O consumo excessivo de álcool é recorrente entre universitários e está associado a inúmeras conseqüências negativas. Fatores ambientais (bottom-up) podem favorecer este consumo (ex.: influência do grupo, pistas associadas à droga). Além destes, fatores individuais podem influenciar o comportamento de beber desta população, entre eles fatores cognitivos (top-down). Bebedores freqüentes tendem a apresentar um viés atencional para estímulos associados ao álcool. Com o uso repetido do álcool, pistas ambientais associadas aos efeitos desta droga tornam-se salientes, em função de suas propriedades reforçadoras, atraindo a atenção do usuário em detrimento de outros estímulos e exacerbam o desejo de beber. O uso freqüente de álcool também tem sido relacionado a um conjunto de expectativas predominantemente positivas acerca dos seus efeitos e riscos para desenvolver dependência que podem influenciar o início e a manutenção do uso. Neste contexto, o objetivo deste estudo foi: a) examinar a relação entre o padrão de consumo e expectativas em relação aos efeitos do álcool entre universitários e b) desenvolver uma tarefa para investigar o viés atencional para pistas relacionadas ao álcool em indivíduos com diferentes padrões de consumo. Participaram deste estudo graduandos da UFRGS (N=79), do sexo masculino, com 22 anos de idade em média (dp=2,81). O padrão de consumo de risco e as expectativas positivas foram acessados através do Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) e do Inventário de Expectativas e Crenças Pesssoais acerca do Álcool (IECPA), respectivamente. Participaram deste estudo graduandos da UFRGS (N=79), do sexo masculino, com 22 anos de idade em média (dp=2,81). O padrão de consumo de risco e as expectativas positivas foram acessados através do Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) e do Inventário de Expectativas e Crenças Pesssoais acerca do Álcool (IECPA), respectivamente. Examinou-se o viés atencional através de uma tarefa computadorizada. O consumo de risco de álcool, que inclui o beber problemático e o padrão binge, estava associado a altas expectativas positivas em relação aos seus efeitos. Constatou-se que 43% dos participantes eram bebedores de alto risco para desenvolver dependência, conforme o AUDIT. Além disso, 68,4% deles foram caracterizados como bebedores com padrão binge de uso de álcool e 44,3% possuíam expectativas positivas em relação aos efeitos do álcool altas. Houve correlação entre beber problemático e expectativas positivas. Quanto à avaliação do viés atencional, não foi observado nenhum efeito de grupo, de tempo de exposição, nem de interação entre grupo e tempo de exposição. Identificar os fatores top down e bottom-up envolvidos no consumo de álcool de risco é essencial para formulação de modelos teóricos que compreendam este preocupante fenômeno. A avaliação das expectativas a respeito dos efeitos do álcool contribui para o planejamento de intervenções terapêuticas e estratégias preventivas mais precisas, visando a reduzir os riscos comportamentais e de saúde associados ao álcool. Além disso, o estudo do viés atencional pode favorecer o entendimento da relação entre fissura e atenção, da transição do uso ocasional para a dependência e da recaída. / The excessive alcohol consumption is recurrent among college students and it is associated with a variety of negative consequences. Environmental factors (bottom-up) can contribute to this phenomenon (group influences, drug cues). Furthermore, individual factors can also influence drinking behavior of this population, such as cognitive factors (top-down). Drug cues become highly salient as a result of their reinforcing properties, attracting the attention of the drug user in detriment of other stimuli. The exposure to drug cues can increase the desire to drink. Thus, heavy social drinkers show an attentional bias towards alcohol cues. The frequent alcohol use has also been related to a set of positive outcome expectancies and risk to develop drug dependence. These expectancies can influence the maintenance of drug intake. The aim of this study was: to examine the association of risk pattern and alcohol expectancies among college students and b) to develop a task to investigate attentional bias for alcohol cues in individuals with different drink patterns. Participants (N=79, mean age 22, dp=2,81) were college students. The risk pattern and the positive alcohol expectancies were assessed through Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and Inventário de Expectativas e Crenças Pessoais acerca do Álcool (IECPA). The attentional bias was examined using a computerized task. The risk pattern, which includes drinking problematic and binge drinking, was associated with high positive expectancies. Results indicated that 43% of the participants had high risk to develop alcohol dependence. Moreover, 68.4% were binge drinkers and 44.3% had high positive alcohol expectancies. Risk pattern was associated with higher levels of positive alcohol expectancies. Related to the atencional bias assessment, there was not observed any group effect, exposition time, interaction between group and exposition time. Identifying bottom-up and top-down factors associated with the risk pattern of alcohol consumption is important to understand this preoccupant phenomenon. The alcohol expectancies assessment contributes to more efficient planning for therapeutical interventions and preventing strategies to reduce behavioral and health risks associated to the alcohol consumption. Moreover, the study of atencional bias can contribute to the understanding of the relationship between craving and attention, of the transition of the occasional use for the dependence and relapse.

