A Developmental Perspective on Facets of Impulsivity and Brain Activity Correlates From Adolescence to Adulthood

Background: On a theoretical level, impulsivity represents a multidimensional construct associated with acting without foresight, inefficient inhibitory response control, and alterations in reward processing. On an empirical level, relationships and changes in associations between different measures of impulsivity from adolescence into young adulthood and their relation to neural activity during inhibitory control and reward anticipation have not been fully understood. Methods: We used data from IMAGEN, a longitudinal multicenter, population-based cohort study in which 2034 healthy adolescents were investigated at age 14, and 1383 were reassessed as young adults at age 19. We measured the construct of trait impulsivity using self-report questionnaires and neurocognitive indices of decisional impulsivity. With functional magnetic resonance imaging, we assessed brain activity during inhibition error processing using the stop signal task and during reward anticipation in the monetary incentive delay task. Correlations were analyzed, and mixed-effect models were fitted to explore developmental and predictive effects. Results: All self-report and neurocognitive measures of impulsivity proved to be correlated during adolescence and young adulthood. Further, pre-supplementary motor area and inferior frontal gyrus activity during inhibition error processing was associated with trait impulsivity in adolescence, whereas in young adulthood, a trend-level association with reward anticipation activity in the ventral striatum was found. For adult delay discounting, a trend-level predictive effect of adolescent neural activity during inhibition error processing emerged. Conclusions: Our findings help to inform theories of impulsivity about the development of its multidimensional nature and associated brain activity patterns and highlight the need for taking functional brain development into account when evaluating neuromarker candidates

Visuo-spatial processing and dimensions of schizotypy: figure-ground segregation as a function of psychotic-like features

The aim of the reported study was to determine whether the ability to segregate a simple figure embedded in a complex visual ground, was associated with psychotic-like features in a sample of undergraduate students. The participants (N =100) were tested on the Hidden Figures Test, as well as the Raven’s Progressive Matrices, and completed a multi-dimensional schizotypy inventory (O–LIFE). The IQ scores were positively related to the number of correct responses on the Hidden Figures Test, but were unrelated to any of the schizotypy measures. Impaired Performance on the Hidden Figures Test was associated with negative schizotypy (‘Introvertive Anhedonia’), and enhanced performance was associated with the ‘Impulsive Non-Conformity’ scale. Performance on the Hidden Figures Test was independent of the positive (‘Unusual Experiences’), and the disorganized (‘Cognitive Disorganization’), schizotypy. The results are discussed in terms of a putative involvement of the frontal lobes in the negative symptomatology of schizophrenia, and in top-down (goal-driven) perceptual processing, as well as the possible compensatory functional aspect of impulsivity in terms of allocating attention

Integrating Preclinical and Clinical Models of Negative Urgency

Overwhelming evidence suggests that negative urgency is robustly associated with rash, ill-advised behavior, and this trait may hamper attempts to treat patients with substance use disorder. Research applying negative urgency to clinical treatment settings has been limited, in part, due to the absence of an objective, behavioral, and translational model of negative urgency. We suggest that development of such a model will allow for determination of prime neurological and physiological treatment targets, the testing of treatment effectiveness in the preclinical and the clinical laboratory, and, ultimately, improvement in negative-urgency-related treatment response and effectiveness. In the current paper, we review the literature on measurement of negative urgency and discuss limitations of current attempts to assess this trait in human models. Then, we review the limited research on animal models of negative urgency and make suggestions for some promising models that could lead to a translational measurement model. Finally, we discuss the importance of applying objective, behavioral, and translational models of negative urgency, especially those that are easily administered in both animals and humans, to treatment development and testing and make suggestions on necessary future work in this field. Given that negative urgency is a transdiagnostic risk factor that impedes treatment success, the impact of this work could be large in reducing client suffering and societal costs

The role of gender in the relationship between reinforcement sensitivity and aggression among adolescents

This study focuses on the relationship between reinforcement sensitivity and aggression according to the combination of forms and functions of aggression (i.e. proactive overt, proactive relational, reactive overt and reactive relational), and on the moderating role of gender in this relationship. The survey included 656 adolescents (55.33% male) from the city of Zagreb, Croatia. The results show that reward sensitivity has the highest relation with proactive overt aggression, while punishment sensitivity has the highest relation with reactive relational aggression. A moderator analysis shows that boys with high reward sensitivity manifest higher level of proactive overt aggression than girls with high reward sensitivity. Also, boys with high punishment sensitivity manifest higher level of reactive relational aggression than girls with high punishment sensitivity. The findings can help to improve the treatment of aggressive behaviour in adolescence by focusing on reward sensitivity in relation to punishment sensitivity.peer-reviewe

A Two Study Structural Modeling Based Approach for Ensuring Retention of Empirical Structures and Optimizing Short Form Development.

