Cognitive Control Modulates Pain During Effortful Goal-directed Behaviour

Cognitive Control Modulates Pain During Effortful Goal-directed Behaviour
Author: Sepideh Heydari
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2020
Genre:
ISBN:

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Many theories of decision-making consider pain, monetary loss, and other forms of punishment to be interchangeable quantities that are processed by the same neural system. For example, standard reinforcement learning models utilize a single reinforcement term to represent both monetary losses and pain signals. By contrast, I propose that 1) pain signals present unique computational challenges, 2) these challenges are addressed in humans and other animals by anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and 3) pain is regulated by cognitive control during goal-directed tasks, using principles of the hierarchical reinforcement learning model of the ACC (HRL-ACC). To show this, I conducted 3 studies. In Study 1, I conducted an electrophysiological study to investigate the effect of task goals on event-related brain potentials (ERPs) during conditions where pain and reward are used. Specifically, I investigated whether feedback stimuli predicting forthcoming pain would elicit the reward positivity, an ERP component that is more positive-going to positive feedback than to negative feedback, when the goal of the task is to find electrical shocks. Contrary to my predictions, a standard reward positivity was not elicited by pain feedback in this task. In Study 2, I conducted three behavioral experiments wherein the subjective costs of mild electrical shocks were equated with monetary losses for each individual participant using a calibration procedure. I hypothesized that decision-making behavior in face of painful events and decision making behavior in the face of monetary losses would be different from each other despite the outcomes (pain vs. monetary loss) being equated for their subjective costs. This prediction was confirmed, demonstrating that the costs associated with pain and monetary losses differ in more than just magnitude. In Study 3, to explain these results, I developed an extension to an existing computational framework, the HRL-ACC model. The present model provides insight into choice behaviour in the pain and monetary loss (ML) conditions by showing that cognitive control levels converge to an average level across trials. In the pain condition, cognitive control fluctuates from trial to trial in a systematic fashion, causing trials with low shock levels to be over-valued and shocks with high-shock levels to be undervalued. By contrast, in the ML condition cognitive wanes across trials because it is not needed and the model displays normative behavior. These findings are in line with psychological approaches to pain treatment and provide neuro-cognitive explanations that underlie their mechanisms. In line with the HRL-ACC theory, I propose that the ACC regulates pain by motivating good performance in the face of physical punishments (but not monetary losses) in order to achieve long-term goals that are produced by ACC.

Neural Mechanisms of Motivational Incentive Integration and Cognitive Control

Neural Mechanisms of Motivational Incentive Integration and Cognitive Control
Author: Debbie Yee
Publisher:
Total Pages: 145
Release: 2019
Genre: Electronic dissertations
ISBN:

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Motivational incentives play a central role in human decision-making and the pursuit of behavioral and cognitive task goals [1,2]. Moreover, the ability to integrate diverse incentives to modulate goal pursuit is essential for healthy cognitive function. A potential mechanism of motivational influence may be via cognitive control, the set of processes that coordinate and regulate cognition and action based on currently maintained goals [3,4]. However, it is currently unknown whether and how different types of incentives are combined in the brain to modulate cognitive control, and how this putative integrated value signal influences goal-directed behavior. In the current functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we utilized an innovative incentive integration task paradigm that establishes dissociable and additive effects of liquid (e.g., juice, neutral, saltwater) and monetary incentives on cognitive task performance, and applied innovative fMRI analysis approaches to elucidate the neural mechanisms that underlie the interaction between motivational and cognitive control process. First, we applied univariate parcel-based approaches to test whether a priori regions of interest (e.g., ventromedial prefrontal cortex, striatum, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex) represented the integrated value of the 'bundled incentives', and whether these regions were also associated with variability in cognitive task performance (Aim 1). Second, we applied representational similarity analysis - an innovative multivariate approach - to test whether and how the combined values from diverse motivational incentives are represented in the similarity of neural patterns in fMRI BOLD activity (Aim 2). Moreover, we aimed to examine whether such multivariate approaches were more sensitive to motivational incentive effects compared to univariate approaches, or alternatively provided complementary information to the univariate results in motivational incentive effects. This is the first study, to our knowledge, that investigates the neural mechanisms underlying whether and how value integration of primary/consummatory and secondary/abstract incentives in a cognitive control context guide goal-directed behavior. Importantly, these results provide critical knowledge into the basic neural mechanisms underlying interactions between motivational incentive integration and cognitive control, which can inform subsequent hypotheses about neuromodulatory influences (e.g., dopamine) in such interactions, as well as inform key predictions about targeted neural mechanisms in age-related changes in motivation-cognition interactions as well as maladaptive motivational processes in psychopathology (e.g., depression, addiction).