O consumo excessivo de álcool é recorrente entre universitários e está associado a inúmeras conseqüências negativas. Fatores ambientais (bottom-up) podem favorecer este consumo (ex.: influência do grupo, pistas associadas à droga). Além destes, fatores individuais podem influenciar o comportamento de beber desta população, entre eles fatores cognitivos (top-down). Bebedores freqüentes tendem a apresentar um viés atencional para estímulos associados ao álcool. Com o uso repetido do álcool, pistas ambientais associadas aos efeitos desta droga tornam-se salientes, em função de suas propriedades reforçadoras, atraindo a atenção do usuário em detrimento de outros estímulos e exacerbam o desejo de beber. O uso freqüente de álcool também tem sido relacionado a um conjunto de expectativas predominantemente positivas acerca dos seus efeitos e riscos para desenvolver dependência que podem influenciar o início e a manutenção do uso. Neste contexto, o objetivo deste estudo foi: a) examinar a relação entre o padrão de consumo e expectativas em relação aos efeitos do álcool entre universitários e b) desenvolver uma tarefa para investigar o viés atencional para pistas relacionadas ao álcool em indivíduos com diferentes padrões de consumo. Participaram deste estudo graduandos da UFRGS (N=79), do sexo masculino, com 22 anos de idade em média (dp=2,81). O padrão de consumo de risco e as expectativas positivas foram acessados através do Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) e do Inventário de Expectativas e Crenças Pesssoais acerca do Álcool (IECPA), respectivamente. Participaram deste estudo graduandos da UFRGS (N=79), do sexo masculino, com 22 anos de idade em média (dp=2,81). O padrão de consumo de risco e as expectativas positivas foram acessados através do Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) e do Inventário de Expectativas e Crenças Pesssoais acerca do Álcool (IECPA), respectivamente. Examinou-se o viés atencional através de uma tarefa computadorizada. O consumo de risco de álcool, que inclui o beber problemático e o padrão binge, estava associado a altas expectativas positivas em relação aos seus efeitos. Constatou-se que 43% dos participantes eram bebedores de alto risco para desenvolver dependência, conforme o AUDIT. Além disso, 68,4% deles foram caracterizados como bebedores com padrão binge de uso de álcool e 44,3% possuíam expectativas positivas em relação aos efeitos do álcool altas. Houve correlação entre beber problemático e expectativas positivas. Quanto à avaliação do viés atencional, não foi observado nenhum efeito de grupo, de tempo de exposição, nem de interação entre grupo e tempo de exposição. Identificar os fatores top down e bottom-up envolvidos no consumo de álcool de risco é essencial para formulação de modelos teóricos que compreendam este preocupante fenômeno. A avaliação das expectativas a respeito dos efeitos do álcool contribui para o planejamento de intervenções terapêuticas e estratégias preventivas mais precisas, visando a reduzir os riscos comportamentais e de saúde associados ao álcool. Além disso, o estudo do viés atencional pode favorecer o entendimento da relação entre fissura e atenção, da transição do uso ocasional para a dependência e da recaída. / The excessive alcohol consumption is recurrent among college students and it is associated with a variety of negative consequences. Environmental factors (bottom-up) can contribute to this phenomenon (group influences, drug cues). Furthermore, individual factors can also influence drinking behavior of this population, such as cognitive factors (top-down). Drug cues become highly salient as a result of their reinforcing properties, attracting the attention of the drug user in detriment of other stimuli. The exposure to drug cues can increase the desire to drink. Thus, heavy social