@phdthesis{Schmidt2014, author = {Schmidt, Barbara}, title = {Taking your chances: risk behavior and its relation to arousal, framing and motivation}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-107149}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Human risk behavior is the subject of growing research in the field of psychology as well as economics. One central topic is the influence of psychological variables on risk behavior. Studies contained in this work investigated the impact of arousal, framing and motivation on risk behavior. Arousal can on the one hand be a temporarily stable trait and on the other hand a situation-dependent variable. We showed that low trait arousal, measured via resting heart rate, predicted risky behavior. After physical exercise, state arousal was heightened in the experiment. Participants tended to act less risky after physical exercise. Taken together, the results suggest an inverse relation of arousal and risk behavior. Most studies investigating risk behavior employ a payment method that we call pay-one method: although the gambles that are used consist of many trials, only one trial is paid out. We investigated the effect of the payment method on risk behavior by employing both the pay-one and a pay-all method, which pays out all trials, in a within-subjects design. We found that participants acted about 10\% less risky in the pay-one condition compared to the pay-all condition. This result suggests that risk-aversion is over-estimated in common risk paradigms that use the pay-one method. When we worked on a hard task before, we like to engage in a more likable task afterwards. That observation led to the general classification of tasks in want-to and have-to tasks. Our body system strives towards a balance between those two task types in the sense of a homeostasis. We assessed event-related potentials (ERPs) in a risk game that we treated as a want-to task. When participants worked on a difficult have-to task before, amplitudes of the ERP-components in the risk game were raised compared to a condition where participants worked on an easy task before. We conclude that the motivation shift towards a want-to task after a have-to task can be assessed via ERP amplitudes. In conclusion, it was shown that arousal, framing and motivation are important psychological variables that influence risk behavior. The specific mechanisms of these influences have been investigated and discussed.}, subject = {Risikoverhalten}, language = {en} } @article{Meule2014, author = {Meule, Adrian}, title = {Are certain foods addictive?}, series = {Frontiers in Psychiatry}, volume = {5}, journal = {Frontiers in Psychiatry}, number = {38}, issn = {1664-0640}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-120257}, year = {2014}, abstract = {A commentary on Lifestyle medicine: the importance of firmgrounding on evidence by Rippe JM. Am J Lifestyle Med (2014) doi:10.1177/ 1559827613520527}, language = {en} } @article{WieserGerdesReichertsetal.2014, author = {Wieser, Matthias J. and Gerdes, Antje B. M. and Reicherts, Philipp and Pauli, Paul}, title = {Mutual influences of pain and emotional face processing}, series = {Frontiers in Psychology}, volume = {5}, journal = {Frontiers in Psychology}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01160}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-118446}, pages = {1160}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The perception of unpleasant stimuli enhances whereas the perception of pleasant stimuli decreases pain perception. In contrast, the effects of pain on the processing of emotional stimuli are much less known. Especially given the recent interest in facial expressions of pain as a special category of emotional stimuli, a main topic in this research line is the mutual influence of pain and facial expression processing. Therefore, in this mini-review we selectively summarize research on the effects of emotional stimuli on pain, but more extensively turn to the opposite direction namely how pain influences concurrent processing of affective stimuli such as facial expressions. Based on the motivational priming theory one may hypothesize that the perception of pain enhances the processing of unpleasant stimuli and decreases the processing of pleasant stimuli. This review reveals that the literature is only partly consistent with this assumption: pain reduces the processing of pleasant pictures and happy facial expressions, but does not - or only partly - affect processing of unpleasant pictures. However, it was demonstrated that pain selectively enhances the processing of facial expressions if these are pain-related (i.e., facial expressions of pain). Extending a mere affective modulation theory, the latter results suggest pain-specific effects which may be explained by the perception-action model of empathy. Together, these results underscore the important mutual influence of pain and emotional face processing.