Satisfaction with Democracy: When Government by the People Brings Electoral Winners and Losers Together

Research on direct democracy is often entirely sub-national research focusing on a single country or cross-national with limited variance in direct democratic institutions. That has consequences for the scope and opportunity to understand and learn about direct democratic institutions, in particular how they interact with representative democracy. In this paper we use a subnational cross-country comparative perspective to delve deeper into the relationship between direct democracy and individual satisfaction with democracy. To that end we propose a measure of direct democratic institutions for 101 sub-national units that allows to measure the extent of these institutions across various contexts. Comparing the subnational units of the United States, Switzerland, Germany and Austria, we do not find a general relationship between direct democratic institutions and democratic satisfaction. However, we find that direct democracy has the potential to decrease the difference between electoral winners and losers, whereby this mechanism can be observed across different representative systems

Impulsivity-related cognition in alcohol dependence: is it moderated by DRD2/ANKK1 gene status and executive dysfunction?

Perceived impaired control over alcohol use is a key cognitive construct in alcohol dependence that has been related prospectively to treatment outcome and may mediate the risk for problem drinking conveyed by impulsivity in non-dependent drinkers. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether perceived impaired control may mediate the association between impulsivity-related measures (derived from the Short-form Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised) and alcohol-dependence severity in alcohol-dependent drinkers. Furthermore, the extent to which this hypothesized relationship was moderated by genetic risk (Taq1A polymorphism in the DRD2/ANKK1 gene cluster) and verbal fluency as an indicator of executive cognitive ability (Controlled Oral Word Association Test) was also examined. A sample of 143 alcohol-dependent inpatients provided an extensive clinical history of their alcohol use, gave 10 ml of blood for DNA analysis, and completed self-report measures relating to impulsivity, impaired control and severity of dependence. As hypothesized, perceived impaired control (partially) mediated the association between impulsivity-related measures and alcohol-dependence severity. This relationship was not moderated by the DRD2/ANICK1 polymorphism or verbal fluency. These results suggest that, in alcohol dependence, perceived impaired control is a cognitive mediator of impulsivity-related constructs that may be unaffected by DRD2/ANKK1 and neurocognitive processes underlying the retrieval of verbal information. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

From prediction error to incentive salience: mesolimbic computation of reward motivation

Reward contains separable psychological components of learning, incentive motivation and pleasure. Most computational models have focused only on the learning component of reward, but the motivational component is equally important in reward circuitry, and even more directly controls behavior. Modeling the motivational component requires recognition of additional control factors besides learning. Here I discuss how mesocorticolimbic mechanisms generate the motivation component of incentive salience. Incentive salience takes Pavlovian learning and memory as one input and as an equally important input takes neurobiological state factors (e.g. drug states, appetite states, satiety states) that can vary independently of learning. Neurobiological state changes can produce unlearned fluctuations or even reversals in the ability of a previously learned reward cue to trigger motivation. Such fluctuations in cue‐triggered motivation can dramatically depart from all previously learned values about the associated reward outcome. Thus, one consequence of the difference between incentive salience and learning can be to decouple cue‐triggered motivation of the moment from previously learned values of how good the associated reward has been in the past. Another consequence can be to produce irrationally strong motivation urges that are not justified by any memories of previous reward values (and without distorting associative predictions of future reward value). Such irrationally strong motivation may be especially problematic in addiction. To understand these phenomena, future models of mesocorticolimbic reward function should address the neurobiological state factors that participate to control generation of incentive salience. Reward contains separable psychological components of learning, incentive motivation and pleasure. Most computational models have focused only on the learning component of reward, but the motivational component is equally important in reward circuitry, and even more directly controls behavior.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90564/1/j.1460-9568.2012.07990.x.pd

Quantifiable risk–benefit assessment of micronutrients: From theory to practice

The EU Food Supplements Directive (2002/46/EC) mandates the determination of both maximum and minimum permitted levels (MPLs) for micronutrients. In order to determine MPLs which are feasible for particular population groups, a scientific approach should be used in which risk of high intake, risk of inadequacy and benefits are assessed in an integrated way taking all available data and severity and incidence of effect into account. In 2004, Renwick et al. (ILSI Europe) published a scientifically valid, flexible and pragmatic basis for a risk–benefit approach, which has been further developed here to make it a practical and quantifiable approach to be used by risk managers. The applicability of the approach is demonstrated using demo cases on iron and folate. The proposed approach has the capacity to utilize all relevant data available, including data from human studies, bioavailability data showing variability between specific forms of micronutrients and, in the case of animal studies, data on species comparability. The approach is therefore both practical and flexible, making it well suited to risk managers tasked with determining safe intake levels for micronutrients in different forms and for particular population groups. © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC © 2017, © Lisette Krul, Bas H. A. Kremer, Niels B. Lucas Luijckx, and Winfried R. Leeman