on bien conocidos los altos índices de consumo de alcohol en nuestro país (EDIS, 2001; Plan Nacio... more on bien conocidos los altos índices de consumo de alcohol en nuestro país (EDIS, 2001; Plan Nacional sobre Drogas, 2001), debido a la alta disponibilidad de esta sustancia y favorecidos por su amplia aceptación social, cultural e incluso religiosa. Igualmente son conocidos los graves daños y riesgos (de salud, familiares, judiciales, laborales...) que consumos excesivos de alcohol pueden provocar. En este sentido hay que indicar que en determinados tipos de trastornos, tanto físicos como psíquicos, cualquier ingesta de alcohol se considera de riesgo. Los efectos del alcohol en el organismo son diferentes e incluso opuestos dependiendo de la dosis, y por lo tanto diferentes sus efectos en el comportamiento exhibido y las contingencias medioambientales que se producen, tanto en episodios puntuales como en patrones de consumo establecidos a lo largo de meses y años. Por ejemplo, pequeñas cantidades de alcohol durante las comidas no son perjudiciales para la ingestión de alimentos-existen investigaciones que afirman que tienen efectos cardiosaludables (Klatsky, 1999)-y sin embargo, grandes cantidades reducen el apetito y tienen efectos perjudiciales sobre el organismo. Por otro lado, dosis moderadas de alcohol producen cierta desinhibición conductual, mientras que dosis elevadas provocan sedación o por el contrario comportamientos agresivos. En resumen, peque-RESUMEN El principal objetivo de este artículo es el análisis psicológico, desde una perspectiva conductual, de las diferentes estrategias de autocontrol implicadas en los distintos abordajes terapéuticos (abstinencia total, bebida controlada y reducción de daños y riesgos) en el abuso y dependencia del alcohol. Este análisis teórico y de reflexión clínica se realiza atendiendo a recientes investigaciones sobre el Aprendizaje animal y humano, aplicado a la práctica clínica de la adicción al alcohol. Sugerimos la necesidad de una mayor flexibilidad respecto a la inclusión de las diferentes alternativas en el tratamiento, teniendo en cuenta los objetivos terapéuticos del propio paciente. Por otra parte, asumimos que la bebida controlada y las intervenciones en reducción de daños y riesgos parten de los mismos principios, en cuanto a la modificación de los parámetros de respuesta de consumo y conductas asociadas, aunque tengan diferente finalidad: el consumo moderado y controlado en un caso y la reducción de daños y riesgos en otro.
An increasing body of research has investigated the effect of emotions on judgments concerning mo... more An increasing body of research has investigated the effect of emotions on judgments concerning moral transgressions. Yet, few studies have controlled for arousal levels associated with the emotions. High arousal may affect moral processing by triggering attention to salient features of transgressions, independently of valence. Therefore previously documented differences in effects of negative and positive emotions may have been confounded by differences in arousal. We conducted two studies to shed light on this issue. In Study 1 we developed a questionnaire including vignettes selected on the basis of psychometrical properties (i.e., mean ratings of the actions and variability). This questionnaire was administered to participants in Study 2, after presenting them with selected pictures inducing different valence but equivalent levels of arousal. Negative pictures led to more severe moral judgments than neutral (p= .054,d= 0.60) and positive pictures (p= .002,d= 1.02), for vignettes ...
Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 2009
We present data from an ongoing research project on the cognitive, emotional and neuropsychologic... more We present data from an ongoing research project on the cognitive, emotional and neuropsychological basis of risk behaviour. The main aim of the project is to build a model of risk behaviour so that if we know certain cognitive, behavioural and emotional variables, we will be able to predict decisions made in the face of uncertainty and risk, with the final goal of designing programs for evaluating, preventing and controlling risk behaviour. The objective of the present study was to look for individual differences in hazard perception during a static riding simulation and their relationship with mental workload. We used a multidimensional methodology, including behavioural, subjective and physiological data. The behavioural measures were obtained in a static riding simulation during eight hazard situations. We evaluated whether eye activity measures correlated with cognitive workload and different types of risky behaviours. Eye movement parameters were measured using a video-based eye tracking system. We found that risk-prone individuals showed specific patterns of risky behaviours and that peak of saccadic velocity and subjective mental workload indexes were both reliable indicators of risk proneness. Mental workload was higher for participants showing attitudes to risk behaviours probably because of a lack of conscious awareness of specific cues indicating dangerous scenarios.
