scholarly journals Altered Reward Processing in Abstinent Dependent Cannabis Users: Social Context Matters

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaeli Zimmermann ◽  
Keith M. Kendrick ◽  
Dirk Scheele ◽  
Wolfgang Dau ◽  
Markus Banger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Cannabis Dependence ◽  
The Social ◽  
Medical Benefits ◽  
Lifetime Exposure

ABSTRACTPublic perception of cannabis as relatively harmless, alongside claimed medical benefits, have led to moves towards its legalization. Yet, long-term consequences of cannabis dependence, and whether they differ qualitatively from other drugs, are still poorly understood. A key feature of addictive drugs is that chronic use leads to adaptations in reward processing, blunting responsivity to the substance itself and other rewarding stimuli. Against this background, the present study investigated whether cannabis dependence is associated with reductions in hedonic representations by measuring behavioral and neural responses to social reward in 23 abstinent cannabis-dependent men and 24 matched non-using controls. In an interpersonal pleasant touch fMRI paradigm, participants were led to believe they were in physical closeness of or touched (CLOSE, TOUCH) by either a male or female experimenter (MALE, FEMALE), allowing the assessment of touch- and social context-dependent (i.e. female compared to male social interaction) reward dynamics.Upon female compared to male touch, dependent cannabis users displayed a significantly attenuated increase of reward experience compared to healthy controls. Controls responded to female as compared to male interaction with increased striatal activation whereas cannabis users displayed the opposite activation pattern, with stronger alterations being associated with a higher lifetime exposure to cannabis. Neural processing of pleasant touch in dependent cannabis users remained intact.These findings demonstrate that cannabis dependence in men is linked to similar lasting neuroadaptations in striatal responsivity to hedonic stimuli as observed for other drugs of abuse. However, reward processing deficits seem to depend on the social context.

scholarly journals The Role of Social Reward and Corticostriatal Connectivity in Substance Use

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Sazhin ◽  
Angelique Frazier ◽  
Caleb River Haynes ◽  
Camille Johnston ◽  
Iris Ka-Yi Chat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽  
Strategic Behavior ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Reward Sensitivity ◽  
Social Reward ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Social Stimuli ◽  
Neuroimaging Study

This report describes an ongoing R03 grant that explores the links between trait reward sensitivity, substance use, and neural responses to social and nonsocial reward. Although previous research has shown that trait reward sensitivity and neural responses to reward are linked to substance use, whether this relationship is impacted by how people process social stimuli remains unclear. We are investigating these questions via a neuroimaging study with college-aged participants, using individual difference measures that examine the relation between substance use, social context, and trait reward sensitivity with tasks that measure reward anticipation, strategic behavior, social reward consumption, and the influence of social context on reward processing. We predict that substance use will be tied to distinct patterns of striatal dysfunction. Specifically, reward hyposensitive individuals will exhibit blunted striatal responses to social and non-social reward and enhanced connectivity with the orbitofrontal cortex; in contrast, reward hypersensitive individuals will exhibit enhanced striatal responses to social and non-social reward and blunted connectivity with the orbitofrontal cortex. We also will examine the relation between self-reported reward sensitivity, substance use, and striatal responses to social reward and social context. We predict that individuals reporting the highest levels of substance use will show exaggerated striatal responses to social reward and social context, independent of self-reported reward sensitivity. Examining corticostriatal responses to reward processing will help characterize the relation between reward sensitivity, social context and substance use while providing a foundation for understanding risk factors and isolating neurocognitive mechanisms that may be targeted to increase the efficacy of interventions.

scholarly journals Social information impairs reward learning in depressive subjects: behavioral and computational characterization

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lou Safra ◽  
Coralie Chevallier ◽  
Stefano Palminteri
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Depressive Disorders ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Reward Learning ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
The Social

AbstractDepression is characterized by a marked decrease in social interactions and blunted sensitivity to rewards. Surprisingly, despite the importance of social deficits in depression, non-social aspects have been disproportionally investigated. As a consequence, the cognitive mechanisms underlying atypical decision-making in social contexts in depression are poorly understood. In the present study, we investigate whether deficits in reward processing interact with the social context and how this interaction is affected by self-reported depression and anxiety symptoms. Two cohorts of subjects (discovery and replication sample:N= 50 each) took part in a task involving reward learning in a social context with different levels of social information (absent, partial and complete). Behavioral analyses revealed a specific detrimental effect of depressive symptoms – but not anxiety – on behavioral performance in the presence of social information, i.e. when participants were informed about the choices of another player. Model-based analyses further characterized the computational nature of this deficit as a negative audience effect, rather than a deficit in the way others’ choices and rewards are integrated in decision making. To conclude, our results shed light on the cognitive and computational mechanisms underlying the interaction between social cognition, reward learning and decision-making in depressive disorders.