The Wiley Handbook of Cognitive Control

The Wiley Handbook of Cognitive Control
Author: Tobias Egner
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 629
Release: 2017-03-20
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1118920546

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Covering basic theory, new research, and intersections with adjacent fields, this is the first comprehensive reference work on cognitive control – our ability to use internal goals to guide thought and behavior. Draws together expert perspectives from a range of disciplines, including cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, and neurology Covers behavioral phenomena of cognitive control, neuroanatomical and computational models of frontal lobe function, and the interface between cognitive control and other mental processes Explores the ways in which cognitive control research can inform and enhance our understanding of brain development and neurological and psychiatric conditions

Current Research and Emerging Directions in Emotion-Cognition Interactions

Current Research and Emerging Directions in Emotion-Cognition Interactions
Author: Florin Dolcos
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Total Pages: 741
Release: 2015-03-02
Genre: Emotions and cognition
ISBN: 2889194388

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Emotion can impact various aspects of our cognition and behavior, by enhancing or impairing them (e.g., enhanced attention to and memory for emotional events, or increased distraction produced by goal-irrelevant emotional information). On the other hand, emotion processing is also susceptible to cognitive influences, typically exerted in the form of cognitive control of motion, or emotion regulation. Despite important recent progress in understanding emotion- cognition interactions, a number of aspects remain unclear. The present book comprises a collection of manuscripts discussing emerging evidence regarding the mechanisms underlying emotion- cognition interactions in healthy functioning and alterations associated with clinical conditions, in which such interactions are dysfunctional. Initiated with a more restricted focus, targeting (1) identification and in depth analysis of the circumstances in which emotion enhances or impairs cognition and (2)identification of the role of individual differences in these effects, our book has emerged into a comprehensive collection of outstanding contributions investigating emotion-cognition interactions, based on approaches spanning from behavioral and lesion to pharmacological and brain imaging, and including empirical, theoretical, and review papers alike. Co-hosted by the Frontiers in Neuroscience - Integrative Neuroscience and Frontiers in Psychology - Emotion Science, the contributions comprising our book and the associated research topic are grouped around the following seven main themes, distributed across the two hosting journals: I. Emotion and Selectivity in Attention and Memory; II. The Impact of Emotional Distraction; Linking Enhancing and Impairing Effects of Emotion; III. What Really is the Role of the Amygdala?; IV. Age Differences in Emotion Processing; The Role of Emotional Valence; V. Affective Face Processing, Social Cognition, and Personality Neuroscience; VI. Stress, Mood, Emotion, and the Prefrontal Cortex; The Role of Control in the Stress Response; VII. Emotion-Cognition Interactions in Clinical Conditions. As illustrated by the present collection of contributions, emotion-cognition interactions can be identified at different levels of processing, from perception and attention to long- term memory, decision making processes, and social cognition and behavior. Notably, these effects are subject to individual differences that may affect the way we perceive, experience, and remember emotional experiences, or cope with emotionally challenging situations. Moreover, these opposing effects tend to co-occur in affective disorders, such as depression and PTSD, where uncontrolled recollection of and rumination on distressing memories also lead to impaired cognition due to emotional distraction. Understanding the nature and neural mechanisms of these effects is critical, as their exacerbation and co-occurrence in clinical conditions lead to devastating effects and debilitation. Hence, bringing together such diverse contributions has allowed not only an integrative understanding of the current extant evidence but also identification of emerging directions and concrete venues for future investigations.

Oxford Handbook of Human Action

Oxford Handbook of Human Action
Author: Ezequiel Morsella
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 663
Release: 2009
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0195309987

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In the last decade, there has been a tremendous surge of research on the mechanisms of human action. This volume brings together this new knowledge in a single, concise source, covering most if not all of the basic questions regarding human action: What are the mechanisms by which action plans are acquired (learned), mentally represented, activated, selected, and expressed? The chapters provide up-to-date summaries of the published research on this question, with an emphasis on underlying mechanisms.This 'bible' of action research brings together the current thinking of eminent researchers in the domains of motor control, behavioral and cognitive neuroscience, psycholinguistics, biology, as well as cognitive, developmental, social, and motivational psychology. It represents a determined multidisciplinary effort, spanning across various areas of science as well as national boundaries.

