Antoine Bechara

Physical exercise is considered a promising medication-free and cost-effective adjunct treatment for substance use disorders (SUD). Nevertheless, evidence regarding the effectiveness of these interventions is currently limited, thereby signaling the need to better understand the mechanisms underlying their impact on SUD, in order to reframe and optimize them. Here we advance that physical exercise could be re-conceptualized as an “interoception booster”, namely as a way to help people with SUD to better decode and interpret bodily-related signals associated with transient states of homeostatic imbalances that usually trigger consumption. We first discuss how mismatches between current and desired bodily states influence the formation of reward-seeking states in SUD, in light of the insular cortex brain networks. Next, we detail effort perception during physical exercise and discuss how it can be used as a …

With the advent of digital technologies, online sports betting is spurring a fast‐growing expansion. In this study, we examined how sports betting availability modulates the brain connectivity of frequent sports bettors with [problem bettors (PB)] or without [non‐problem bettors (NPB)] problematic sports betting. We conducted functional connectivity analyses centred on the ventral anterior insular cortex (vAI), a brain region playing a key role in the dynamic interplay between reward‐based processes. We re‐analysed a dataset on sports betting availability undertaken in PB (n = 30) and NPB (n = 35). Across all participants, we observed that sports betting availability elicited positive vAI coupling with extended clusters of brain activation (encompassing the putamen, cerebellum, occipital, temporal, precentral and central operculum regions) and negative vAI coupling with the orbitofrontal cortex. Between‐group …

There is a growing trend to accept, understand and cater to people with heterogenous mental health levels, as captured by the term “neurodiversity”. Population studies demonstrate growth in neurodiversity facets such as depression, anxiety, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Thus, samples of information systems (IS) users are likely neurodiverse. While studies started examining neurodiversity effects mostly in professional contexts, possible effects of IS users’ neurodiversity in leisure settings have been largely overlooked. Here, we suggest that we need to consider such possible effects more systematically. This is important because neurodiversity facets can manifest in changes in cognitive-emotional processing, social reactions, and decision making which can alter user responses to IS. Thus, ignoring the neurodiversity of users can affect the accuracy and generalizability of user behavior models; it can disadvantage large segments of users. To support these ideas, we first develop a theoretical model that explains how neurodiversity can affect the decision making of IS users. Next, we conduct three studies (n1= 400, n2= 381, and n3= 280) that first replicate common IS models in leisure settings, and then theoretically and empirically integrate neurodiversity facets into these models. Results show that (a) typical IS user samples are neurodiverse, and (b) integrating neurodiversity facets into user behavior models can be informative, lead to greater inclusivity, and afford more nuanced theoretical and practical insights. Thus, we call for a more systematic inclusion of neurodiversity facets in behavioral IS research.

Theories and research methods in psychopathology depend on the specific social, cultural and scientific context (Telles-Correia and Sampaio, 2016). There have been multiple paradigm shifts in the development history of psychopathology, which has spanned more than a hundred years. From psychoanalysis and phenomenology (existentialism) to cognitive science, biological psychotherapy, and molecular neuroscience (Kendler, 2008), the theories of psychopathology have been continuously updated and the research techniques of psychopathology have become more extensive. Technological and theoretical innovations enable research to have a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the identification, potential mechanisms, and treatment plans of various mental illnesses and mental symptoms. Therefore, this Research Topic has assembled a number of high-quality research that have made new progress in research techniques and theoretical construction, including one review (Ke et al.) and four original research (Dust; Kornacka et al.; Li et al.; Otte et al.), demonstrating new directions and trends in psychopathology research.

Proactive inhibition is a critical ability for smokers who seek to moderate or quit smoking. It allows them to pre‐emptively refrain from seeking and using nicotine products, especially when facing salient smoking cues in daily life. Nevertheless, there is limited knowledge on the impact of salient cues on behavioural and neural aspects of proactive inhibition, especially in smokers with nicotine withdrawal. Here, we seek to bridge this gap. To this end, we recruited 26 smokers to complete a stop‐signal anticipant task (SSAT) in two separate sessions: once in the neutral cue condition and once in the smoking cue condition. We used graph‐based modularity analysis to identify the modular structures of proactive inhibition‐related network during the SSAT and further investigated how the interactions within and between these modules could be modulated by different proactive inhibition demands and salient smoking cues …

Arguably, at its core, the fundamental goal of marketing is to create, sustain, and monetize a competitive advantage through a superior customer value proposition (CVP). This chapter highlights the evolution of the CVP across the years. It also highlights the emergent “third-wave” viewpoint of the CVP, at the core of which is brand emotion and its power in shaping a sustainable CVP. The traditional view that prevailed until the 1980s and even into the 1990s was that marketers could shape the value proposition by focusing on one or both of two routes. One route is the “branding route,” where the marketer shapes the CVP through a product differentiation strategy by offering a superior value in terms of the benefits, both tangible and intangible. A second route to shaping the value proposition is “pricing route,” where the marketer shapes the CVP by offering superior value in terms of lower prices, either momentarily …

Modern psychopathology is going through a period of necessary transition. Traditionally, it has been associated with the historical legacy of Franco-German and Russian classical authors who studied symptoms and syndromes with the precision of clinical descriptions. We can mention the milestone contributions of JED Esquirol and Jules Baillarger (hallucinations), Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum (catatonia and paraphrenia), W. Mayer-Gross and ST Stoianov (oneiroid syndrome), Victor K. Kandinsky (pseudo-hallucinations), Valentin Magnan (delusions), Sergey S. Korsakoff and Carl Wernicke (eponymous syndrome), among many others.

Decision-making under uncertainty (risky and ambiguous) is important for everyday life (Knight, 1921). The Iowa Gambling Task [1] is a widely-used tool to measure decision making under uncertainty [2, 3]. Previous research has suggested that the left prefrontal cortex, particularly the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), plays an important role in decision making under uncertainty (Duncan and Owen, 2000). However, the causal relationship between these regions and decision making is yet to be fully understood [4]. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation HD-tDCS, administered either over the OFC or the DLPFC, on decision making under uncertainty, with a design that was balanced in terms of sex. A total of 187 college students (96 females, with an average age of 20.37±1.78 years) were recruited in this study …