感相关的加工。也就是说，尼古丁预计会增强中性和积极刺激的显着性，降低负面刺激的显着性。尼古丁诱导的注意和联想偏向假设在受试者有很大程度的注意选择自由的情况下发生得最强烈。因此，通过在电脑显示器上呈现一系列单张或双张图片/迷你电影，来评估注意选择(两张图片/电影，其中一张压力较大，一张中性或积极的选择)与无选择(一张紧张图片/电影，没有其他选择)条件对尼古丁减少负面情绪能力的影响。情绪将在每一张图片/迷你电影系列区块之前和之后进行评估。在非选择任务中，单张图片将集中呈现在计算机屏幕上。在选择任务中，左右视野将同时呈现双画面图像或小电影。在选择条件下，受试者会被指示将他们的凝视时间分配给给定的图片/迷你电影，但如果总是凝视两张图片/电影中的一张，在非选择条件下，受试者将被要求在每一张图片的呈现持续时间内凝视每一张图片。在选择和非选择任务中都会穿插中性或正面的图片/电影。选择任务和非选择任务期间的眼睛凝视模式将通过红外线计算机跟踪系统获得。在选择任务中，尼古丁的最大减压效果被预测出现在负面图片出现频率较高的区块。尼古丁预计会减少对负面图片的凝视，提高对正面图片的注意力。在没有选择的任务中，当低频率的负面图片与中间的正面图片相结合时，尼古丁有望具有最大的焦虑不安效果。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缓和影响将通过回归分析进行评估。这项工作将使用新的实验程序和技术，包括使用红外线计算机跟踪系统精确评估持续监测的眼睛凝视模式中的个体差异。从这些研究中获得的新知识将有助于开发以经验模型为基础的治疗策略，旨在增加戒烟。在3项拟议的研究中，脑电应激反应指数(阿尔法不对称)将被用于受试者的一个子组。