Pain in Psychiatric Disorders

Pain in Psychiatric Disorders
Author: D.P. Finn
Publisher: Karger Medical and Scientific Publishers
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2015-09-28
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 3318055743

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This book offers a series of authoritative reviews on pain in psychiatric disorders written by leading experts. They discuss the complex interplay between pain and psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression and borderline personality disorder, as well as neurosteroids, epigenetic mechanisms and TRPV1, with a strong focus on neurobiological mechanisms and current and future therapeutic targets. Special attention is given to the importance of inflammation and the immune system as a common substrate in both pain and psychiatric disorders. The state-of-the-art reviews present both preclinical and clinical research, providing the reader with sound knowledge that provides a basis for further research and clinical practice. Pain in Psychiatric Disorders is of special interest to psychiatrists, neurologists, neuroscientists, pharmacologists and other healthcare professionals treating pain in psychiatric patients, as well as research students with an interest in this field.

Behavioral Neuroscience of Motivation

Behavioral Neuroscience of Motivation
Author: Eleanor H. Simpson
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 584
Release: 2016-05-11
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 3319269356

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This volume covers the current status of research in the neurobiology of motivated behaviors in humans and other animals in healthy condition. This includes consideration of the psychological processes that drive motivated behavior and the anatomical, electrophysiological and neurochemical mechanisms which drive these processes and regulate behavioural output. The volume also includes chapters on pathological disturbances in motivation including apathy, or motivational deficit as well as addictions, the pathological misdirection of motivated behavior. As with the chapters on healthy motivational processes, the chapters on disease provide a comprehensive up to date review of the neurobiological abnormalities that underlie motivation, as determined by studies of patient populations as well as animal models of disease. The book closes with a section on recent developments in treatments for motivational disorders.

Resilience and Mental Health

Resilience and Mental Health
Author: Steven M. Southwick
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 383
Release: 2011-08-18
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 113949886X

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Humans are remarkably resilient in the face of crises, traumas, disabilities, attachment losses and ongoing adversities. To date, most research in the field of traumatic stress has focused on neurobiological, psychological and social factors associated with trauma-related psychopathology and deficits in psychosocial functioning. Far less is known about resilience to stress and healthy adaptation to stress and trauma. This book brings together experts from a broad array of scientific fields whose research has focused on adaptive responses to stress. Each of the five sections in the book examines the relevant concepts, spanning from factors that contribute to and promote resilience, to populations and societal systems in which resilience is employed, to specific applications and contexts of resilience and interventions designed to better enhance resilience. This will be suitable for clinicians and researchers who are interested in resilience across the lifespan and in response to a wide variety of stressors.

Impulsivity and Compulsivity

Impulsivity and Compulsivity
Author: John M. Oldham
Publisher: American Psychiatric Pub
Total Pages: 314
Release: 1996
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780880486767

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Traditionally, impulsive and compulsive behaviors have been categorized as fundamentally distinct. However, patients often exhibit both of these behaviors. This common comorbidity has sparked renewed interest in the factors contributing to the disorders in which these behaviors are prominent. Impulsivity and Compulsivity applies a provocative spectrum model to this psychopathology. The spectrum model is consistent with a dimensional model for psychopathology and considers the dynamic interaction of biopsychosocial forces in the development of impulsive and compulsive disorders. In this important work on impulsive/compulsive psychopathology, leading researchers and clinicians share their expertise on the phenomenological, biological, psychodynamic, and treatment aspects of these disorders. Differential diagnosis, comorbidity of the impulsive-compulsive spectrum of disorders, and assessment by the seven-factor model of temperament and character are discussed. Chapters are also dedicated to the antianxiety function of impulsivity and compulsivity, defense mechanisms in impulsive disorders versus obsessive-compulsive disorders, and the unique aspects of psychotherapy with impulsive and compulsive patients. Clinical researchers and clinicians will be enlightened by this exceptional work. The information provided is supplemented with clinical vignettes, and the final chapter provides a synthetic summary that offers a unified, dynamic approach to impulsive and compulsive behavior.