Attentional bias in snus users: an experimental study.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Mentzoni RA
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4189952 | biostudies-literature | 2014
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Attentional bias in snus users: an experimental study.
Mentzoni Rune Aune RA Sætrevik Bjørn B Molde Helge H Wiium Nora N Hetland Jørn J Fagerland Ida I Nordnes Linn Tinnesand LT Storemark Sunniva Straume SS Fossum Ingrid Nesdal IN Pallesen Ståle S
PloS one 20141008 10
The use of nicotine in the form of "snus" is substantial and increasing in some geographic areas, in particular among young people. It has previously been suggested that addictions may operate through a mechanism of attentional bias, in which stimuli representative of the dependent substance increase in salience, thus increasing the addictive behavior. However, this hypothesis has not been tested for the case of snus. The current experiment used a modified Stroop task and a dot-probe task to inv ...[more]
Similar Datasets
Project description:RationaleAttentional bias toward drug-related stimuli is a feature of drug addiction that is linked to craving and drug-seeking behavior.Objectives/methodAn attentional bias modification (ABM) program was tested in 42 methamphetamine-dependent clients (DSM-IV criteria) receiving residential treatment for their drug use. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups (N = 21 each), receiving 12 sessions of either computerized ABM training (designed to train attention away from methamphetamine stimuli 100% of the time) or an attentional control condition (designed to train attention away from methamphetamine stimuli 50% of the time). Outcome measures included attentional bias to methamphetamine-related stimuli on a probe detection task, self-reported craving, and preferences to view methamphetamine-related images on a Simulated Drug Choice Task. A subset of participants (N = 17) also underwent fMRI in a cue-induced craving paradigm.ResultsPoor split-half reliability was observed for the probe detection task. Using this task, attentional bias toward methamphetamine-related stimuli was greater after training than at baseline, irrespective of group (p = 0.037). Spontaneous and cue-induced methamphetamine craving diminished with time (ps < 0.01), but ABM training did not influence these effects (group by time interactions, ps > 0.05). ABM training did not influence selection of methamphetamine-related pictures in the Simulated Drug Choice task (p > 0.05). In the fMRI assessment, cue-induced activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex was reduced over time, without an effect of ABM training.ConclusionsABM training did not improve several clinically relevant variables in treatment-seeking methamphetamine users. Additional research is needed to improve the measurement of attentional bias.
| S-EPMC6415773 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:Individuals with heightened anxiety vulnerability tend to preferentially attend to emotionally negative information, with evidence suggesting that this attentional bias makes a causal contribution to anxiety vulnerability. Recent years have seen an increase in the use of attentional bias modification (ABM) procedures to modify patterns of attentional bias; however, often this change in bias is not successfully achieved. OBJECTIVE:This study presents a novel ABM procedure, Emotion-in-Motion, requiring individuals to engage in patterns of attentional scanning and tracking within a gamified, complex, and dynamic environment. We aimed to examine the capacity of this novel procedure, as compared with the traditional probe-based ABM procedure, to produce a change in attentional bias and result in a change in anxiety vulnerability. METHODS:We administered either an attend-positive or attend-negative version of our novel ABM task or the conventional probe-based ABM task to undergraduate students (N=110). Subsequently, participants underwent an anagram stressor task, with state anxiety assessed before and following this stressor. RESULTS:Although the conventional ABM task failed to induce differential patterns of attentional bias or affect anxiety vulnerability, the Emotion-in-Motion training did induce a greater attentional bias to negative faces in the attend-negative training condition than in the attend-positive training condition (P=.003, Cohen d=0.87) and led to a greater increase in stressor-induced state anxiety faces in the attend-negative training condition than in the attend-positive training condition (P=.03, Cohen d=0.60). CONCLUSIONS:Our novel, gamified Emotion-in-Motion ABM task appears more effective in modifying patterns of attentional bias and anxiety vulnerability. Candidate mechanisms contributing to these findings are discussed, including the increased stimulus complexity, dynamic nature of the stimulus presentation, and enriched performance feedback.
| S-EPMC6291684 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Statistical knowledge of a target's location may benefit visual search, and rapidly understanding the changes in regularity would increase the adaptability in visual search situations where fast and accurate performance is required. The current study tested the sources of statistical knowledge-explicitly-given instruction or experience-driven learning-and whether they affect the speed and location spatial attention is guided. Participants performed a visual search task with a statistical regularity to bias one quadrant ("old-rich" condition) in the training phase, followed by another quadrant ("new-rich" condition) in the switching phase. The "instruction" group was explicitly instructed on the regularity, whereas the "no-instruction" group was not. It was expected that the instruction group would rely on goal-driven attention (using regularities with explicit top-down knowledge), and the no-instruction group would rely on habit-like attention (learning regularities through repetitive experiences) in visual search. Compared with the no-instruction group, the instruction group readjusted spatial attention following the regularity switch more rapidly. The instruction group showed greater attentional bias toward the new-rich quadrant than the old-rich quadrant; however, the no-instruction group showed a similar extent of attentional bias to two rich quadrants. The current study suggests that the source of statistical knowledge can affect attentional allocation. Moreover, habit-like attention, a different type of attentional source than goal-driven attention, is relatively implicit and inflexible.