[Addiction, impulsivity and temporal curves of desire]
Adicciones, 2011
This study addresses, from theories of associative learning, the impulsivity and craving in patie... more This study addresses, from theories of associative learning, the impulsivity and craving in patients with a diagnosis of substance dependence in abstinence, habitual use and relapse. We present a new method for the assessment of desire based on discount curve self description, in which patients describe how they perceive the temporal evolution and intensity of their desire. At the same time, through a brief questionnaire about emotion and desire -developed by the authors-and the Plutchik Impulsivity Scale, we set out to check whether positive or negative emotions increase, decrease, or are uninvolved in changes of desire and impulsivity. Perception of the evolution of desire in patients from the Relapse and Habitual Use groups is similar and presents a hyperbolic curve, but the Relapse group presented greater impulsivity. Moreover, a relationship is found in patients from the Relapse group between the hyperbolic increase of desire, the pleasurable states and impulsivity. The higher ...
International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics, 2012
Telecare is a type of information and communication technology (ICT) that provides help to depend... more Telecare is a type of information and communication technology (ICT) that provides help to dependents, especially older adults, by providing access to teams of professionals who can attend to the client's needs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year via a telephonic network. Previous studies have shown that design and motivational factors are related to use of telecare by older people. In this study, we examined how sociodemographic, motivational, design, cognitive, and attitudinal factors are related to telecare device use. A questionnaire and the state-trait anxiety inventory were administered to a sample of 96 telecare users. The results showed that factors related to the vocabulary of the telecare device interface, discomfort caused by the pendant device during the night, attitudinal factors, situational anxiety, and the anxious personality trait are predictors of whether or not a person will use the telecare device.
El aprendizaje de un laberinto: memoria espacial y mapas cognitivos
En este trabajo se analizan los mecanismos de memoria que subyacen a la conducta de orientacion d... more En este trabajo se analizan los mecanismos de memoria que subyacen a la conducta de orientacion de los animales en el ambito experimental concreto de los laberintos radiales. A este respecto, se enfatiza la existencia de dos representaciones de memoria diferentes pero intimamente relacionadas. Por una parte, una representacion a largo plazo que codificaria la configuracion espacial del entorno del organismo y, por otra parte, una representacion vinculada con la informacion referente al desplazamiento del organismo por ese entorno. Asimismo, junto a las principales fuentes de evidencia empirica, abordaremos algunos de los procesos basicos de memoria que pueden subyacer a estas representaciones y las mas relevantes bases neurologicas implicadas en esta faceta del comportamiento.
* Esta investigación se ha financiado a través del proyecto BSO2003-03723 del MCyT. Los dos exper... more * Esta investigación se ha financiado a través del proyecto BSO2003-03723 del MCyT. Los dos experimentos descritos en este trabajo forman parte del trabajo de investigación original para la concesión de la suficiencia investigadora de Rocío Beltrán y Lorena Guadarrama, coautoras de este estudio. Toda correspondencia relativa a este artículo deberá remitirse a Antonio Cándido Ortiz,
RESUMEN. La corteza prefrontal ventromedial (VMPFC) ha sido implicada en la toma de decisiones em... more RESUMEN. La corteza prefrontal ventromedial (VMPFC) ha sido implicada en la toma de decisiones emocionales debido a su posible participación en el aprendizaje de inversión afectivo, la propensión al riesgo y la impulsividad. Su especial entramado de conexiones con otras áreas de la corteza y con estructuras subcorticales como la amígdala justifican que pueda tener un papel de interfase entre cognición y emoción, y desempeñar una función fundamental en la regulación y el control del comportamiento. En este trabajo revisamos estudios realizados con la tarea de apuestas de Iowa, tareas de aprendizaje de inversión afectivo, tareas de apuestas con diferente varianza para medir la propensión al riesgo y tareas que introducen demora temporal de la recompensa para evaluar la impulsividad. Los datos obtenidos en esos trabajos con pacientes lesionados en la VMPFC o en otras áreas prefrontales y controles no lesionados, y datos conductuales y de actividad cerebral pueden interpretarse mejor si asumimos que la VMPFC está encargada de representar la expectativa de refuerzo. La representación de un reforzador esperado incluye la demora del reforzador, y la varianza de su magnitud. PALABRAS CLAVE. Corteza prefrontal ventromedial. Emoción. Toma de decisiones. Estudio teórico.
