Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Alcohol related problems and abuse continue to be serious problems in the U.S. today affecting nearly 17.6 million Americans. Understanding of the specific genes and related behaviors associated with alcohol use may provide substantial preventative measures for those who are at an increased risk. Genetically selected lines such as the high-alcohol preferring (HAP) and low-alcohol preferring (LAP) mice have been created to examine which endophenotypes co-segregate with alcohol preference. One behavioral trait that has been commonly associated with alcohol related problems is impulsivity. Impulsivity is the inability to withhold a response (motor impulsivity) or to act without forethought (cognitive impulsivity). The latter comprises much of the research and literature today using delay discounting models to tease out differences in subject’s wiliness to discount larger reinforcers for smaller immediate reinforcers. This study utilized relatively two newer paradigms associated with motor impulsivity in attempt to test differences in response disinhibition between two independent replicate HAP and LAP lines. It is hypothesized that the genes responsible for alcohol preference would be genetically correlated with motor impulsivity as HAP mice would display a greater degree of response disinhibition. Two independent replicates consisting of 48 mice (24 HAP II and 24 LAP II, representing the 37th generation; 24 HAP III and 24 LAP III, representing the 13th generation) were tested in two separate identical experiments. Each experiment was comprised of three phases. Phase I utilized a fixed interval (FI) 120s procedure for 30 days. After the 30 days of FI exposure mice were immediately moved to phase II for 10 days which implored a differential reinforcement of low rate procedure (DRL) at a time interval of 20s. Phase III used the same procedures as Phase II except the DRL was increased to 32s. As hypothesized, there was a moderate genetic correlation between alcohol preference and impulsivity as the HAP II mice displayed greater response disinhibition throughout all three phases compared to the LAP II mice. No differences were observed amongst the replicate III mice in any of the three phases. The findings from this study provide additional support that a genetic correlation between alcohol preference and impulsivity exists as seen in the delay discounting literature. Though this was observed in only one of the two replicates, interpretations must be taken at caution as the replicate III mice are still in the early stages of selection. It is possible at this stage in the selection process that increases in alcohol over successive generations are associated with selecting for taste until a threshold is met where selection shifts to pharmacologic drinking relevance. Until later generations of replicate III mice are studied where pharmacologic drinking occurs, conclusions from this study provide a moderate genetic correlation between alcohol preference and impulsivity.

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Bakgrund: Fysisk aktivitet har visat sig ha en positiv effekt för både den psykiska och fysiska hälsan. Den kan minska psykiska problem som oro, stress och depression, samt fysiska åkommor som blodtryck, stroke och diabetes. Fysisk aktivitet är numera en allt mer vedertagen metod för att behandla fysiska och psykiska besvär. Individer med ADHD har vanligen problem med hyperaktivitet, impulsivitet, uppmärksamhet, sociala beteenden och kognitiva förmågor.Syfte: Att undersöka den vetenskapliga litteraturen för att få belägg för vilka effekter fysisk aktivitet kan ha för symptom hos individer med ADHD.Metod: I denna systematiska litteraturstudie återfanns via sökningar i databaserna PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Science Direct och PsycINFO artiklar som sedan granskades utifrån en bedömningsmall.Resultat: Fysisk aktivitet upplevdes ha en positiv effekt för hyperaktivitet och uppmärksamhetsproblem samt visade sig minska risken för sociala beteendeproblem hos individer diagnostiserade med ADHD. Vidare påvisades att oavsett regelbundenhet eller omfattning av fysisk aktivitet en positiv effekt för kognitiva förmågor hos individer diagnostiserade med ADHD.Konklusion: Den vetenskapliga litteraturen visar att fysisk aktivitet troligen har en positiv effekt för ett flertal symptom hos individer med ADHD. Dock krävs ytterligare forskning i ämnet. / Background: Physical activity has been shown to have a positive impact for both mental and physical health. It may reduce psychological problems such as anxiety, stress and depression, and physical issues like high blood pressure, stroke and diabetes. Physical activity is now an increasingly accepted method to treat physical and mental disorders. Individuals with ADHD usually have problems with hyperactivity, impulsivity, attention, social behavior and cognitive abilities.Aim: To investigate the scientific literature for evidence about the effect of physical activity on symptoms in individuals with ADHD.Method: In this systematic literature review articles where found through the databases PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Science Direct and PsycINFO witch was later surveyed based on an assessment template.Results: Physical activity was perceived to have a positive effect for hyperactivity and attention problems and appeared to reduce the risk of social behavior problems in individuals diagnosed with ADHD. Furthermore, it was shown that regardless of frequency or extent of physical activity a positive effect was shown on cognitive abilities in individuals diagnosed with ADHD.Conclusion: The scientific literature shows that physical activity is likely to have a positive effect for a variety of symptoms in individuals with ADHD. However, further research on the subject is required.