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Winkler2014, author = {Winkler, Markus Heinrich}, title = {Motivational properties of reward associated stimuli - Conditioning studies with smoke and monetary reinforcement}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-121794}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Abstract Tobacco addiction is considered as a chronic relapsing disorder, characterized by compul-sive drug seeking and intake. Learning processes are stressed to account for the situational-specific expression of core features of the disorder, e.g., craving for drug, tolerance and ex-cessive consumption. According to incentive theories, smoke conditioned stimuli are hy-pothesized to be appetitive in nature, promoting craving, approach and consummatory be-havior. Commonly, smoking cues are treated as simple excitatory conditioned stimuli formed by a close and reliable overlap with the drug effect. However, the smoking ritual comprises a multitude of stimuli which may give rise to different forms of learning and con-ditioned responses partially opposing each other. Previous research suggests the predictive content and the temporal proximity of smoking stimuli to the drug effect as important de-terminants of cue reactivity. In contrast to stimuli related to the preparatory stage of smok-ing and the start of consumption (BEGIN stimuli), stimuli from the terminal stage of smok-ing (END stimuli) apparently lack high cue reactivity. Several lines of evidence suggest the poor cue properties of terminal stimuli to be related to their signaling of poor smoke availa-bility. Indeed, cue reactivity is commonly decreased when smoking appears to be unavaila-ble. Moreover, the learning literature suggests that stimuli predictive for the non-availability of reward may acquire the capacity to modulate or oppose the responses of ex-citatory conditioned stimuli. Therefore, the aim of the present thesis was to enhance our knowledge of stimulus control in human drug addiction and incentive motivation by running a series of conditioning studies with smoke intake and monetary reward as reinforcer. Sub-jective report and physiological measures of motivational valence and consummatory re-sponse tendencies were used as dependent variables. The first experiment of this thesis used a differential conditioning paradigm to reveal evi-dence for the conditioning of preparatory and consummatory responses to a CS+ for smok-ing. Neutral pictograms served as CSs and single puffs on a cigarette as US. In line with the predictions of incentive theories, the excitatory CS+ for smoking acquired the ability to evoke an appetitive conditioned response, as indicated by enhanced activity of the M. zy-gomaticus major. Moreover, anticipation of puffing on the cigarette increased the activity of the M. orbicularis oris (lip muscle), indicating the activation of consummatory response tendencies. Finally, the CS+ evoked stronger skin conductance responses, indicative of in-creased autonomic arousal and orienting in preparation for action. In contrast, the rating data were apparently unaffected by the experimental contingency. In sum, the physiological data provide support for the notion that excitatory smoke conditioning gives rise to appeti-tive and consummatory conditioned responses, which may at least partially contribute to the maintenance of tobacco addiction. The second experiment of this thesis adapted the conditioning protocol of the first study to probe the functional significance of terminal stimuli in the control of addictive behavior. This study manipulated the predictive relationship of BEGIN and END stimuli to smoke rein-forcement to provide further support for the differential reactivity to both stimuli and the retarded (i.e., delayed) conditioning of END stimuli. Overall, the results of the first study of this thesis were conceptually replicated as the association of a BEGIN stimulus with smoke intake resulted in the acquisition of appetitive and consummatory physiological responses. Importantly, the results revealed evidence for a retarded excitatory conditioning of END stimuli. Thus, pairing of an END stimulus with smoke intake failed to produce a conditioned discrimination in terms of motivational valence and autonomic arousal, as indicated by the activity of the M. corrugator supercilii and the skin conductance data. These results provide further support for the notion that END stimuli may be weak cues for smoking. Moreover, in light of the results of the first study of this thesis, the retarded excitatory conditioning of terminal stimuli may be suggestive of an inhibitory response component, which may be re-lated to their signaling of poor smoke availability. In sum, these results add to a growing body of data, which suggest that the expression of cue reactivity may be modulated by the temporal proximity and the availability of the drug effect. The aim of the third study of this thesis was to provide "proof of concept" for an inhibi-tory conditioning notion of terminal stimuli. In this analog study BEGIN and END stimuli were emulated as discriminative SD and S for monetary reward. During an acquisition phase conditioned inhibition was established to the S predictive of the non-availability of re-ward. Subsequently a retardation test was used to substantiate conditioned inhibition. In this test, excitatory conditioning of the previous S was compared to the excitatory condi-tioning of a novel control stimulus. Importantly, the results revealed evidence for reward conditioned inhibition as indicated by the retarded acquisition of subjective (pleasure and reward expectancy) and physiological (skin conductance and activity of the M. orbicularis oculi) responses. In sum, these results provide support for the notion that stimuli predictive for the non-availability of reward may acquire the capacity to oppose the responses of ex-citatory conditioned stimuli. Thus, future research may benefit from the consideration of inhibitory conditioning processes in drug addiction, which may be of theoretical, methodo-logical and clinical importance. In sum, the present thesis revealed evidence for 1) an appetitive nature of excitatory condi-tioned smoking cues, 2) the dependency of this learning process on the temporal position of the conditioned stimuli in the intake ritual and 3) the acquisition of conditioned inhibition by a stimulus predictive for the non-availability of reward, as evident in retarded excitatory conditioning. Overall, these studies made a novel contribution to the field of human drug addiction and incentive motivation and provided valuable suggestions for further research.