Twisted memories: Addiction-related engrams are strengthened by desire thinking.
Journal article
Mattioni, L., Ferri, F., Nikčević, A.V., Spada, M.M. and Sestieri, C. (2023). Twisted memories: Addiction-related engrams are strengthened by desire thinking. Addictive Behaviors. 145, p. 107782. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2023.107782
Authors | Mattioni, L., Ferri, F., Nikčević, A.V., Spada, M.M. and Sestieri, C. |
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Abstract | Associative learning plays a central role in addiction by reinforcing associations between environmental cues and addiction-related information. Unsupervised learning models posit that memories are adjusted based on how strongly these representations are coactivated during the retrieval process. From a different perspective, clinical models of addiction posit that the escalation and persistence of craving may depend on desire thinking, a thinking style orienting to prefigure information about positive addiction-related experiences. In the present work, we tested the main hypothesis that desire thinking is a key factor in the strengthening of addiction-related associations. A group of adult smoking volunteers (N = 26) engaged in a period of desire thinking before performing an associative learning task in which neutral words (cues) were shown along with images (smoking-related vs. neutral context) at different frequencies. Two retrieval tests were administered, one immediately after encoding and the other after 24 h, to test how the recall of associations changed as a function of retention interval. Two control groups, smokers (N = 21) and non-smokers (N = 22), performed a similar procedure, with a neutral imagination task replacing desire thinking. Participants who engaged in desire thinking increased their performance from the first to the second retrieval test only for the most frequent smoking-related associations. Crucially, this selective effect was not observed in the two control groups. These results provide behavioral evidence in support of the idea that desire thinking plays a role in strengthening addiction-related associations. Thus, this thinking process may be considered a target for reconsolidation-based conceptualizations of, and treatments for, addiction. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.] |
Keywords | Desire thinking; Associative memory; Unsupervised learning; Addictive behaviors; Reconsolidation |
Year | 2023 |
Journal | Addictive Behaviors |
Journal citation | 145, p. 107782 |
Publisher | Elsevier |
ISSN | 1873-6327 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2023.107782 |
Publication dates | |
Online | 17 Jun 2023 |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | 15 Jun 2023 |
Deposited | 20 Jul 2023 |
Accepted author manuscript | License File Access Level Open |
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Accepted author manuscript
Mattioni, L. et al. Twisted memories - Addiction-related engrams are strengthened by desire thinking.docx | ||
License: CC BY 4.0 | ||
File access level: Open |
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