drinkers show an attentional bias towards alcohol cues. The frequent alcohol use has also been related to a set of positive outcome expectancies and risk to develop drug dependence. These expectancies can influence the maintenance of drug intake. The aim of this study was: to examine the association of risk pattern and alcohol expectancies among college students and b) to develop a task to investigate attentional bias for alcohol cues in individuals with different drink patterns. Participants (N=79, mean age 22, dp=2,81) were college students. The risk pattern and the positive alcohol expectancies were assessed through Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and Inventário de Expectativas e Crenças Pessoais acerca do Álcool (IECPA). The attentional bias was examined using a computerized task. The risk pattern, which includes drinking problematic and binge drinking, was associated with high positive expectancies. Results indicated that 43% of the participants had high risk to develop alcohol dependence. Moreover, 68.4% were binge drinkers and 44.3% had high positive alcohol expectancies. Risk pattern was associated with higher levels of positive alcohol expectancies. Related to the atencional bias assessment, there was not observed any group effect, exposition time, interaction between group and exposition time. Identifying bottom-up and top-down factors associated with the risk pattern of alcohol consumption is important to understand this preoccupant phenomenon. The alcohol expectancies assessment contributes to more efficient planning for therapeutical interventions and preventing strategies to reduce behavioral and health risks associated to the alcohol consumption. Moreover, the study of atencional bias can contribute to the understanding of the relationship between craving and attention, of the transition of the occasional use for the dependence and relapse.

Prevalence rates of many types of psychopathology are lower for men than they are for women, but the causes of these discrepancies are not known. This paper focuses on two such psychopathology groups – eating disorders and depressive disorders – and examines gender differences within a transactional theory of stress that takes into account levels of cognitive processing (an expanded transactional theory of stress). Both studies found that men are more physiologically reactive to disorder-relevant, stressful stimuli and stressful events. The study on depression also found that different cognitive processes may be depressogenic for men and women: deployment of attentional resources toward negative stimuli was associated with depression in men, while deployment of attentional resources away from positive stimuli was associated with depression in women. These findings have significant implications for choosing appropriate treatment options for men and women.

Prevalence rates of many types of psychopathology are lower for men than they are for women, but the causes of these discrepancies are not known. This paper focuses on two such psychopathology groups – eating disorders and depressive disorders – and examines gender differences within a transactional theory of stress that takes into account levels of cognitive processing (an expanded transactional theory of stress). Both studies found that men are more physiologically reactive to disorder-relevant, stressful stimuli and stressful events. The study on depression also found that different cognitive processes may be depressogenic for men and women: deployment of attentional resources toward negative stimuli was associated with depression in men, while deployment of attentional resources away from positive stimuli was associated with depression in women. These findings have significant implications for choosing appropriate treatment options for men and women.

