•Utilizes evolutionary theory to explain sexual behavior including same sex behavior.•Proposes sexual reward sensitivity as mediator in early adversity and sex behavior.•Provides theoretical support ...for sexual reward sensitivity as mediator.•Reviews research pertaining to early adversity and sexual behavior.•Review research pertaining to reward sensitivity, behavioral and neurobiological.
About one eighth of people are exposed to adversities such as abuse and neglect. Life history theory suggests that early experiences of adversity are strongly associated with later engagement in risky sexual behaviors. Specifically, those exposed to early adversity tend to engage in sex at an earlier age, have casual sex, and have high numbers of partners. Interestingly, it is also known that individuals exposed to early adversity are more likely to engage in more same-gender behavior. Existing research clearly outlines the association between early adversity and sexual behaviors that are considered risky. However, we have yet to identify a potential mediating mechanism that explains the full range of sexual behaviors seen in those who experience early adversity including adult sexual risk taking and same gender behavior. Outlining the specific mechanisms that influence later sexual risk taking is critically important in understanding the unique developmental experiences of those who experience early adversity. Here we propose and support one mediator important in the association between early adversity and later sexual behavior. We hypothesize that an increased sensitivity to the potential for sexual rewards mediates the association between early experiences of adversity and later sexual behavior, both risk behavior and female same-gender behavior. In the present manuscript we review relevant theoretical and empirical research in support of our claims.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Objective
The aim of the current research was to identify the extent to which reward sensitivity and impulsivity were related to food addiction.
Method
Forty‐five studies, published from 2009 to June ...2019, investigating reward sensitivity and/or impulsivity with food addiction as measured by the Yale Food Addiction Scale were reviewed.
Results
Reward sensitivity, as measured by the Sensitivity to Reward (SR) scale, was positively associated with food addiction in two studies, but failed to yield consistent results in other studies when measured with the Behavioral Inhibition/Behavioral Activation Scales. Self‐report impulsivity, as measured by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS‐11), was consistently associated with food addiction, with attentional impulsivity and motor impulsivity the most consistent subscales. Similarly, food addiction was also consistently associated with Negative Urgency, Positive Urgency, and Lack of Perseverance as measured by the UPPS‐P Impulsive Behavior Scale. Food addiction was inconsistently associated with disinhibition, as measured by behavioral tasks, indicating food addiction appears more aligned with self‐report measures of impulsivity.
Conclusions
Research in this field is dominated by university student, overweight and obese samples. Additional research is required to further tease out these relationships.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
•Reviewed studies assessing six impulsivity-related traits and cigarette smoking.•Smoking status most associated with lack of premeditation and positive urgency.•Nicotine dependence most associated ...with positive urgency.
Although there is considerable evidence of an association between impulsivity and cigarette smoking, the magnitude of this association varies across studies. Impulsivity comprises several discrete traits that may influence cigarette use in different ways. The present meta-analysis aims to examine the direction and magnitude of relationships between specific impulsivity-related traits, namely lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, sensation seeking, negative urgency, positive urgency and reward sensitivity and both smoking status and severity of nicotine dependence in adults across studies and to delineate differences in effects across these relationships.
Ninety-seven studies were meta-analysed using random-effects models to examine the relationship between impulsivity-related traits and smoking status and severity of nicotine dependence. A number of demographic and methodological variables were also assessed as potential moderators.
Smoking status and severity of nicotine dependence were significantly associated with all impulsivity-related traits except reward sensitivity. Lack of premeditation and positive urgency showed the largest associations with smoking status (r = 0.20, r = 0.24 respectively), while positive urgency showed the largest association with severity of nicotine dependence (r = 0.23). Study design moderated associations between lack of premeditation and lack of perseverance and smoking status, with larger effects found in cross-sectional compared to prospective studies.
Finding suggest that impulsivity is associated with an increased likelihood of being a smoker and greater nicotine dependence. Specific impulsivity-related traits differentially relate to smoking status and severity of nicotine dependence. Understanding the complexity of impulsivity-related traits in relation to smoking can help to identify potential smokers and could inform cessation treatment.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Abnormal reward sensitivity is a risk factor for psychiatric disorders, including eating disorders such as overeating and binge-eating disorder, but the brain structural mechanisms underlying it are ...not completely understood. Here, we sought to investigate the relationship between multi-modal whole-brain structural features and reward sensitivity in nonhuman primates.