Road traffic crashes are a serious public health problem worldwide, and human factors are the most prominent factor of accidents, affecting mostly the young adults. Past studies found that both gender and personality traits such as impulsivity are associated with risky driving, however, the interaction of these predictors is rarely addressed in the literature. To bridge the gap, the present study explores how a specific facet of impulsivity interacts with our hypothesized moderator, gender identification, leads to drug driving using a moderator analysis. We recruited participants from 17 to 35 years old possessing a valid drivers' licence via Facebook advertising. They were invited to complete a questionnaire on their socio-demographic characteristics, cannabis consumption habits and impulsivity scores. A moderator analysis is conducted to disentangle the relationship between sensation seeking, gender and driving after cannabis consumption using SPSS Process. The proposed model contains sensation seeking as an exogenous variable directly associated with driving after cannabis use, and this relationship is moderated by gender identification. The current study provides evidence that sensation seeking and gender identification are not only associated with DACU but also interact to affect driving behaviour. Implications of the study are discussed. / Les accidents routiers constituent de graves problèmes de santé publique dans le monde et les facteurs humains sont connus pour être le principal facteur d'accidents, impliquant principalement les jeunes adultes. Des études antérieures ont démontré que le genre ainsi que des facteurs liés à la personnalité tels que l'impulsivité sont associés à la conduite après consommation récente de cannabis, cependant, l'interaction de ces prédicteurs est rarement abordée dans la littérature. Pour cette raison, cette étude vise à explorer le processus par lequel une facette spécifique de l'impulsivité interagit avec le genre ou le sexe pour modérer la probabilité de prendre le volant après avoir consommé du cannabis. Des participants de 17 à 35 ans possédant un permis de conduire valide ont été recrutés à partir de Facebook par le biais d’annonces payantes. Ils étaient invités à remplir un questionnaire portant sur leur caractéristique socio-démographique, leur habitude de consommation de cannabis, ainsi que sur les composantes de l'impulsivité. Une analyse de modération a été effectuée pour clarifier la relation entre la recherche de sensations, le genre et la conduite d’automobile à l'aide du SPSS PROCESS. Le modèle proposé inclut la recherche de sensations comme variable exogène directement associée à la conduite après la consommation du cannabis, et cette relation est modérée par le genre ressenti. Effectivement, le genre ressenti des participants semble être une variable modératrice de l’association entre la recherche de sensation et la prise de volant après avoir consommé du cannabis. Les implications de ces résultats seront discutées.

Syftet med aktuell studie var att undersöka om personlighetsegenskaper (från femfaktormodellen), BIS/BAS, kön och ålder kunde predicera studenters alkoholkonsumtion.  Alkoholkonsumtion är ett stort problem i dagens samhälle och bidrar till 3 miljoner dödsfall varje år globalt och leder till funktionshinder och dålig hälsa för miljontals människor. Studien använde sig av en korrelationell design och data samlades in med hjälp av ett självskattningsformulär. Urvalet bestod av 184 universitetsstudenter (77 % kvinnor) från tre olika program på Linnéuniversitetet i Kalmar och Växjö. Korrelationsanalysen visade signifikanta samband mellan alkoholkonsumtion och oberoende variabler där den starkaste effekten var ett medelstarkt positivt samband mellan BAS Fun Seeking och alkoholkonsumtion. Den efterföljande regressionsanalysen (MRA) visade att ålder, kön, BAS Fun Seeking och extraversion kunde predicera alkoholkonsumtion vilket stämde överens med studiens hypoteser och tidigare forskning. Resultatet från nuvarande studie ger en bättre förståelse för vilka variabler som kan predicera alkoholkonsumtion och utökar kunskap inom området vilket kan vara användbart för framtida hälsoprogram. / The aim of this study was to investigate whether personality factors (from the five-factor model), BIS/BAS, gender and age could predict students' alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption is a major problem today, contributing to 3 million deaths each year globally and leading to disability and poor health for millions of people. The study used a correlational design and data were collected using a self-report questionnaire. The sample consisted of 184 university students (77% women) from three different programs at Linnaeus University in Kalmar and Växjö. The correlation analysis showed significant relationships between alcohol consumption and independent variables, with the strongest effect being a moderately strong positive relationship between BAS Fun Seeking and alcohol consumption. The multiple regression analysis (MRA) showed that age, gender, BAS Fun Seeking and extraversion could predict alcohol consumption, which was consistent with the study's hypotheses and previous research. The result from the current study provides a better understanding of which variables can predict alcohol consumption and expands knowledge in the field, which can be useful for future health programs.