En raison de sa localisation en profondeur du cerveau, le rôle de l’insula dans le traitement de l’information est longtemps resté énigmatique. Or, l’avènement des techniques de stimulation électro-corticale et de neuroimagerie a permis de mettre en exergue son implication dans divers aspects du fonctionnement neuropsychologique. De plus en plus d’études suggèrent que le cortex insulaire joue un rôle clé dans le traitement des caractéristiques physiques des stimuli sensoriels, ainsi que dans le traitement de la saillance des informations. Les théories contemporaines avancent ainsi que l’insula serait une région cruciale dans le « réseau de saillance » et serait impliquée dans les processus sensoriels, émotionnels et attentionnels. Toutefois, la nature exacte de sa contribution demeure inconnue, notamment en raison des limitations intrinsèques des techniques d’investigation traditionnelles, ainsi que de la faible prévalence des lésions circonscrites à l’insula, d’autant que l’évidence clinique ne fait pas l’unanimité. En outre, les résections insulaires sont de plus en plus fréquentes chez les patients atteints d’épilepsie insulaire pharmaco-résistante. Cependant, les altérations neuropsychologiques d’une telle intervention restent mal connues. Ainsi, les études qui composent cette thèse visent à mieux comprendre la façon dont l’insula participe au traitement de l’information et les conséquences neuropsychologiques des résections insulaires sur les processus sensoriels, émotionnels et attentionnels. Les deux premières études de cette thèse documentent les contributions respectives des portions antérieure et postérieure de l’insula au traitement attentionnel pour l’information sensorielle. Les réponses de l’insula lors de l’exécution de tâches attentionnelles de type oddball visuel et auditif sont enregistrées au moyen de l’EEG intracrânienne auprès de patients atteints d’épilepsie dont des électrodes ont été implantées dans l’insula dans le cadre d’une évaluation préchirurgicale pour une épilepsie résistante à la médication. Les résultats suggèrent que l’insula antérieure participe au déploiement attentionnel volontaire aux alentours de 300-500 ms à la suite de la présentation de stimuli pertinents à la tâche en modalité visuelle et auditive, alors que la portion postérieure, quant à elle, est impliquée dans le traitement attentionnel automatique survenant de manière précoce, autour de 100 ms suivant la présentation d’informations auditives, indépendamment de la pertinence du stimulus. Les deux études suivantes qui composent cette thèse examinent les conséquences neuropsychologiques d’une résection au cortex insulaire sur le traitement sensoriel et affectivo-attentionnel, chez des patients épileptiques réfractaires à la médication qui ont subi une résection unilatérale de cette région. Leurs performances dans une tâche Dot-Probe révisée et dans un test de Stroop émotionnel, ainsi que leurs réponses à un questionnaire mesurant des patterns comportementaux sensoriels, sont comparées à celles d’un groupe de patients ayant subi une chirurgie d’épilepsie temporale et d’un groupe d’individus contrôles en santé. Les résultats mettent en évidence des altérations sensorielles et du contrôle des interférences émotionnelles à la suite d’une chirurgie d’épilepsie insulaire. En somme, les données de cette thèse contribuent à une meilleure compréhension du rôle spécifique de l’insula au traitement de l’information sensorielle, saillante, émotionnelle et attentionnelle, au moyen de mesures neurophysiologiques et comportementales. Elles fournissent également un appui quant à la pertinence de développer des outils standardisés en évaluation neuropsychologique afin de mieux identifier les perturbations fonctionnelles associées à une épilepsie ou une chirurgie d’épilepsie insulaire. / The role of the insular cortex in information processing has long been considered enigmatic, partly due to its deep location in the brain. However, the advent of direct electrocortical stimulation and neuroimaging approaches have shed light on its involvement in multiple of neuropsychological functions. An increasing number of studies suggest that the insular cortex plays a crucial role in processing the physical characteristics of sensory stimuli, as well as in the processing of salient information. Current theories argue that the insula would be a critical structure in the “salience network” and involved in sensory, emotional and attentional processes. However, the specific contribution of the insular cortex remains unknown, notably due to the intrinsic limitations of conventional approaches and the very low prevalence of lesions restricted to the insula, especially as little clinical evidence support these findings. Furthermore, although insular resections are becoming more frequent, the neuropsychological effects of this surgery remain unclear. Thus, the studies that make up this thesis aim to improve our understanding of the role played by the insula in the salient information processing and the neuropsychological consequences of the insular resections on sensory, emotional and attentional functions. The first two studies of this thesis assess the respective contributions of the anterior and posterior insular portions in attentional processing towards salient and relevant sensory information. The insular responses during visual and auditory