Attentional bias and disengagement as a function of Body Mass Index in conditions that differ in anticipated reward

Rewarding outcomes enhance attentional capture and delay attentional disengagement

Attentional capture and disengagement are distinct process involved in attentional orienting. Most current studies have examined either the process of attentional capture or disengagement by manipulating stimuli associated with either positive (gains) or negative outcomes (losses). However, few studies have investigated whether attentional capture and disengagement are modulated by reward and loss outcomes. In the current study, we want to examine whether positive or negative outcomes could modulate distinguishing process of attentional capture and disengagement. Here, we manipulated different colored singleton stimuli associated with reward or loss outcomes; these stimuli were either presented at the center of screen or at the peripheral location. The participants' task was to search the target and identify the orientation of line segment in target as quickly as possible. The results showed that people had difficulty disengaging from a central reward-distractor, in comparison to loss- and neutral-distractor when target was presented at peripheral location. Similarly, peripheral reward-distractor captured more attention than loss- and neutral-distractor when target was presented at the center of screen after central fixation disappeared. Through our discoveries, we can conclude that positive rewards can increase attentional capture and delay attentional disengagement in healthy people.

The relationship between reward context and inhibitory control, does it depend on BMI, maladaptive eating, and negative affect?

BACKGROUND

Recent studies suggest that higher Body Mass Index (BMI) is associated with reduced inhibitory control in contexts of palatable food. However, due to limitations of previous studies, it remained the question whether this reduction is specific to food contexts, and whether it generalizes to other contexts of reward, such as money. This main question was addressed in the current study. In addition, we explored the effect of maladaptive eating and stress regarding inhibitory control across the contexts that differed in terms of reward.

METHODS

In total, 46 participants between 19 and 50 years old (39% males and 61% females) with an average BMI of 23.5 (SD = 3.9) participated. Participants filled out questionnaires and performed a go/no-go task (indexing inhibitory control) with three conditions (neutral, food, and money condition).

RESULTS

Relatively high (above median) BMI was associated with challenged inhibitory control in the food relative to the neutral context, but not in the money relative to neutral context. Explorative analyses suggested that maladaptive eating and stress were associated with reduced inhibitory control in the food context. Only rumination was associated with reduced inhibitory control in the money context.

CONCLUSIONS

The effects of BMI, maladaptive eating behavior, and stress on inhibitory control were specific to the food context, and did not generalize to a non-intrinsic reward condition, operationalized with money pictures. Our results imply that (research on) interventions directed at improving inhibitory control in relation to overweight and obesity, should consider food-reward context.

Inhibitory Performance in Smokers Relative to Nonsmokers When Exposed to Neutral, Smoking- and Money-Related Pictures

INTRODUCTION

Smoking is associated with significant negative health consequences. It has been suggested that deficient inhibitory control may be implicated in (nicotine) addiction, but its exact role has not yet been elucidated. In the current study, our aim was to investigate the role of inhibitory control in relation to nicotine addiction in contexts that differ in terms of reward.

METHODS

Participants filled out questionnaires and performed a go/no-go task with three conditions. In one condition, the stimuli were neutral color squares, and in the reward conditions, these were smoking-related pictures and money-related pictures, respectively. In total, 43 non-abstinent individuals that smoke and 35 individuals that do not smoke were included in the sample.

RESULTS

The main results showed that individuals that smoke, relative to individuals that do not smoke, had reduced inhibitory control in both reward contexts, relative to a neutral context. The reductions in inhibitory control were mirrored by speeded responses.

CONCLUSIONS

Individuals that smoke seem to present with reduced inhibitory control, which is most pronounced in contexts of reward. Consistent with incentive sensitization theory, the reduced inhibitory control may be (at least partly) due to the heightened approach bias to reward-related stimuli as indicated by the speeded responses.