Retaining an empirically supported model while reducing assessment parameters becomes challenging in short form measurement development. In 2012 Larwin and Harvey proposed a systematic item reduction approach using structural equation modeling (SIR-SEM). The SIR-SEM permits retention of a strong connection to an empirically supported model while reducing some of the challenges of working with a large measurement battery. The application of the SIR-SEM strategy to reduce the number of items needed to assess an empirical supported multidimensional model of impulsivity (Ginley, Whelan, Meyers, Relyea, & Pearlson, 2014) is presented using a two-study procedure. To complete the item reduction, a SAS/Stat version of the SIR-SEM was developed and model fit statistics with extensive empirical support were adopted. In Study 1, the SIR-SEM approach successfully eliminated 84% of items while retaining 33 items to assess three impulsivity dimensions: behavioral activation, preference for stimulation, and inhibition control. Study 2 tested the resulting 33-item impulsivity measure, the Memphis Impulsivity Measure (MIM), in an independent sample of participants. This second study confirmed model fit. Each of the three MIM dimensions had similar moderate levels of internal consistency. The Pearson correlations for each dimension score indicated good two-week test-retest reliability. The MIM was found to be largely demographically invariant and to have a significant relation with target risk behaviors including: gambling frequency, symptomology, and classification, alcohol use problems, and alcohol use classification, and drug use involvement and complexity of involvement

Resting frontal asymmetry and reward sensitivity theory motivational traits

The revised reinforcement sensitivity theory (rRST) of personality has conceptualized three main systems: the behavioural approach system (BAS), behavioural inhibition system (BIS), and fightflight- freeze system (FFFS). Research links greater relative left-frontal activity with BAS-related tendencies and impulsivity and greater relative right-frontal activity with “withdrawal” motivation that included both BIS and FFFS. Although rRST has addressed the separation of FFFS and BIS, much of personality neuroscience research does not indicate which system is related to right frontal activity. We administered the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory of Personality Questionnaire (RST-PQ) to measure the BAS and its facets (goal-drive persistence, reward interest, reward reactivity, and impulsivity), BIS, and the withdrawal FFFS. We examined the association of RST-PQ traits with resting electroencephalogram (EEG) alpha-asymmetry in female participants (N = 162) by considering the influence of experimenter’s gender. In the total group, that included two subgroups with experimenters of different gender, BAS-impulsivity was related to greater left- than right-frontal activity, and FFFS, but not BIS, was related to greater relative right-frontocentral activity. These associations remained significant for the subgroup with a young same-sex experimenter, but not with opposite-sex experimenter

Can disordered mobile phone use be considered a behavioral addiction? An update on current evidence and a comprehensive model for future research

Despite the many positive outcomes, excessive mobile phone use is now often associated with potentially harmful and/or disturbing behaviors (e.g., symptoms of deregulated use, negative impact on various aspects of daily life such as relationship problems, and work intrusion). Problematic mobile phone use (PMPU) has generally been considered as a behavioral addiction that shares many features with more established drug addictions. In light of the most recent data, the current paper reviews the validity of the behavioral addiction model when applied to PMPU. On the whole, it is argued that the evidence supporting PMPU as an addictive behavior is scarce. In particular, it lacks studies that definitively show behavioral and neurobiological similarities between mobile phone addiction and other types of legitimate addictive behaviors. Given this context, an integrative pathway model is proposed that aims to provide a theoretical framework to guide future research in the field of PMPU. This model highlights that PMPU is a heterogeneous and multi-faceted condition

A Multidimensional Approach to Measuring How Impulsivity Corresponds to the Gambling of College Students

Impulsivity has been implicated as a contributing factor in the development of gambling problems among college students, but attempts to confirm this relation has been inconsistent. An explanation for incongruous findings is that impulsivity may be multidimensional and differentially predictive of behaviors. Utilizing a diverse sample of college students, a factor analysis of self-report measures of impulsivity revealed a three-factor structure of Behavioral Activation, Preference for Stimulation, and Inhibition Control that was remarkably similar to the structure found by Meda and colleagues (2009). Low risk and symptomatic gamblers scored significantly lower on Behavioral Activation and Inhibition Control than non-gamblers. Conversely, low risk and symptomatic gamblers scored significantly higher on Preference for Stimulation. Prevalence of gambling and gambling activity preference for this sample was also assessed

Impact of impulsivity and therapy response in eating disorders from a neurophysiological, personality and cognitive perspective

Impulsivity, as a multidimensional construct, has been linked to eating disorders (EDs) and may negatively impact treatment response. The study aimed to identify the dimensions of impulsivity predicting poor remission of ED symptoms. A total of 37 ED patients underwent a baseline assessment of impulsive personality traits and inhibitory control, including the Stroop task and the emotional go/no-go task with event-related potentials (ERPs) analysis. The remission of EDs symptomatology was evaluated after 3 months of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and at a 2-year follow-up. Poor remission after CBT was predicted by poor inhibitory control, as measured by the Stroop task. At 2 years, the risk of poor remission was higher in patients with higher novelty seeking, lower inhibitory control in the Stroop and in ERPs indices (N2 amplitudes) during the emotional go/no-go task. The present results highlight inhibitory control negatively impacting both short- and long-term symptomatology remission in ED patients. On the other hand, high novelty seeking and ERPs indices of poor inhibition seem to be more specifically related to long-term remission. Therefore, a comprehensive assessment of the impulsivity dimension in patients with ED is recommended to tailor treatments and improve their efficacy