The Influence of Emotion Regulation on the Neural Systems of Reward Processing

描述（由申请人提供）：冒险和寻求奖励的行为是强迫性赌博的主要特征，这是一种影响生活许多方面的渐进式成瘾。在一个鼓励消费和即时回报的社会中，一个敢于冒险的人会不断得到代表冒险机会的显著条件提示。这种显著的条件提示导致渴望——广义上定义为对食欲刺激或事件的冲动或渴望。当渴望的强度增加时，可以观察到成瘾物质（如可卡因）的消耗或行为（如冒险或赌博行为）的增加。因此，治疗方案的存在不仅是为了应对成瘾（如强迫性赌博）的后果，而且是为了减少寻求奖励的行为。一种潜在的治疗方法是使用以前事为中心的认知策略来调节由条件提示引起的渴望，以减少寻求奖励或冒险行为。本研究旨在探讨情绪调节策略对奖赏处理神经系统的影响。认知策略在调节生理（通过皮肤电导测量）和神经（通过神经成像测量）反应方面是成功的，这些反应是由固有的情绪刺激或条件刺激引起的。因此，这种策略也可能成功地减少与更显著的条件刺激（例如，老虎机）相关的预期感觉或渴望，随后影响行为（例如，减少冒险或赌博），同时调节涉及奖励处理的神经回路（例如，纹状体）。拟议的研究将使用功能磁共振成像，结合生理和行为测量，来研究下面概述的两个目标。目的1：探讨认知策略对显著刺激引起的生理唤醒、冒险行为的影响及奖励加工的神经机制。目的2：研究即时强化条件下认知策略对奖励加工和冒险行为神经机制的影响。一般的假设是，在食欲调节赌博任务中使用情绪调节将调节人类的奖励回路，同时参与大脑中涉及认知控制的区域。因此，这样的策略将导致由条件刺激引起的渴望或唤醒水平的降低，从而影响有风险的经济决策（即选择安全与风险的选择）。这一建议是迈向一项长期研究计划的第一步，该计划旨在研究在社会和心理问题发生之前可能有助于减少冒险或寻求回报行为的技术。提案中描述的研究具有潜在的支持技术，可以通过专注于在社会和心理问题发生之前减少渴望来帮助减少冒险或赌博行为。虽然提出的研究目标是赌博行为，但潜在的结果可以转化为其他成瘾，建议使用先行重点策略来减少冒险行为。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Risk-taking and reward-seeking behaviors are staples of compulsive gambling, a progressive addiction that affects many aspects of life. In a society that encourages consumption and immediate rewards, a risk-taking individual is constantly presented with salient conditioned cues representing risk-taking opportunities. Such salient conditioned cues lead to craving - broadly defined as an urge or desire for an appetitive stimulus or event. As craving grows in intensity, an increase in consumption of the addictive substance (e.g., cocaine) or behavior (e.g., risk-taking or gambling behavior) can be observed. Thus, it is imperative that treatment options exist not only to cope with the consequences of addictions such as compulsive gambling, but also to curtail reward seeking behavior. One potential treatment is the use of antecedent-focused cognitive strategies to regulate craving elicited by conditioned cues, in order to decrease reward-seeking or risk-taking behavior. The goal of this proposal is to investigate the effects of emotion regulation strategies on the neural systems of reward processing. Cognitive strategies are successful in modulating both physiological (as measured by skin conductance) and neural (as measured by neuroimaging) responses elicited by an inherently emotional stimulus or a conditioned stimulus. Thus, such strategies may also be successful in reducing the anticipatory feelings or craving associated with a more salient conditioned stimulus (e.g., a slot machine), subsequently influencing behavior (e.g., decreased risk-taking or gambling), while modulating neural circuits involved in reward processing (e.g., striatum). The proposed studies will use fMRI, in conjunction with physiological and behavioral measures, to investigate two aims outlined below. AIM 1: To examine the influence of cognitive strategies on physiological arousal elicited by salient stimuli, risk-taking behavior & the neural mechanisms underlying reward processing. AIM 2: To examine the influence of cognitive strategies on the neural mechanisms of reward processing and risk-taking behavior when immediate reinforcement is presented. The general hypothesis is that using emotion regulation during an appetitive conditioning gambling task will modulate the human reward circuitry while engaging regions of the brain involved in cognitive control. Accordingly, such strategies will lead to decreases in craving or levels of arousal elicited by the conditioned stimulus, thus influencing risky economic decision-making (i.e., choosing a safe vs. the risky option). This proposal serves as an initial step towards a long-term research plan aimed at investigating techniques that may help curtail risk-taking or reward seeking behavior before social and psychological problems occur. The studies described in the proposal have the potential of supporting techniques that may help curtail risk-taking or gambling behavior by focusing on the reduction of craving, before social & psychological problems occur. Although the proposed studies target gambling behavior, the potential results can be translated to other addictions, suggesting the use of antecedent focused strategies in reducing risk-taking behavior.