Reward sensitivity was evaluated through behavioral economic analysis in which monkeys (adult rhesus macaques, 5 males; 7 females) responded for sweetened-condensed milk (10,30,56%), Gatorade, or water using an operant procedure in which the response requirement increased incrementally across sessions (i.e., fixed ratio 1,3,10,etc.). Subjects were divided into high (N=6) or low (N=6) reward sensitivity groups based on essential value for 30% milk. Multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure gray matter volume and white matter microstructure. Brain structural features were compared between groups and their correlations with reward sensitivity for various stimuli was investigated.
Subjects in the High Sensitivity group had greater dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), centromedial amygdaloid complex (CeMA), and middle cingulate cortex (MCC) volumes compared to subjects in the Low Sensitivity group. Further, High Sensitivity monkeys had lower fractional anisotropy in the left dorsal cingulate bundle connecting CeMA and MCC to the dlPFC, and left superior longitudinal fasciculus 1 connecting the MCC to the dlPFC, compared to monkeys in the Low Sensitivity group.
These results suggest that neuroanatomical variation in prefrontal-limbic circuitry is associated with reward sensitivity. These brain structural features may serve as predictive biomarkers for vulnerability to food-based and other reward-related disorders.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Although there is evidence of sex differences in responding to social stress, and that age when stressed matters, females are understudied and adult‐stress comparisons are few. Here, we investigated ...stress effects on reward sensitivity by examining rats’ choice of social versus sucrose reward in a continuous spatial allocation design. We predicted social instability stress (SS) in adolescence would result in greater social discounting (spend less time near a novel peer when provided access to sucrose) relative to nonstressed controls (CTLs) and relative to SS in adulthood. All increased sucrose intake as the concentration increased, with no evidence of social discounting. SS males tested soon after the stress had a decrease in intake, whereas those tested long after had an increase in both time near the peer and in intake. CTL and SS females did not differ in intake, although their dose–response curves differed when tested soon after the SS. We also tested whether SS changed the stimulus value of the rat as a social peer; when tested in triads, CTL rats spent similar time in interaction with SS versus CTL rats. In sum, effects of SS on reward sensitivity were greater for males irrespective of administered in adolescence versus adulthood.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Many eating‐related psychological constructs have been proposed to explain obesity and overeating. However, these constructs, including food addiction, disinhibition, hedonic hunger, emotional ...eating, binge eating and the like all have similar definitions, emphasizing loss of control over intake. As questionnaires measuring the constructs correlate strongly (r > 0.5) with each other, we propose that these constructs should be reconsidered to be part of a single broad phenotype: uncontrolled eating. Such an approach enables reviewing and meta‐analysing evidence obtained with each individual questionnaire. Here, we describe robust associations between uncontrolled eating, body mass index (BMI), food intake, personality traits and brain systems. Reviewing cross‐sectional and longitudinal data, we show that uncontrolled eating is phenotypically and genetically intertwined with BMI and food intake. We also review evidence on how three psychological constructs are linked with uncontrolled eating: lower cognitive control, higher negative affect and a curvilinear association with reward sensitivity. Uncontrolled eating mediates all three constructs’ associations with BMI and food intake. Finally, we review and meta‐analyse brain systems possibly subserving uncontrolled eating: namely, (i) the dopamine mesolimbic circuit associated with reward sensitivity, (ii) frontal cognitive networks sustaining dietary self‐control and (iii) the hypothalamus‐pituitary‐adrenal axis, amygdala and hippocampus supporting stress reactivity. While there are limits to the explanatory and predictive power of the uncontrolled eating phenotype, we conclude that treating different eating‐related constructs as a single concept, uncontrolled eating, enables drawing robust conclusions on the relationship between food intake and BMI, psychological variables and brain structure and function.
We aggregate eating‐related constructs into a single trait, uncontrolled eating. The trait associates with body mass index, food intake and personality traits. Our review and meta‐analysis suggests three systems possibly subserving uncontrolled eating: (i) the dopamine mesolimbic circuit associated with reward sensitivity, (ii) frontal cognitive networks sustaining dietary self‐control and (iii) the hypothalamus‐pituitary‐adrenal axis, amygdala and hippocampus supporting stress and homeostasis.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•Used an SEM model with BIS and BAS Reward Responsiveness, Drive, and Fun Seeking.•Reward Responsiveness was uniquely associated with adaptive psychological traits.•Reward Responsiveness uniquely ...predicted less internalizing and externalizing.•It was also associated with better psychological well-being and affect regulation.•BAS reward is important for resilience and may be a more pure measure of BAS.