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Interoception, the signalling, processing, and perceptual representation of the visceral organs, together with trait impulsivity are in the present study examined using the Novel Controllability task (Mancinelli et al., 2021) as individual factors in coping behavior in response to stress. The coping process is conceptualized using the model of regulatory flexibility developed by Bonanno and Burton (2013). The results based on a sample of 39 healthy adults (M = 23,64 years, 22f/17m) do not support the hypothesis that the combined UPPS-P constructs are significantly related to interoception. For the coping process, the results suggest that: Negative Urgency is related to a negative initial appraisal of the stressor context leading to coping rigidity, by limiting the repertoire of strategies and the dynamic function of feedback; Positive Urgency is related to a larger dependency on emotions to guide decision making, motivating a “trial-and-error” coping approach; Sensation Seeking is related with an opposing style of emotion-focused coping where diminished threat perception and reduced sensitivity towards stimulus valence motivate a risk-taking approach, likely to pursue stimulation; Lack of Premeditation, the only facet of impulsivity convincingly related to interoception, is speculated to be associated with a dysregulation of interoceptive afferents facilitating a “here-and-now” attentional and coping focus. Despite lacking full support, the potential involvement of interoception as an internal stressor is discussed as a mediator in impulsive behavior, alongside general methodological issues with measuring interoception.

Heightened impulsivity and compulsivity are often found in association with both dysfunctional everyday behavior and with psychopathology. Impulsivity and compulsivity are also linked to alterations in behavioral response inhibition and its electrophysiological correlates. However, they are rarely examined jointly and their effect outside of clinical samples is still disputed. This study assesses the influence and interaction of impulsivity and compulsivity as measured by questionnaires (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale, and Obsessive–Compulsive Inventory-Revised) on behavioral performance and event-related potentials (N2, P3a, and P3b) in a visual Go/Nogo task. Data from 250 participants from the general population (49% female; age M = 25.16, SD = 5.07) were collected. We used robust linear regression as well as regression tree analyses, a type of machine learning algorithm, to uncover potential non-linear effects. We did not find any significant relationship between the self-report measures and behavioral or neural inhibition effects in either type of analysis, with the exception of a linear effect of the lack of premeditation subscale of the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale on behavioral performance. The current sample size was large enough to uncover even small effects. One possibility is that inhibitory performance was unimpaired in a non-clinical sample, suggesting that the effect of these personality traits on inhibition and cognitive control may require a clinical sample or a more difficult task version. Further studies are needed to uncover possible associations and interactions to delineate when impulsivity and compulsivity lead to dysfunctional everyday behavior and psychopathology.