The equation represents a weighted and scaled contrast between cell frequencies in the contingenc... more The equation represents a weighted and scaled contrast between cell frequencies in the contingency table (as perceived by the reasoner) confirming (a, d) or disconfirming (b, c) the existence of a generative causal link between a candidate cause and an effect. References
The human brain contains social areas that become active when interacting with another human. The... more The human brain contains social areas that become active when interacting with another human. These are located in the ventral prefrontal and mediodorsal cortices, adjacent to areas involved in reward processing and cognitive control. Human behaviour is strongly influenced by the social context. This is particularly evident when observing greater risk propensity in the presence of a peer, particularly during adolescence and emerging adulthood. We explored the widely held view that enhanced risk propensity is the consequence of weak cognitive control. We used brain activity, estimated from EEG recordings in a sample of 114 emerging adult dyads whilst performing a risk perception task, to predict risk behaviour in a subsequent driving simulation task. Being with a peer reduced the ability to discriminate riskiness in images of traffic scenes, biased responses towards the perception of no-risk, and increased the rate of accidents in the driving simulation. Risk perception involved three sets of clusters showing activity only when being with a peer, only when being alone, and in both social contexts. Functional connectivity between the clusters accounted for the later driving simulation performance depending on the peer's presence. In the light of our findings, greater risk-taking, when a peer is present, seems to be triggered by the activation of a different, less efficient brain network for risk-processing.
The role of injection cues in the associative control of the US pre-exposure effect in flavour av... more The role of injection cues in the associative control of the US pre-exposure effect in flavour aversion learning
Dispositional mindfulness and emotion regulation are two psychological constructs closely interre... more Dispositional mindfulness and emotion regulation are two psychological constructs closely interrelated, and both appear to improve with the long-term practice of mindfulness meditation. These constructs appear to be related to subcortical, prefrontal, and posterior brain areas involved in emotional processing, cognitive control, self-awareness, and mind wandering. However, no studies have yet discerned the neural basis of dispositional mindfulness that are minimally associated with emotion regulation. In the present study, we use a novel brain structural network analysis approach to study the relationship between structural networks and dispositional mindfulness, measured with two different and widely used instruments [Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ)], taking into account the effect of emotion regulation difficulties. We observed a number of different brain regions associated with the different scales and dimensions. The t...
Risky decision-making is highly influenced by emotions and can lead to fatal consequences. Attemp... more Risky decision-making is highly influenced by emotions and can lead to fatal consequences. Attempts to reduce risk-taking include the use of mindfulness-based interventions (MBI), which have shown promising results for both emotion regulation (ER) and risk-taking. However, it is still unclear whether improved emotion regulation is the mechanism responsible for reduced risk-taking. In the present study, we explore the effect of a 5-week MBI on risky driving in a group of repeat traffic offenders by comparing them with non-repeat offenders and repeat offenders without training. We evaluated the driving behavior of the participants through a driving simulation, and self-reported emotion regulation, both before and after the intervention. At baseline, poor emotion regulation was related to a more unstable driving behavior, and speeding. The group that received mindfulness training showed improved performance during risky driving situations and had fewer accidents, although their overall...
Impulsivity and sensation seeking are considered to be among the most important personality trait... more Impulsivity and sensation seeking are considered to be among the most important personality traits involved in risk‐taking behavior. This study is focused on whether the association of these personality traits and brain functional connectivity depends on individuals' risk proneness. Risk proneness was assessed with the DOSPERT‐30 scale and corroborated with performance in a motorcycle simulator. The associations of impulsivity‐ and sensation seeking‐related traits with the between and within coupling of seven major brain functional networks, estimated from electroencefalograma (EEG) recordings, differ according to whether an individual is risk prone or not. In risk‐prone individuals, (lack of) premeditation enhanced the coupling of the ventral attention and limbic networks. At the same time, emotion seeking increased the coupling of the frontoparietal network and the default mode networks (DMNs). Finally, (lack of) perseverance had a positive impact on the coupling of anterior t...