}, subject = {Rauchen}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Ewald2014, author = {Ewald, Heike}, title = {Influence of context and contingency awareness on fear conditioning - an investigation in virtual reality}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-111226}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Fear conditioning is an efficient model of associative learning, which has greatly improved our knowledge of processes underlying the development and maintenance of pathological fear and anxiety. In a differential fear conditioning paradigm, one initially neutral stimulus (NS) is paired with an aversive event (unconditioned stimulus, US), whereas another stimulus does not have any consequences. After a few pairings the NS is associated with the US and consequently becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS+), which elicits a conditioned response (CR). The formation of explicit knowledge of the CS/US association during conditioning is referred to as contingency awareness. Findings about its role in fear conditioning are ambiguous. The development of a CR without contingency awareness has been shown in delay fear conditioning studies. One speaks of delay conditioning, when the US coterminates with or follows directly on the CS+. In trace conditioning, a temporal gap or "trace interval" lies between CS+ and US. According to existing evidence, trace conditioning is not possible on an implicit level and requires more cognitive resources than delay conditioning. The associations formed during fear conditioning are not exclusively associations between specific cues and aversive events. Contextual cues form the background milieu of the learning process and play an important role in both acquisition and the extinction of conditioned fear and anxiety. A common limitation in human fear conditioning studies is the lack of ecological validity, especially regarding contextual information. The use of Virtual Reality (VR) is a promising approach for creating a more complex environment which is close to a real life situation. I conducted three studies to examine cue and contextual fear conditioning with regard to the role of contingency awareness. For this purpose a VR paradigm was created, which allowed for exact manipulation of cues and contexts as well as timing of events. In all three experiments, participants were guided through one or more virtual rooms serving as contexts, in which two different lights served as CS and an electric stimulus as US. Fear potentiated startle (FPS) responses were measured as an indicator of implicit fear conditioning. To test whether participants had developed explicit awareness of the CS-US contingencies, subjective ratings were collected. The first study was designed as a pilot study to test the VR paradigm as well as the conditioning protocol. Additionally, I was interested in the effect of contingency awareness. Results provided evidence, that eye blink conditioning is possible in the virtual environment and that it does not depend on contingency awareness. Evaluative conditioning, as measured by subjective ratings, was only present in the group of participants who explicitly learned the association between CS and US. To examine acquisition and extinction of both fear associated cues and contexts, a novel cue-context generalization paradigm was applied in the second study. Besides the interplay of cues and contexts I was again interested in the effect of contingency awareness. Two different virtual offices served as fear and safety context, respectively. During acquisition, the CS+ was always followed by the US in the fear context. In the safety context, none of the lights had any consequences. During extinction, a additional (novel) context was introduced, no US was delivered in any of the contexts. Participants showed enhanced startle responses to the CS+ compared to the CS- in the fear context. Thus, discriminative learning took place regarding both cues and contexts during acquisition. This was confirmed by subjective ratings, although only for participants with explicit contingency awareness. Generalization of fear to the novel context after conditioning did not depend on awareness and was observable only on trend level. In a third experiment I looked at neuronal correlates involved in extinction of fear memory by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Of particular interest were differences between extinction of delay and trace fear conditioning. I applied the paradigm tested in the pilot study and additionally manipulated timing of the stimuli: In the delay conditioning group (DCG) the US was administered with offset of one light (CS+), in the trace conditioning group (TCG) the US was presented 4s after CS+ offset. Most importantly, prefrontal activation differed between the two groups. In line with existing evidence, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) was activated in the DCG. In the TCG I found activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), which might be associated with modulation of working memory processes necessary for bridging the trace interval and holding information in short term memory. Taken together, virtual reality proved to be an elegant tool for examining human fear conditioning in complex environments, and especially for manipulating contextual information. Results indicate that explicit knowledge of contingencies is necessary for attitude formation in fear conditioning, but not for a CR on an implicit level as measured by FPS responses. They provide evidence for a two level account of fear conditioning. Discriminative learning was successful regarding both cues and contexts. Imaging results speak for different extinction processes in delay and trace conditioning, hinting that higher working memory contribution is required for trace than for delay conditioning.