This study compares three groups of undergraduate college males in heterosexual dating relationships: those who are physically and psychologically abusive (n=39), those who are solely psychologically abusive (n=44), and those who are non-abusive (n=34). These three groups are compared along the following variables: self-reported history of experiencing family of origin violence; self-reported history of witnessing family of origin violence; level of self-reported impulsivity; level of self-reported satisfaction with life; level of self-reported alcohol use; level of self-reported relationship satisfaction; and amount of self-reported anger management skill. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant main effects among the three groups of males along several of the variables examined (Wilks' Lambda F = 4.80, df = 10, 220, p <.001). Post hoc tests revealed significant differences among the three groups of males. This study revealed that these three groups differ significantly along their levels of alcohol use (F = 10.16, p <.001), their reported levels of relationship satisfaction (F = 4.23, p <.05), and their levels of anger management skills (F = 14.56, p<.001). This information can be helpful to clinicians and educators who are working with college populations. It would seem that psychoeducation might be useful for some of these men so that they might develop alternatives to violence, and may hopefully decrease the risk factors associated with the perpetration of relationship violence. Intervening early and effectively with these dating relationships can be a substantive step towards preventing the escalation and maintenance of violence in relationships. / Master of Science

Die Adoleszenz beschreibt die entwicklungspsychologische Phase zwischen der Kindheit und des Erwachsenenalters, die durch rapide Veränderungen in der Physiologie, im Hormonhaushalt und Verhalten charakterisiert ist. Typische jugendliche Verhaltenstendenzen wie risikohaftes Verhalten und Impulsivität werden einer erheblichen biologischen Umstrukturierung des jugendlichen Gehirns attribuiert. Unklar ist jedoch, wie sich diese massiven biologischen Veränderungen auf spezifische Prozesse auswirken, welche in ein erhöhtes risikohaftes und impulsives Entscheidungsverhalten in der Adoleszenz resultieren. Die vorliegende Dissertation setzt sich zum Ziel, die kognitiven, affektiven und neuronalen Mechanismen der jugendlichen Impulsivität zu untersuchen. Hier wird der Pubertät eine besondere Rolle zugeschrieben und unterschiedliche Analyseebenen wie kognitive und affektive Maße mit biologischen Maßen wie Hormonen kombiniert, sowie Methoden der funktionellen Magnetresonanztomographie (fMRT) und kognitiven Modellierung angewandt. Die vorliegende Dissertation ist publikationsorientiert und besteht aus vier Projekten. Zum Zeitpunkt der Abgabe der Dissertation sind Kapitel I und Kapitel II erschienen, und Kapitel III und IV sind als vollständige Manuskripte bei unterschiedlichen peer-reviewed Journals eingereicht. Kapitel I gibt eine generelle Übersicht zum aktuellen Forschungsstand über den Zusammenhang zwischen Hormonen in der Pubertät, affektiver Verarbeitung und erhöhter Impulsivität und Risikobereitschaft in der Adoleszenz. Es werden Befunde von empirischen Studien mit Menschen und Tieren diskutiert, welche sich mit jugendlichen Verhalten, sowie Gehirnentwicklung während der Pubertät befassen, sowie zukünftige neue Forschungsschwerpunkte formuliert. Die folgenden drei weiteren Kapitel sind empirische Studien, welche sich mit den offenen Punkten aus dem ersten Kapitel befassen. Alle drei Studien untersuchen Ungeduld, da diese als eine spezifische Subkomponente von dem eher allgemein gefassten psychologischen Konstrukt der Impulsivität definiert ist (Romer, 2010). Während sich alle drei Studien auf die ungeduldige Entscheidungsfindung fokussieren, entscheiden sie sich dennoch in den untersuchten Mechanismen: Kapitel II fokussiert sich auf die Pubertät, speziell auf Testosteron und seinen Zusammenhang mit ungeduldiger Entscheidungsfindung. Konsistent mit früheren Studien ist das chronologische Alter (und nicht Testosteron) assoziiert mit einer generellen Abnahme der Diskontierung in der frühen Adoleszenz, während hingegen Testosteron (und nicht das Alter) mit einer erhöhten Sensitivität für sofortige Belohnungen einhergeht. Kapitel III untersucht die neuronalen Mechanismen, die der Beziehung zwischen Testosteron in der Pubertät und ungeduldigem Entscheidungsverhalten (dargestellt im vorherigen zweiten Kapitel) unterliegen. Ergebnisse dieser Studie zeigen, dass Testosteron in der Pubertät speziell das dorsale, nicht jedoch das ventrale Striatum beeinflusst, welches mit der Entscheidung für kleinere, aber zeitlich früherer Belohnungen einhergeht. Die letzte Studie in Kapitel IV befasst sich mit der Frage, wie der affektive Inhalt einer Belohnung ungeduldige Entscheidungsfindung