| S-EPMC9206057 | biostudies-literature
Project description:AimsTo examine how the relative size of six groups of male ever snus users (current and former users of snus who were current, former or never cigarette smokers) varied over time in Norway, and how these groups differ with regard to important measures of tobacco behaviour.DesignRepeated cross-sectional nationally representative surveys of tobacco use. The association between survey year and the six categories of ever snus use was examined using cross-tabulation and multinomial logistic regression. Differences in tobacco behaviour across snus use categories were examined using logistic and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression.SettingNorway, 2003-15.ParticipantsA total of 2067 males aged 15-79 years.MeasurementsThe categories of ever snus use represented all six combinations of cigarette smoking (current, former or never) among current and former users of snus. The variables measuring tobacco behaviour were: order of product uptake (snus or cigarettes first), mean cigarette consumption, reduction from daily to occasional smoking, intention to quit cigarettes, future smoking identity and use of snus in latest quit attempt.FindingsDuring the period 2003-15, the relative share of current snus users who had never smoked, and current snus users who were former smokers, increased. The share of dual users, and smokers who were former snus users, decreased. Among men who reported life-time experience with both products, a large majority had initiated their tobacco use with cigarettes. The average number of cigarettes smoked weekly was lower among dual users compared with current smokers who were former snus users or had never used snus.ConclusionsDuring the period 2003-15 in Norway, which has a mature snus market, even though smoking has declined and the relative size of the category of never-smokers among male users of snus has increased, the majority of snus users are still former or current smokers.
| S-EPMC5248595 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Cognitive theory from the field of general anxiety suggests that the tendency to display attentional bias toward negative information results in anxiety. Accordingly, the current study aims to investigate whether attentional bias is involved in math anxiety (MA) as well (i.e., a persistent negative reaction to math). Twenty seven participants (14 with high levels of MA and 13 with low levels of MA) were presented with a novel computerized numerical version of the well established dot probe task. One of six types of prime stimuli, either math related or typically neutral, was presented on one side of a computer screen. The prime was preceded by a probe (either one or two asterisks) that appeared in either the prime or the opposite location. Participants had to discriminate probe identity (one or two asterisks). Math anxious individuals reacted faster when the probe was at the location of the numerical related stimuli. This suggests the existence of attentional bias in MA. That is, for math anxious individuals, the cognitive system selectively favored the processing of emotionally negative information (i.e., math related words). These findings suggest that attentional bias is linked to unduly intense MA symptoms.
| S-EPMC4607867 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-intoxicating cannabinoid found in cannabis, may be a promising novel smoking cessation treatment due to its anxiolytic properties, minimal side effects and research showing that it may modify drug cue salience. We used an experimental medicine approach with dependent cigarette smokers to investigate if (1) overnight nicotine abstinence, compared with satiety, will produce greater attentional bias (AB), higher pleasantness ratings of cigarette-related stimuli and increased craving and withdrawal; and (2) CBD in comparison to placebo, would attenuate AB, pleasantness of cigarette-related stimuli, craving and withdrawal and not produce any side effects. DESIGN:Randomized, double-blind cross-over study with a fixed satiated session followed by two overnight abstinent sessions. SETTING:UK laboratory. PARTICIPANTS:Thirty non-treatment-seeking, dependent cigarette smokers recruited from the community. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR:800 mg oral CBD, or matched placebo (PBO) in a counterbalanced order MEASUREMENTS: AB to pictorial tobacco cues was recorded using a visual probe task and an explicit rating task. Withdrawal, craving, side effects, heart rate and blood pressure were assessed repeatedly. FINDINGS:When participants received PBO, tobacco abstinence increased AB (P = 0.001, d = 0.789) compared with satiety. However, CBD reversed this effect, such that automatic AB was directed away from cigarette cues (P = 0.007, d = 0.704) and no longer differed from satiety (P = 0.82). Compared with PBO, CBD also reduced explicit pleasantness of cigarette images (P = 0.011; d = 0.514). Craving (Bayes factor = 7.08) and withdrawal (Bayes factor = 6.95) were unaffected by CBD, but greater in abstinence compared with satiety. Systolic blood pressure decreased under CBD during abstinence. CONCLUSIONS:A single 800-mg oral dose of cannabidiol reduced the salience and pleasantness of cigarette cues, compared with placebo, after overnight cigarette abstinence in dependent smokers. Cannabidiol did not influence tobacco craving or withdrawal or any subjectively rated side effects.