Impulsivity (and related traits reward/punishment sensitivity and tolerance to delayed rewards) a... more Impulsivity (and related traits reward/punishment sensitivity and tolerance to delayed rewards) and gambling cognitions have been linked to gambling. However, their independent associations with gambling preferences and clinical status have never been dissociated. The current study applied a data-driven strategy to identify gambling preferences, based on gambling frequency in several modalities. The two resulting factors were used to classify gambling disorder patients (GDPs) and non-problem recreational gamblers (RGs) into Type I (preferring cards, casino games and skill-based bets) and Type II (preferring slot machines, lotteries/pools and bingo). Participants were assessed in impulsivity, delay discounting, reward/punishment sensitivity, gambling-related cognitions, gambling severity, gambling frequency and average amount gambled per episode. GDPs scored higher than RGs in positive and negative urgency, delay discounting, reward sensitivity and intensity of gambling-related cognitions, but less in lack of perseverance. Additionally, Type II gamblers had greater difficulties delaying gratification, whereas Type I gamblers showed higher cognitive distortion and reward sensitivity levels. In practical terms, the finding that some characteristics are equally pervasive in disordered gamblers independently of their preferences (affect-driven impulsivity), whereas others (distorted cognitions, reward sensitivity, delay discounting) are more prominent in one type or the other, provides a basis to establish targets' priority in therapy.
Dual-process theories have dominated the study of risk perception and risk-taking over the last t... more Dual-process theories have dominated the study of risk perception and risk-taking over the last two decades. However, there is a lack of objective brain-level evidence supporting the two systems of processing in every-day risky behavior. To address this issue, we propose the dissociation between evaluative and urgent behaviors as evidence of dual processing in risky driving situations. Our findings show a dissociation of evaluative and urgent behavior both at the behavioral and neural level. fMRI data showed an increase of activation in areas implicated in motor programming, emotional processing, and visuomotor integration in urgent behavior compared to evaluative behavior. These results support a more automatic processing of risk in urgent tasks, relying mainly on heuristics and experiential appraisal. The urgent task, which is characterized by strong time pressure and the possibility for negative consequences among others factors, creates a suitable context for the experiential-af...
on bien conocidos los altos índices de consumo de alcohol en nuestro país (EDIS, 2001; Plan Nacio... more on bien conocidos los altos índices de consumo de alcohol en nuestro país (EDIS, 2001; Plan Nacional sobre Drogas, 2001), debido a la alta disponibilidad de esta sustancia y favorecidos por su amplia aceptación social, cultural e incluso religiosa. Igualmente son conocidos los graves daños y riesgos (de salud, familiares, judiciales, laborales...) que consumos excesivos de alcohol pueden provocar. En este sentido hay que indicar que en determinados tipos de trastornos, tanto físicos como psíquicos, cualquier ingesta de alcohol se considera de riesgo. Los efectos del alcohol en el organismo son diferentes e incluso opuestos dependiendo de la dosis, y por lo tanto diferentes sus efectos en el comportamiento exhibido y las contingencias medioambientales que se producen, tanto en episodios puntuales como en patrones de consumo establecidos a lo largo de meses y años. Por ejemplo, pequeñas cantidades de alcohol durante las comidas no son perjudiciales para la ingestión de alimentos-existen investigaciones que afirman que tienen efectos cardiosaludables (Klatsky, 1999)-y sin embargo, grandes cantidades reducen el apetito y tienen efectos perjudiciales sobre el organismo. Por otro lado, dosis moderadas de alcohol producen cierta desinhibición conductual, mientras que dosis elevadas provocan sedación o por el contrario comportamientos agresivos. En resumen, peque-RESUMEN El principal objetivo de este artículo es el análisis psicológico, desde una perspectiva conductual, de las diferentes estrategias de autocontrol implicadas en los distintos abordajes terapéuticos (abstinencia total, bebida controlada y reducción de daños y riesgos) en el abuso y dependencia del alcohol. Este análisis teórico y de reflexión clínica se realiza atendiendo a recientes investigaciones sobre el Aprendizaje animal y humano, aplicado a la práctica clínica de la adicción al alcohol. Sugerimos la necesidad de una mayor flexibilidad respecto a la inclusión de las diferentes alternativas en el tratamiento, teniendo en cuenta los objetivos terapéuticos del propio paciente. Por otra parte, asumimos que la bebida controlada y las intervenciones en reducción de daños y riesgos parten de los mismos principios, en cuanto a la modificación de los parámetros de respuesta de consumo y conductas asociadas, aunque tengan diferente finalidad: el consumo moderado y controlado en un caso y la reducción de daños y riesgos en otro.