A multi-methods design to understand the #longCOVID and #longhaulers conversation on Twitter (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Santarossa ◽  
Ashley Rapp ◽  
Saily Sardinas ◽  
Janine Hussein ◽  
Alex Ramirez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
The Social ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Twitter Users

BACKGROUND The scientific community is just beginning to uncover potential long-term effects of COVID-19, and one way to start gathering information is by examining the present discourse on the topic. OBJECTIVE The conversation about long COVID-19 on Twitter provides insight into related public perception and personal experiences. METHODS A multipronged approach was used to analyze data (N = 2,500 records from Twitter) about long-COVID and from people experiencing long COVID-19. A text analysis was completed by both human coders and Netlytic, a cloud-based text and social networks analyzer. A social network analysis generated Name and Chain networks that showed connections and interactions between Twitter users. RESULTS Among the 2,010 tweets about long COVID-19, and 490 tweets by COVID-19 long-haulers 30,923 and 7,817 unique words were found, respectively. For booth conversation types ‘#longcovid’ and ‘covid’ were the most frequently mentioned words, however, through visually inspecting the data, words relevant to having long COVID-19 (i.e., symptoms, fatigue, pain) were more prominent in tweets by COVID-19 long-haulers. When discussing long COVID-19, the most prominent frames were ‘support’ (1090; 56.45%) and ‘research’ (435; 21.65%). In COVID-19 long haulers conversations, ‘symptoms’ (297; 61.5%) and ‘building a community’ (152; 31.5%) were the most prominent frames. The social network analysis revealed that for both tweets about long COVID-19 and tweets by COVID-19 long-haulers, networks are highly decentralized, fragmented, and loosely connected. CONCLUSIONS The present study provides a glimpse into the ways long COVID-19 is framed by social network users. Understanding these perspectives may help generate future patient-centered research questions.

scholarly journals (Un)Spoken realities of living with axial spondyloarthritis: a qualitative study focused on couple experiences

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. e025261
Author(s):  
Kerry Raybone ◽  
Hannah Family ◽  
Raj Sengupta ◽  
Abbie Jordan
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Axial Spondyloarthritis ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Support Provision ◽  
Term Condition ◽  
The Social ◽  
Relational Closeness ◽  
The Impact

ObjectiveAxial spondyloarthritis is a long-term rheumatic condition. The symptoms, including pain, can impact on the daily life routines and psychological well-being of individuals that are diagnosed with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Partners are often a main source of support for individuals who manage a long-term condition and they can also be affected by the illness experience, often themselves reporting elevated levels of emotional distress. Few qualitative studies have explored the impact of axSpA on partner relationships. This study addresses the social context of axSpA by investigating the experiences for both individuals with axSpA and their partners.DesignSemistructured individual telephone interviews analysed using thematic analysis at a dyadic partner level.SettingParticipants were recruited from the social media pages of a UK-based axSpA-specific charity.ParticipantsNine heterosexual partner dyads (23–65 years), who were currently cohabiting, comprising nine individuals diagnosed with axSpA (n=6 females) and nine partners (n=3 females).ResultsThree themes ‘Perceived relational closeness’, ‘Playing third wheel to axSpA’ and ‘Tensions surrounding a carer-type role’ were identified. The findings illustrate how living with axSpA can influence closeness between partners and dominate daily decisions, particularly surrounding leisure activities. Partners commonly adopted a carer-type role, despite many individuals with axSpA expressing desire for a greater sense of autonomy.ConclusionsThis study provides an important insight into the lived experiences of both individuals with axSpA and their partners. Findings highlight the social context of managing a long-term condition and suggest the need for including partners within consultations, and the need for support provision for partners.

scholarly journals ARTIST’S CREATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyong-Mi Paek
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Research Community ◽  
Collaborative Practice ◽  
Art Practice ◽  
Joint Research ◽  
Research Context ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ecologically Sustainable