}, subject = {Klassische Konditionierung}, language = {en} } @article{MeuleGearhard2014, author = {Meule, Adrian and Gearhard, Ashley N.}, title = {Food Addiction in the Light of DSM-5}, series = {Nutrients}, volume = {6}, journal = {Nutrients}, number = {9}, issn = {2072-6643}, doi = {10.3390/nu6093653}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119279}, pages = {3653-71}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The idea that specific kind of foods may have an addiction potential and that some forms of overeating may represent an addicted behavior has been discussed for decades. In recent years, the interest in food addiction is growing and research on this topic lead to more precise definitions and assessment methods. For example, the Yale Food Addiction Scale has been developed for the measurement of addiction-like eating behavior based on the diagnostic criteria for substance dependence of the fourth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). In 2013, diagnostic criteria for substance abuse and-dependence were merged, thereby increasing the number of symptoms for substance use disorders (SUDs) in the DSM-5. Moreover, gambling disorder is now included along SUDs as a behavioral addiction. Although a plethora of review articles exist that discuss the applicability of the DSM-IV substance dependence criteria to eating behavior, the transferability of the newly added criteria to eating is unknown. Thus, the current article discusses if and how these new criteria may be translated to overeating. Furthermore, it is examined if the new SUD criteria will impact future research on food addiction, for example, if "diagnosing" food addiction should also be adapted by considering all of the new symptoms. Given the critical response to the revisions in DSM-5, we also discuss if the recent approach of Research Domain Criteria can be helpful in evaluating the concept of food addiction.}, language = {en} } @article{HoehneHolzStaigerSaelzeretal.2014, author = {H{\"o}hne, Johannes and Holz, Elisa and Staiger-S{\"a}lzer, Pit and M{\"u}ller, Klaus-Robert and K{\"u}bler, Andrea and Tangermann, Michael}, title = {Motor Imagery for Severely Motor-Impaired Patients: Evidence for Brain-Computer Interfacing as Superior Control Solution}, series = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {9}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, number = {8}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0104854}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119331}, pages = {e104854}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) strive to decode brain signals into control commands for severely handicapped people with no means of muscular control. These potential users of noninvasive BCIs display a large range of physical and mental conditions. Prior studies have shown the general applicability of BCI with patients, with the conflict of either using many training sessions or studying only moderately restricted patients. We present a BCI system designed to establish external control for severely motor-impaired patients within a very short time. Within only six experimental sessions, three out of four patients were able to gain significant control over the BCI, which was based on motor imagery or attempted execution. For the most affected patient, we found evidence that the BCI could outperform the best assistive technology (AT) of the patient in terms of control accuracy, reaction time and information transfer rate. We credit this success to the applied user-centered design approach and to a highly flexible technical setup. State-of-the art machine learning methods allowed the exploitation and combination of multiple relevant features contained in the EEG, which rapidly enabled the patients to gain substantial BCI control. Thus, we could show the feasibility of a flexible and tailorable BCI application in severely disabled users. This can be considered a significant success for two reasons: Firstly, the results were obtained within a short period of time, matching the tight clinical requirements. Secondly, the participating patients showed, compared to most other studies, very severe communication deficits. They were dependent on everyday use of AT and two patients were in a locked-in state. For the most affected patient a reliable communication was rarely possible with existing AT.