oddball attentional tasks are recorded by means of intracranial EEG (iEEG) in epileptic patients undergoing invasive iEEG, with electrode contacts implanted in the insula as part of a pre-surgical evaluation of their drug-resistant seizures. The results suggest that the anterior insula participates in voluntary attentional processing around 300-500 ms following the presentation of task-relevant stimuli in both visual and auditory modality, whereas the posterior portion is involved in automatic processing occurring about 100 ms after auditory stimuli presentation, independent of task-relevant information. The next two studies examine the neuropsychological consequences of insular cortex resections on the sensory and affectivo-attentional processes, in drug-refractory epileptic patients who have undergone unilateral resection of this structure. Their performance in a revised Dot-Probe task and an emotional Stroop test, as well as their responses in a questionnaire assessing sensory behavioral patterns, were compared to a group of patients who had surgery for temporal lobe epilepsy and a group of healthy control. The results highlight alterations in sensory processing and emotional interference control following insular epilepsy surgery. In sum, the neurophysiological and behavioral data in this thesis contribute to a better understanding of the specific role of the insula in the processing of sensory, salient, emotional and attentional information. Moreover, these findings highlight the need to further develop neuropsychological tests in order to better identify functional disturbances associated with insular epilepsy and insular resection surgery.

Anxiety can be advantageous in terms of survival and well-being, yet atypically high levels may be maladaptive and result in the clinical diagnosis of an anxiety disorder. Several risk factors have been implicated in the manifestation of clinical anxiety, including cognitive biases. In recent years, a plethora of research has emerged demonstrating that anxious adults exhibit biases of attention for threatening stimuli, especially that which is biologically relevant (e.g., facial expressions). Specific components of attentional bias have also been identified, namely facilitated engagement, impaired disengagement, and avoidance. However, the majority of studies have focused on the spatial domain of attention. Furthermore, the area is under-researched in children, despite research demonstrating that symptoms relating to clinical and non-clinical anxiety follow a stable course from childhood through to adolescence and adulthood. Consequently, the aim of this thesis was to investigate how anxiety affects children’s visual attention for emotive, particularly angry, faces. In order to provide a more comprehensive understanding, the current research involved examining the role of temporal and spatial attention utilising rapid serial visual presentation with the attentional blink, and the visual probe paradigm, respectively. The main hypothesis was that high state and/or trait anxiety would be associated with an attentional bias for angry, relative to positive or neutral faces in both the temporal and spatial domains. In relation to the temporal domain, key findings demonstrated that high levels of trait anxiety were associated with facilitated engagement towards both angry and neutral faces. It was further found that all children rapidly disengaged attention away from angry faces. Findings related to the processing of angry faces accorded with the main hypothesis stated in this thesis, as well as research and theory in the area. The finding that anxious children preferentially processed neutral faces in an attentional blink investigation was unexpected. This was argued to potentially reflect this stimulus type being interpreted as threatening. Key findings regarding the spatial domain were that high trait anxious children displayed an early covert bias of attention away from happy faces and a later, overt bias of attention away from angry faces. The finding that high trait anxiety was linked to an attentional bias away from happy faces in a visual probe task was also unexpected. This was argued to potentially reflect smiling faces being interpreted as signifying social dominance, thus resulting in the viewer experiencing feelings of subordination and becoming avoidant and/or submissive. To conclude, this thesis has enhanced current knowledge of attentional bias in both the temporal and spatial domains for emotive stimuli in anxious children. It has demonstrated that higher levels of trait anxiety moderate children’s allocation of attentional resources to different stimulus types, whether these are threatening, positive, or neutral. This has important implications for evaluating past research in adults and children, and for further developing theoretical models of attentional bias and anxiety. It also offers important clinical implications, since attending towards or away from specific stimuli may affect the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders. Recently, a treatment that aims to modify attentional bias in anxious individuals has begun to be developed. In light of the present findings, it may be necessary to review this treatment so that anxious children are re-trained in the specific biases of attention demonstrated here.

No description available.