While expectations regarding art’s potential contributions to the interdisciplinary research context continue to grow, the creative endeavors of individual artists remain under-examined, perhaps because of the inter-relational nature of joint research settings. To explore, how artists navigate their contribution to a given research community, this study reviews the art practice of Seung-Hyun Ko, who participated in Science Walden, a Convergent Research Center carrying out an interdis-ciplinary research project that aimed to build an ecologically sustainable community. Drawing on comprehensive views of creativity that emphasize the importance of the social context in which the efforts of individuals emerge and are assessed, the study examines Ko’s recent collaborative practice in Science Walden within the larger context of his long-term practice as a leading artist of Yatoo, a bioregionally conscious artist community. Ko’s responses to the opportunities and challenges of his involvement in these two interrelated contexts disclose the value of the creative dynamics of interdisciplinary research, with implications for the increasingly diverse interdisciplinary research practices emerging within science and technology.

scholarly journals Ecomuseums in China: Challenges and Defects to the Existing Practical Framework

Heritage ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 1868-1882
Author(s):  
Meng Li ◽  
Gehan Selim
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Literature Analysis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Chinese And English

This paper examines the shortcomings of the existing practical framework of ecomuseums in China. The social context of China’s ecomuseum practice is critically analysed and elaborated to show the particularity of community and community participation in the Chinese context. In this context, the framework of Chinese ecomuseum practice is critically examined to illustrate the defects. This study is based on a literature analysis; the existing Chinese and English literature on the theory and practice of ecomuseums in China has been critically reviewed and analysed. The study found that the existing framework lacks people-oriented long-term development goals and a precise definition of roles of all parties, which has resulted in a dilemma for relationship of ecomuseums and communities in the country. Based on existing studies on ecomuseums in China and other areas, the study also offers corresponding suggestions to modify the existing framework.

scholarly journals Chronic paternal morphine exposure increases sensitivity to morphine-derived antinociception

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre B. Toussaint ◽  
William Foster ◽  
Jessica M. Jones ◽  
Samuel Kaufmann ◽  
Meghan Wachira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Pain Scale ◽  
Reward Processing ◽  
Chronic Morphine ◽  
Paternal Exposure ◽  
Parental Exposure ◽  
Drug Naïve ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Higher Sensitivity

AbstractParental exposure to drugs of abuse such as opioids can have profound and long-lasting effects on reward processing and drug sensitivity across generations. However, little is known about the impact of long-term paternal exposure to morphine on offspring sensitivity to morphine-derived antinociception during painful experiences. To address this question, we constructed a rat pain scale at millisecond timescales to measure mechanical nociception in a multigenerational morphine exposure paradigm. Surprisingly, while developing the pain scale, we found that von Frey hair filaments (VFHs), the most common stimuli used in pain research, are not painful to rats and morphine did not change the touch-like responses elicited by VFHs. We next deployed this novel pain scale to determine whether chronic morphine exposure in sires impacted pain sensitivity in the next generation. Offspring produced from a cross of morphine-treated sires and drug-naïve dams, did not show any baseline changes in sensitivity to mechanical nociception. However, morphine-sired male progeny displayed a higher sensitivity to the antinociceptive properties of morphine, as measured by our pain scale. These findings demonstrate that long-term paternal exposure to morphine increases sensitivity to morphine-derived analgesia in the subsequent generation.

Drivers of long-term savings behavior from the consumers’ perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 922-943 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Ruefenacht ◽  
Tobias Schlager ◽  
Peter Maas ◽  
Pekka Puustinen
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Indirect Effect ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Savings Behavior ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Savings Rate ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to delineate the impact of social context and savings attitudes on consumers’ self-reported long-term savings and discuss how these drivers can be influenced to increase an individual’s savings rate. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was conducted among 993 German savers. A structural equation model quantified the influence of the social context and an individual’s attitudes on long-term savings behavior, as stated by consumers. Findings – Both social context constructs – subjective norms and relationship quality – exert a significant influence on the savings attitudes of perceived anxiety and perceived importance, which in turn significantly affect long-term savings. Furthermore, the results of a mediation analysis indicated that the social context only has an indirect effect on long-term savings. Research limitations/implications – The study was conducted in Germany only. Therefore, the results may not apply across cultures. In addition, the salient belief structures, access channels used, and savings product categories were not part of this study. Practical implications – The results showed that financial institutions can influence an individual’s attitudes toward long-term savings by providing a satisfying and trusted relationship. The positive effect on savings attitudes will translate to an increased long-term savings rate. According to the analysis, financial service providers can only have an indirect effect on long-term savings behavior. Originality/value – This paper delineates the impact of the social environment on long-term savings. This relationship has not been investigated in previous research. In addition, the influence of the social context within the attitudes-behavior framework for long-term savings is expounded.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document