}, language = {en} } @article{MeuleLutzKrawietzetal.2014, author = {Meule, Adrian and Lutz, Annika P. C. and Krawietz, Vera and St{\"u}tzer, Judith and V{\"o}gele, Claus and K{\"u}bler, Andrea}, title = {Food-cue affected motor response inhibition and self-reported dieting success: a pictorial affective shifting task}, series = {Frontiers in Psychology}, volume = {5}, journal = {Frontiers in Psychology}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00216}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119840}, pages = {216}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Behavioral inhibition is one of the basic facets of executive functioning and is closely related to self-regulation. Impulsive reactions, that is, low inhibitory control, have been associated with higher body mass index (BMI), binge eating, and other problem behaviors (e.g., substance abuse, pathological gambling, etc.). Nevertheless, studies which investigated the direct influence of food-cues on behavioral inhibition have been fairly inconsistent. In the current studies, we investigated food-cue affected behavioral inhibition in young women. For this purpose, we used a go/no-go task with pictorial food and neutral stimuli in which stimulus-response mapping is reversed after every other block (affective shifting task). In study 1, hungry participants showed faster reaction times to and omitted fewer food than neutral targets. Low dieting success and higher BMI were associated with behavioral disinhibition in food relative to neutral blocks. In study 2, both hungry and satiated individuals were investigated. Satiation did not influence overall task performance, but modulated associations of task performance with dieting success and self-reported impulsivity. When satiated, increased food craving during the task was associated with low dieting success, possibly indicating a preload-disinhibition effect following food intake. Food-cues elicited automatic action and approach tendencies regardless of dieting success, self-reported impulsivity, or current hunger levels. Yet, associations between dieting success, impulsivity, and behavioral food-cue responses were modulated by hunger and satiation. Future research investigating clinical samples and including other salient non-food stimuli as control category is warranted.}, language = {en} } @article{WoelkSuetterlinKochetal.2014, author = {W{\"o}lk, Julian and S{\"u}tterlin, Stefan and Koch, Stefan and V{\"o}gele, Claus and Schulz, Stefan M.}, title = {Enhanced cardiac perception predicts impaired performance in the Iowa Gambling Task in patients with panic disorder}, series = {Brain and Behavior}, volume = {4}, journal = {Brain and Behavior}, number = {2}, issn = {2162-3279}, doi = {10.1002/brb3.206}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119865}, pages = {238-46}, year = {2014}, abstract = {OBJECTIVE: Somatic marker theory predicts that somatic cues serve intuitive decision making; however, cardiovascular symptoms are threat cues for patients with panic disorder (PD). Therefore, enhanced cardiac perception may aid intuitive decision making only in healthy individuals, but impair intuitive decision making in PD patients. METHODS: PD patients and age-and sex-matched volunteers without a psychiatric diagnosis (n=17, respectively) completed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) as a measure of intuitive decision making. Interindividual differences in cardiac perception were assessed with a common mental-tracking task. RESULTS: In line with our hypothesis, we found a pattern of opposing associations (Fisher's Z=1.78, P=0.04) of high cardiac perception with improved IGT-performance in matched control-participants (r=0.36, n=14) but impaired IGT-performance in PD patients (r=-0.38, n=13). CONCLUSION: Interoceptive skills, typically assumed to aid intuitive decision making, can have the opposite effect in PD patients who experience interoceptive cues as threatening, and tend to avoid them. This may explain why PD patients frequently have problems with decision making in everyday life. Screening of cardiac perception may help identifying patients who benefit from specifically tailored interventions.}, language = {en} } @article{EwaldGlotzbachSchoonGerdesetal.2014, author = {Ewald, Heike and Glotzbach-Schoon, Evelyn and Gerdes, Antje B. M. and Andreatta, Marta and M{\"u}ller, Mathias and M{\"u}hlberger, Andreas and Pauli, Paul}, title = {Delay and trace fear conditioning in a complex virtual learning environment - neural substrates of extinction}, series = {Frontiers in Human Neuroscience}, volume = {8}, journal = {Frontiers in Human Neuroscience}, number = {323}, issn = {1662-5161}, doi = {10.3389/fnhum.2014.00323}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-116230}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Extinction is an important mechanism to inhibit initially acquired fear responses. There is growing evidence that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) inhibits the amygdala and therefore plays an important role in the extinction of delay fear conditioning. To our knowledge, there is no evidence on the role of the prefrontal cortex in the extinction of trace conditioning up to now. Thus, we compared brain structures involved in the extinction of human delay and trace fear conditioning in a between-subjects-design in an fMRI study. Participants were passively guided through a virtual environment during learning and extinction of conditioned fear. Two different lights served as conditioned stimuli (CS); as unconditioned stimulus (US) a mildly painful electric stimulus was delivered. In the delay conditioning group (DCG) the US was administered with offset of one light (CS+), whereas in the trace conditioning group (TCG) the US was presented 4s after CS+ offset. Both groups showed insular and striatal activation during early extinction, but differed in their prefrontal activation. The vmPFC was mainly activated in the DCG, whereas the TCG showed activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) during extinction. These results point to different extinction processes in delay and trace conditioning. VmPFC activation during extinction of delay conditioning might reflect the inhibition of the fear response. In contrast, dlPFC activation during extinction of trace conditioning may reflect modulation of working memory processes which are involved in bridging the trace interval and hold information in short term memory.}, language = {en} }