An increasing body of research has investigated the effect of emotions on judgments concerning mo... more An increasing body of research has investigated the effect of emotions on judgments concerning moral transgressions. Yet, few studies have controlled for arousal levels associated with the emotions. High arousal may affect moral processing by triggering attention to salient features of transgressions, independently of valence. Therefore previously documented differences in effects of negative and positive emotions may have been confounded by differences in arousal. We conducted two studies to shed light on this issue. In Study 1 we developed a questionnaire including vignettes selected on the basis of psychometrical properties (i.e., mean ratings of the actions and variability). This questionnaire was administered to participants in Study 2, after presenting them with selected pictures inducing different valence but equivalent levels of arousal. Negative pictures led to more severe moral judgments than neutral (p= .054,d= 0.60) and positive pictures (p= .002,d= 1.02), for vignettes ...
Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 2009
We present data from an ongoing research project on the cognitive, emotional and neuropsychologic... more We present data from an ongoing research project on the cognitive, emotional and neuropsychological basis of risk behaviour. The main aim of the project is to build a model of risk behaviour so that if we know certain cognitive, behavioural and emotional variables, we will be able to predict decisions made in the face of uncertainty and risk, with the final goal of designing programs for evaluating, preventing and controlling risk behaviour. The objective of the present study was to look for individual differences in hazard perception during a static riding simulation and their relationship with mental workload. We used a multidimensional methodology, including behavioural, subjective and physiological data. The behavioural measures were obtained in a static riding simulation during eight hazard situations. We evaluated whether eye activity measures correlated with cognitive workload and different types of risky behaviours. Eye movement parameters were measured using a video-based eye tracking system. We found that risk-prone individuals showed specific patterns of risky behaviours and that peak of saccadic velocity and subjective mental workload indexes were both reliable indicators of risk proneness. Mental workload was higher for participants showing attitudes to risk behaviours probably because of a lack of conscious awareness of specific cues indicating dangerous scenarios.
[Addiction, impulsivity and temporal curves of desire]
Adicciones, 2011
This study addresses, from theories of associative learning, the impulsivity and craving in patie... more This study addresses, from theories of associative learning, the impulsivity and craving in patients with a diagnosis of substance dependence in abstinence, habitual use and relapse. We present a new method for the assessment of desire based on discount curve self description, in which patients describe how they perceive the temporal evolution and intensity of their desire. At the same time, through a brief questionnaire about emotion and desire -developed by the authors-and the Plutchik Impulsivity Scale, we set out to check whether positive or negative emotions increase, decrease, or are uninvolved in changes of desire and impulsivity. Perception of the evolution of desire in patients from the Relapse and Habitual Use groups is similar and presents a hyperbolic curve, but the Relapse group presented greater impulsivity. Moreover, a relationship is found in patients from the Relapse group between the hyperbolic increase of desire, the pleasurable states and impulsivity. The higher ...
International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics, 2012
Telecare is a type of information and communication technology (ICT) that provides help to depend... more Telecare is a type of information and communication technology (ICT) that provides help to dependents, especially older adults, by providing access to teams of professionals who can attend to the client's needs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year via a telephonic network. Previous studies have shown that design and motivational factors are related to use of telecare by older people. In this study, we examined how sociodemographic, motivational, design, cognitive, and attitudinal factors are related to telecare device use. A questionnaire and the state-trait anxiety inventory were administered to a sample of 96 telecare users. The results showed that factors related to the vocabulary of the telecare device interface, discomfort caused by the pendant device during the night, attitudinal factors, situational anxiety, and the anxious personality trait are predictors of whether or not a person will use the telecare device.