| S-EPMC6099309 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundAlthough dot-probe paradigms have been widely used in previous studies to investigate the attentional bias of perfectionists, the exact characteristics of this bias are still unclear.MethodsIn this study, eye-tracking technology was used to compare the attentional patterns of high perfectionists (HP) and low perfectionists (LP). The HP and LP groups (n = 39 vs 34) completed a visual attention task in which they observed perfect vs imperfect picture pairs, during which their eye movements (EMs) were recorded automatically using an EM tracking system.ResultsBoth the HP and LP groups showed an overall attentional bias toward imperfect pictures, as indicated by the criteria of initial visual attention orientation and attentional maintenance. There were no significant differences between the HP and LP groups during the early and middle phases of attention: both groups exhibited a longer total fixation duration on imperfect pictures than on perfect pictures. However, during the late phase of attention, the participants in the HP group diverted their attention away from the imperfect pictures and began to pay more attention to the perfect pictures. By contrast, the participants in the LP group consistently exhibited longer fixation times for imperfect pictures than the HP group during the entire duration of the stimulus.ConclusionThese findings indicate that the participants in the HP group tended to avoid imperfect stimuli during the late phase of attention; this may indicate that avoidance plays an important role in maintaining perfectionism. This study also shows that eye-tracking is a useful methodology for measuring the attentional biases of perfectionists.
| S-EPMC7561667 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Attentional bias for drug-related stimuli, as measured by emotional Stroop (ES) tasks, is predictive of treatment outcomes for tobacco smoking and other abused drugs. Characterizing relationships between smoking-related attentional bias and brain reactivity to smoking images may help in identifying neural substrates critical to relapse vulnerability. To this end, we investigated putative relationships between interference effects in an offline smoking ES task and functional MRI (fMRI) measures of brain reactivity to smoking vs neutral images in women smokers. Positive correlations were found between attentional bias and reactivity to smoking images in brain areas involved in emotion, memory, interoception, and visual processing, including the amygdala, hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, insula, and occipital cortex. These findings suggest that smokers with elevated attentional biases to smoking-related stimuli may more readily shift attention away from other external stimuli and toward smoking stimuli-induced internal states and emotional memories. Such attentional shifts may contribute to increased interference by smoking cues, possibly increasing relapse vulnerability. Treatments capable of inhibiting shifts to drug cue-induced memories and internal states may lead to personalized tobacco dependence treatment for smokers with high attentional bias to smoking-related stimuli.
| S-EPMC2955848 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Earlier evidence has revealed a bi-directional causal relationship between anxiety and attention biases in adults and children. This study investigated the prospective and concurrent relations between anxiety and attentional bias in a sample of 89 families (mothers, fathers, and first-born children). Parents' and children's attentional bias was measured when children were 7.5 years old, using both a visual probe task and visual search task with angry versus happy facial expressions. Generalized and social anxiety symptoms in parents and children were measured when children were 4.5 and 7.5 years old. Anxiety in parents and children was prospectively (but not concurrently) related to their respective attentional biases to threat: All participants showed a larger attentional bias to threat in the visual search (but not in the visual probe) task if they were more anxious at the 4.5 (but not at the 7.5) year measurement. Moreover, parents' anxiety levels were prospectively predictive of the visual search attentional bias of their children after controlling for child anxiety. More anxiety in mothers at 4.5 years was related to a faster detection of angry among happy faces, while more anxiety in fathers predicted a faster detection of happy among angry faces in children at 7.5 years. We found no direct association between parental and child attentional biases. Our study contributes to the recently emerging literature on attentional biases as a potential mechanism in the intergenerational transmission of anxiety by showing that parents' anxiety rather than parents' attentional bias contributes to the intergenerational transmission of risk for child anxiety.
| S-EPMC6590262 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Theoretical models and empirical research point to negatively biased attention as a maintaining factor in depression. Although preliminary studies suggest experimentally modifying attentional biases (i.e., attentional bias modification; ABM) reduces depression symptoms and depression risk, relatively few rigorous studies with clinical samples have been completed. This clinical trial examines the impact of ABM on a sample of adults (N?=?123) with elevated depression severity who also exhibit at least modest levels of negatively biased attention prior to treatment. Participants will be randomly assigned to either active ABM, placebo ABM, or an assessment-only control condition. Individuals assigned to ABM will complete 5 trainings per week (2 in-clinic, 3 brief trainings at-home) during a four-week period. Throughout this four-week period, participants will complete weekly assessments of symptom severity and putative treatment mediators measured across different levels of analysis (e.g., eye tracking, behavioral measures, and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging). This article details the rationale and design of the clinical trial, including methodological issues that required more extensive consideration. Our findings may not only point to an easily-accessible, efficacious treatment for depression but may also provide a meaningful test of whether a theoretically important construct, negatively biased attention, maintains depression.
| S-EPMC6431548 | biostudies-literature