Previous research on Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory has well-characterized the Behavioral Inhibition System in terms of its behavioral and emotional manifestations, but the Behavioral Approach System (BAS) is less well-defined, particularly regarding the prominence of reward sensitivity versus impulsivity. Furthermore, few researchers evaluate both systems in one model. We evaluated the relationship between Carver and White’s (1994) BIS/BAS Scales and areas of psychological functioning including internalizing, externalizing, affect regulation, and well-being. 497 undergraduates completed a battery of self-report measures. Two structural equation models indicate that the Reward Responsiveness subscale uniquely predicts adaptive functioning across all domains. Reward Responsiveness may be a more pure measure of BAS than other BAS traits and may be important for resilience from maladaptive psychological functioning.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
High reward sensitivity is typically associated with negative outcomes such as addiction. However, this trait has been recently linked with purposeful approach behaviours that are related to positive ...outcomes, such as hope and life satisfaction. The present study applied the revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (rRST) to the relationship between reward sensitivity (rBAS) and music involvement. The tendency to be absorbed by music and the tendency to experience a positive emotional response to music were tested as potential mediators of the association. An international online survey of adults (N=378; 65% females; Mage=34years) incorporated questionnaires assessing rBAS, involvement with music, absorption, and affective response to music. Consistent with rRST, those high in reward sensitivity were more likely to be involved in music and have stronger positive responses to music. Bootstrapped tests of indirect effects found the relationship between rBAS and music involvement to be uniquely mediated by greater absorption in music. This study further supports the argument that high levels of reward sensitivity may be involved in both functional and dysfunctional behaviours. Engagement in musical activities may be a useful approach to assist in the directing of behaviour in highly reward sensitive individuals.
•Revised reward sensitivity was associated with music involvement.•Reward sensitivity was associated with positive response and absorption in music.•Absorption in music mediated the reward sensitivity and music involvement association.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Retinal responses to light, as measured by electroretinography (ERG), have been shown to be reduced in schizophrenia. Data from a prior ERG study in healthy humans indicated that activity of a ...retinal cell type affected in schizophrenia can be modified by the presence of a food reward. Therefore, we aimed to determine whether ERG amplitudes would be sensitive to the well-documented reward processing impairment in schizophrenia. Flash ERG data from 15 clinically stable people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 15 healthy controls were collected under three conditions: baseline, anticipation of a food reward, and immediately after consuming the food reward. At the group level, data indicated that controls' ERG responses varied as a function of salience of the food reward (baseline vs. anticipation vs. consumption) whereas patients' ERG responses did not vary significantly across conditions. Correlations between ERG amplitudes and scores on measures of hedonic capacity (including motivation and pleasure negative symptom ratings for patients) indicated consistent relationships. These data suggest that flash ERG amplitudes may be a sensitive indicator of the integrity of reward processing mechanisms. However, several differences in the direction of findings between this and a prior study in controls point to the need for further investigation of the contributions of a number of key variables to the observed effects.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
•Evidence related to the dual systems model of adolescent risk taking is reviewed.•The review encompasses both the psychological and neuroimaging literatures.•Recent findings (since 2008) generally ...support the dual systems model.•Recommendations are made for future research directions.
According to the dual systems perspective, risk taking peaks during adolescence because activation of an early-maturing socioemotional-incentive processing system amplifies adolescents’ affinity for exciting, pleasurable, and novel activities at a time when a still immature cognitive control system is not yet strong enough to consistently restrain potentially hazardous impulses. We review evidence from both the psychological and neuroimaging literatures that has emerged since 2008, when this perspective was originally articulated. Although there are occasional exceptions to the general trends, studies show that, as predicted, psychological and neural manifestations of reward sensitivity increase between childhood and adolescence, peak sometime during the late teen years, and decline thereafter, whereas psychological and neural reflections of better cognitive control increase gradually and linearly throughout adolescence and into the early 20s. While some forms of real-world risky behavior peak at a later age than predicted, this likely reflects differential opportunities for risk-taking in late adolescence and young adulthood, rather than neurobiological differences that make this age group more reckless. Although it is admittedly an oversimplification, as a heuristic device, the dual systems model provides a far more accurate account of adolescent risk taking than prior models that have attributed adolescent recklessness to cognitive deficiencies.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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