El aprendizaje de un laberinto: memoria espacial y mapas cognitivos
En este trabajo se analizan los mecanismos de memoria que subyacen a la conducta de orientacion d... more En este trabajo se analizan los mecanismos de memoria que subyacen a la conducta de orientacion de los animales en el ambito experimental concreto de los laberintos radiales. A este respecto, se enfatiza la existencia de dos representaciones de memoria diferentes pero intimamente relacionadas. Por una parte, una representacion a largo plazo que codificaria la configuracion espacial del entorno del organismo y, por otra parte, una representacion vinculada con la informacion referente al desplazamiento del organismo por ese entorno. Asimismo, junto a las principales fuentes de evidencia empirica, abordaremos algunos de los procesos basicos de memoria que pueden subyacer a estas representaciones y las mas relevantes bases neurologicas implicadas en esta faceta del comportamiento.
* Esta investigación se ha financiado a través del proyecto BSO2003-03723 del MCyT. Los dos exper... more * Esta investigación se ha financiado a través del proyecto BSO2003-03723 del MCyT. Los dos experimentos descritos en este trabajo forman parte del trabajo de investigación original para la concesión de la suficiencia investigadora de Rocío Beltrán y Lorena Guadarrama, coautoras de este estudio. Toda correspondencia relativa a este artículo deberá remitirse a Antonio Cándido Ortiz,
RESUMEN. La corteza prefrontal ventromedial (VMPFC) ha sido implicada en la toma de decisiones em... more RESUMEN. La corteza prefrontal ventromedial (VMPFC) ha sido implicada en la toma de decisiones emocionales debido a su posible participación en el aprendizaje de inversión afectivo, la propensión al riesgo y la impulsividad. Su especial entramado de conexiones con otras áreas de la corteza y con estructuras subcorticales como la amígdala justifican que pueda tener un papel de interfase entre cognición y emoción, y desempeñar una función fundamental en la regulación y el control del comportamiento. En este trabajo revisamos estudios realizados con la tarea de apuestas de Iowa, tareas de aprendizaje de inversión afectivo, tareas de apuestas con diferente varianza para medir la propensión al riesgo y tareas que introducen demora temporal de la recompensa para evaluar la impulsividad. Los datos obtenidos en esos trabajos con pacientes lesionados en la VMPFC o en otras áreas prefrontales y controles no lesionados, y datos conductuales y de actividad cerebral pueden interpretarse mejor si asumimos que la VMPFC está encargada de representar la expectativa de refuerzo. La representación de un reforzador esperado incluye la demora del reforzador, y la varianza de su magnitud. PALABRAS CLAVE. Corteza prefrontal ventromedial. Emoción. Toma de decisiones. Estudio teórico.
The equation represents a weighted and scaled contrast between cell frequencies in the contingenc... more The equation represents a weighted and scaled contrast between cell frequencies in the contingency table (as perceived by the reasoner) confirming (a, d) or disconfirming (b, c) the existence of a generative causal link between a candidate cause and an effect. References
The human brain contains social areas that become active when interacting with another human. The... more The human brain contains social areas that become active when interacting with another human. These are located in the ventral prefrontal and mediodorsal cortices, adjacent to areas involved in reward processing and cognitive control. Human behaviour is strongly influenced by the social context. This is particularly evident when observing greater risk propensity in the presence of a peer, particularly during adolescence and emerging adulthood. We explored the widely held view that enhanced risk propensity is the consequence of weak cognitive control. We used brain activity, estimated from EEG recordings in a sample of 114 emerging adult dyads whilst performing a risk perception task, to predict risk behaviour in a subsequent driving simulation task. Being with a peer reduced the ability to discriminate riskiness in images of traffic scenes, biased responses towards the perception of no-risk, and increased the rate of accidents in the driving simulation. Risk perception involved three sets of clusters showing activity only when being with a peer, only when being alone, and in both social contexts. Functional connectivity between the clusters accounted for the later driving simulation performance depending on the peer's presence. In the light of our findings, greater risk-taking, when a peer is present, seems to be triggered by the activation of a different, less efficient brain network for risk-processing.
The role of injection cues in the associative control of the US pre-exposure effect in flavour av... more The role of injection cues in the associative control of the US pre-exposure effect in flavour aversion learning
Dispositional mindfulness and emotion regulation are two psychological constructs closely interre... more Dispositional mindfulness and emotion regulation are two psychological constructs closely interrelated, and both appear to improve with the long-term practice of mindfulness meditation. These constructs appear to be related to subcortical, prefrontal, and posterior brain areas involved in emotional processing, cognitive control, self-awareness, and mind wandering. However, no studies have yet discerned the neural basis of dispositional mindfulness that are minimally associated with emotion regulation. In the present study, we use a novel brain structural network analysis approach to study the relationship between structural networks and dispositional mindfulness, measured with two different and widely used instruments [Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ)], taking into account the effect of emotion regulation difficulties. We observed a number of different brain regions associated with the different scales and dimensions. The t...
