Neural correlates of preferred activities: development of an interest-specific go/nogo task.
| Publication Type | Academic Article |
| Authors | Bos D, Ajodan E, Silverman M, Dyke J, Durston S, Power J, Jones R |
| Journal | Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 12 |
| Pagination | 1890-1901 |
| Date Published | 12/01/2017 |
| ISSN | 1749-5024 |
| Keywords | Impulsive Behavior, Leisure Activities |
| Abstract | The activities we choose to spend our leisure time with are intrinsically motivating and vary across individuals. Yet it is unknown how impulse control or neural activity changes when processing a preferred stimulus related to a hobby or interest. Developing a task that assesses the response to preferred interests is of importance as it would be relevant to a range of psychiatric disorders that have hyper- or hypo-arousal to such cues. During functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), 39 healthy adults completed a novel task to test approach behavior and cognitive control to cues that were personalized to the participants' interests compared to stimuli the participants identified as being of non-interest and colored shapes. fMRI results showed that cues of one's interest elicited activation in the anterior insula compared to colored shapes. Interests did not change inhibition compared to non-interests and colored shapes and all stimuli equally engaged a frontostriatal circuit. Together the results suggest that adults were sensitive to their interests but were effective at regulating their impulses towards these cues, a skill that is critical for navigating the temptations and distractions in our daily environment. |
| DOI | 10.1093/scan/nsx127 |
| PubMed ID | 29077964 |
| PubMed Central ID | PMC5716102 |