根據Koster、De Lissnyder、Derakshan及De Raedt（2011）的注意力轉移困難假說，憂鬱者因注意力控制能力受損，而難以從負向訊息中轉移注意力，進而引發反芻，並再度強化憂鬱症狀。雖然反芻可再細分為深思反省與苦惱自責式反芻，但Koster等人未探究注意力轉移困難對苦惱自責式反芻的影響。此外，過往注意力訓練研究作業眾多且效果不一，又偏重改善個體注意力投入以減緩憂鬱。然而，卻鮮少探討注意力訓練對注意力轉移困難的介入，能否改善個體的苦惱自責式反芻程度。因此，本研究將同時探討注意力訓練能否改變高苦惱自責式反芻者對負向訊息的注意力偏誤（含注意力投入與轉移困難），進而降低苦惱自責式反芻程度。本研究以點偵測作業為注意力訓練作業，將高、低苦惱自責式反芻者隨機分派至注意力訓練組或注意力訓練控制組，接受為期兩週、共四次的注意力訓練，並於前、後測階段注意力測量作業中，檢驗對負向訊息的注意力偏誤與三階段中苦惱自責式反芻程度。本研究結果發現高苦惱自責式反芻者對負向訊息無明顯注意力偏誤，注意力訓練作業對高苦惱自責式反芻者的注意力歷程未有明顯影響，乃至苦惱自責式反芻程度的時序變化與接受注意力訓練與否無明顯關聯。本研究結果不支持原先假設、注意力困難假說及過去研究結果。然而，過往學者多強調個體高度負向認知與憂鬱情緒對注意力偏誤的影響，故本研究事後同時納入憂鬱與苦惱自責式反芻程度，欲探討憂鬱苦惱自責式反芻者對負向訊息有無注意力偏誤，乃至注意力訓練對憂鬱苦惱自責式反芻者注意力偏誤的訓練效果。本研究結果僅發現在修正版Posner作業中，憂鬱苦惱自責式反芻者更容易將注意力從負向訊息中轉移開來；在點偵測作業中，未有組間效果；在注意力訓練中，未有訓練效果。最後，本研究將於討論中，探討研究結果的可能原因，並提出本研究限制與未來研究上的建議。 / According to the impaired disengagement hypothesis (Koster, De Lissnyder, Derakshan, & De Raedt, 2011), the dysphoric that are difficult to disengage from negative stimuli due to low attentional control tend to ruminate, and then even worsen their depressive symptoms. Actually, rumination can be differentiated into two components: reflective pondering and brooding, but the core tenet of impaired disengagement hypothesis only puts the emphasis on rumination rather than brooding. Besides, there are many studies investigating the attention-training effects on depressive symptoms rather than rumination. To date, no studies even have investigated the training effects on impaired disengagement and brooding. Therefore, we aimed to examine the effects of attention training on attention bias toward negative stimuli, impaired disengagement from negative stimuli and brooding level in brooders. We investigated the training effect in brooding and non-psychiatric control participants via dot-probe task. During a two-week period, all of the participants were randomly assigned to complete 4 sessions of either attention training or no training. Also, participants completed two attentional tasks examined attention bias at baseline and post-training, and self-reported questionnaires of brooding and depressive symptoms at baseline, post-training, and follow-up. Overall, results indicate that brooders didn’t show attention bias to negative stimuli. Also, no beneficial effects of attention training on attention bias and brooding level were found in brooders. The previous hypothesis, impaired disengagement hypothesis and studies in the past were not supported. However, many cognitive models of depression have postulated that individuals with high levels of negative cognition and depressive affect tend to maintain their attention toward negative information. Therefore, we took levels of depression and brooding into account, and aimed to examine the effects of attention training on both attention bias toward negative stimuli and impaired disengagement from negative stimuli in depressive brooders. Results indicate that depressive brooders tend to disengage from negative stimuli in modified Posner task. No other findings in dot-probe task and attention-training task. Implications of these findings in depressive brooders are discussed and directions for future research are advanced.