Risky decision-making is highly influenced by emotions and can lead to fatal consequences. Attemp... more Risky decision-making is highly influenced by emotions and can lead to fatal consequences. Attempts to reduce risk-taking include the use of mindfulness-based interventions (MBI), which have shown promising results for both emotion regulation (ER) and risk-taking. However, it is still unclear whether improved emotion regulation is the mechanism responsible for reduced risk-taking. In the present study, we explore the effect of a 5-week MBI on risky driving in a group of repeat traffic offenders by comparing them with non-repeat offenders and repeat offenders without training. We evaluated the driving behavior of the participants through a driving simulation, and self-reported emotion regulation, both before and after the intervention. At baseline, poor emotion regulation was related to a more unstable driving behavior, and speeding. The group that received mindfulness training showed improved performance during risky driving situations and had fewer accidents, although their overall...
Impulsivity and sensation seeking are considered to be among the most important personality trait... more Impulsivity and sensation seeking are considered to be among the most important personality traits involved in risk‐taking behavior. This study is focused on whether the association of these personality traits and brain functional connectivity depends on individuals' risk proneness. Risk proneness was assessed with the DOSPERT‐30 scale and corroborated with performance in a motorcycle simulator. The associations of impulsivity‐ and sensation seeking‐related traits with the between and within coupling of seven major brain functional networks, estimated from electroencefalograma (EEG) recordings, differ according to whether an individual is risk prone or not. In risk‐prone individuals, (lack of) premeditation enhanced the coupling of the ventral attention and limbic networks. At the same time, emotion seeking increased the coupling of the frontoparietal network and the default mode networks (DMNs). Finally, (lack of) perseverance had a positive impact on the coupling of anterior t...
Impulsivity (and related traits reward/punishment sensitivity and tolerance to delayed rewards) a... more Impulsivity (and related traits reward/punishment sensitivity and tolerance to delayed rewards) and gambling cognitions have been linked to gambling. However, their independent associations with gambling preferences and clinical status have never been dissociated. The current study applied a data-driven strategy to identify gambling preferences, based on gambling frequency in several modalities. The two resulting factors were used to classify gambling disorder patients (GDPs) and non-problem recreational gamblers (RGs) into Type I (preferring cards, casino games and skill-based bets) and Type II (preferring slot machines, lotteries/pools and bingo). Participants were assessed in impulsivity, delay discounting, reward/punishment sensitivity, gambling-related cognitions, gambling severity, gambling frequency and average amount gambled per episode. GDPs scored higher than RGs in positive and negative urgency, delay discounting, reward sensitivity and intensity of gambling-related cognitions, but less in lack of perseverance. Additionally, Type II gamblers had greater difficulties delaying gratification, whereas Type I gamblers showed higher cognitive distortion and reward sensitivity levels. In practical terms, the finding that some characteristics are equally pervasive in disordered gamblers independently of their preferences (affect-driven impulsivity), whereas others (distorted cognitions, reward sensitivity, delay discounting) are more prominent in one type or the other, provides a basis to establish targets' priority in therapy.
Dual-process theories have dominated the study of risk perception and risk-taking over the last t... more Dual-process theories have dominated the study of risk perception and risk-taking over the last two decades. However, there is a lack of objective brain-level evidence supporting the two systems of processing in every-day risky behavior. To address this issue, we propose the dissociation between evaluative and urgent behaviors as evidence of dual processing in risky driving situations. Our findings show a dissociation of evaluative and urgent behavior both at the behavioral and neural level. fMRI data showed an increase of activation in areas implicated in motor programming, emotional processing, and visuomotor integration in urgent behavior compared to evaluative behavior. These results support a more automatic processing of risk in urgent tasks, relying mainly on heuristics and experiential appraisal. The urgent task, which is characterized by strong time pressure and the possibility for negative consequences among others factors, creates a suitable context for the experiential-af...
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