beeinflusst. Zwei unabhängige Studien haben gezeigt, dass erhöhte Levels an positiven Affekt mit einer Zunahme an ungeduldigen Entscheidungen assoziiert waren. Ein möglicher Mechanismus, der dieses Ergebnis erklären kann, ist eine Veränderung der Zeitwahrnehmung. Zusammenfassend untersucht die vorliegende Dissertation in sehr umfangreicher Art und Weise die zugrundeliegenden Mechanismen von ungeduldiger Entscheidungsfindung und kombiniert in einem multi Modell Ansatz Maße von Affekt und Hormonen mit Methoden, wie der fMRT und kognitiver Modellierung von aufgabenbezogenen Verhalten. Ergebnisse früherer Studien über jugendliches Verhalten und Gehirnentwicklung werden durch die vorliegende Doktorarbeit erweitert, indem Hormone in der Pubertät eine besondere Hervorhebung genießen und in diesem Zusammenhang spezifische Prozesse, die der impulsiven Entscheidungsfindung unterliegen, auf neuronaler und verhaltensbasierter Ebene umfangreich und sorgfältig analysiert werden. Schließlich wird die Rolle von Testosteron in der Pubertät neu definiert und es wird ein neues Framework vorgeschlagen, welches den Einfluss von Testosteron auf die kognitive Kontrolle in der Pubertät besonders hervorhebt und somit neuartige, spannende Ideen für die zukünftige Forschung darbietet / Adolescence describes the developmental phase between childhood and adulthood and is characterized by rapid changes in physiology, hormones and behavior. Typical adolescent behavioral tendencies such as risk taking and impulsivity are thought to evolve from a major biological reorganization of the adolescent brain. However, it remains unclear how these large scale biological changes impact specific processes that result in increases in risky and impulsive decision-making in adolescence. The current dissertation aims at elucidating the cognitive, affective and neural mechanisms of adolescent impulsivity by 1) highlighting the role of puberty and 2) combining different levels of analyses, including cognitive or affective measures, with biological measures such as pubertal hormones and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), in combination with cognitive modeling techniques. The dissertation is publication-oriented and consists of four pieces of work. At the time of submitting this dissertation, Paper I and Paper II have been published, and Paper III and Paper IV exist as complete drafts that have been submitted for publication. Paper I gives a general overview of the current state of the art on the relationship between pubertal hormones, affective processing and increased impulsive and risky decision-making in adolescence. It discusses findings of empirical studies focusing on both adolescent behavior and the brain in the light of pubertal maturation in humans and animals and formulates new research directions. The following three papers are empirical studies that tackle the questions made in Paper I, examining specifically impatience, which is defined as one subcomponent of the more broader construct of impulsivity (Romer, 2010). While each paper focuses on impatient decision-making, they differ in terms of the mechanism being investigated: Paper II focuses on puberty, in particular testosterone and its relationship to impatient decision making. Consistent with previous studies, age, but not testosterone is associated with an overall decline in discounting in early adolescence, while testosterone but not age is associated with increased sensitivity to immediate rewards. Paper III investigates the neural mechanisms underlying the relationship between pubertal testosterone and impatient decision making previously described in Paper II. Here, results indicated that testosterone specifically impacts the dorsal, but not the ventral striatum, which in turn lead to behavior that was biased towards choosing smaller sooner rewards. Finally, Paper IV focuses on affective processing, specifically on how the affective content of a reward impacts impatient decision-making. In two independent studies, increased levels of positive affect were consistently associated with an increase in impatient decisions. The underlying mechanism that may explain this increased impatient behavior is a shift in time judgment. In summary, this dissertation thoroughly investigated the underlying mechanisms of impatient decision-making by using a multimodal approach with measures of affect, fMRI, and hormonal assessment combined with cognitive modeling of task-related behavior. It extends previous findings on adolescent behavior and brain development by elucidating the role of pubertal hormones with regard to specific processes underlying impatient decision making, both on a behavioral and neural level. Finally, it redefines the role of pubertal testosterone by proposing a novel framework that highlights its impact on executive control, thus offering novel, exciting directions for future research.