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）： 该提案的主要目的是更充分地表征何时以及与他人相比，易于压力的人在戒烟时更有可能体验到与压力相关的负面影响形式的增加。有证据表明，容易发生压力的个体将注意力集中在与潜在压力源相关的线索上，并且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，假设尼古丁是易于压力的个体的农奴服务的一种形式，因为它减轻了注意力偏置压力源（提示预测厌恶事件和负面的情绪刺激），从而减少了负面情绪状态（主观压力）。假设尼古丁对尼古丁的负面注意力偏见和缔合处理的这种衰减是由于尼古丁增强了注意力和相关性偏见对阳性和中性刺激的偏见，而阳性和中性刺激反过来又与负面影响相关的处理竞争并抑制了与负面影响相关的处理。也就是说，预计尼古丁将增强中性和正刺激的显着性，并减少负面刺激的显着性。假设尼古丁引起的注意力和联想偏见最强烈地发生在受试者具有很大程度的注意力选择的情况下。因此，注意力选择（两picture/电影观看具有一种压力和一种中性或积极的替代方案）与无选择的（一种压力的图片/电影观看）条件对尼古丁降低负面影响的能力的影响，将通过向计算机监视器上的一系列单个或双重图片/迷你镜来评估。每个图片/迷你电影系列块之前和之后，心情将进行评估。在“无选择”任务中，将在计算机屏幕上集中介绍单个图片。在选择任务中，双图像图像或迷你电影将在左右视野中同时显示。在选择条件下，将指示受试者将其凝视时间尽可能多或很少的时间分配给给定的图片/迷你电影，但是要始终凝视两张图片/电影之一，在不选择的情况下，将需要主题在其演示过程中凝视每张图片。中性或正面的图片/电影将散布在选择和无选择的任务中。选择任务期间的眼睛凝视模式和无选择的任务将使用红外计算机跟踪系统获得。在选择任务中，预计尼古丁的最大减轻应力效应将在较高的阴性图片频率高。预计尼古丁将减少针对负面图片的目光，并增强对正面图片的关注。在无选择的任务中，当低频率的负面图片与中间的正面图片结合使用时，尼古丁有望具有最大的烦躁不安效果。通过回归分析，将评估性别，创伤和慢性压力史的潜在调节影响，创伤性和慢性压力的史以及性状焦虑，抑郁和抗议的个体差异。这项工作将使用新的实验程序和技术，包括通过红外，计算机跟踪系统的连续监控眼睛凝视模式的个体差异的精确评估。这些研究得出的新知识将有助于制定旨在增加戒烟的基于经验模型的治疗策略。在提出的3项研究中，在每个受试者的亚组中，EEG应力反应指数（α不对称）将使用。