Bodily confusion: Lower differentiation of emotional and physiological states in student alcohol users.

BACKGROUND: Alexithymia, difficulty in recognising and naming emotions, is common among people who use alcohol. There is also emerging evidence that people with alexithymia are unable to distinguish emotions from non-emotional physiological states. The project aimed to test if alcohol use is related to the way student drinkers experience emotions and physiological states in the body. METHODS: We employed a novel method to study bodily sensations related to emotions and physiological states in the context of alcohol use: the emBODY tool, which allowed participants to mark areas of the body in which they experience various emotions and physiological states. RESULTS: Students who showed a hazardous pattern of alcohol use (alcohol use disorders identification test [AUDIT] score ≥ 7, N = 91), overall, presented higher alexithymia levels and coloured larger areas for emotions and physiological states (showed less specificity) than those who show low-risk alcohol consumption (AUDIT ≤ 4, N = 90). Moreover, statistical classifiers distinguished feeling-specific maps less accurately for hazardous drinkers than low-risk drinkers [F(1,1998) = 441.16; p < 0.001], confirming that higher alcohol use is related to higher confusion of emotional and non-emotional bodily feelings. CONCLUSIONS: Plausibly, this increased bodily confusion drives alcohol consumption: alcohol may serve as a means of dealing with undifferentiated changes in psychophysiological arousal accompanying emotional states.

Rats respond to aversive emotional arousal of human handlers with the activation of the basolateral and central amygdala.

Reading danger signals may save an animal's life, and learning about threats from others allows avoiding first-hand aversive and often fatal experiences. Fear expressed by other individuals, including those belonging to other species, may indicate the presence of a threat in the environment and is an important social cue. Humans and other animals respond to conspecifics' fear with increased activity of the amygdala, the brain structure crucial for detecting threats and mounting an appropriate response to them. It is unclear, however, whether the cross-species transmission of threat information involves similar mechanisms, e.g., whether animals respond to the aversively induced emotional arousal of humans with activation of fear-processing circuits in the brain. Here, we report that when rats interact with a human caregiver who had recently undergone fear conditioning, they show risk assessment behavior and enhanced amygdala activation. The amygdala response involves its two major parts, the basolateral and central, which detect a threat and orchestrate defensive responses. Further, we show that humans who learn about a threat by observing another aversively aroused human, similar to rats, activate the basolateral and centromedial parts of the amygdala. Our results demonstrate that rats detect the emotional arousal of recently aversively stimulated caregivers and suggest that cross-species social transmission of threat information may involve similar neural circuits in the amygdala as the within-species transmission.

Improved attention and performance monitoring in high procrastinating students after positive relative to negative norm-referenced feedback.

Procrastination is an irrational delay of task completion. Previous studies have demonstrated that individuals who often procrastinate present deficits in attentional control and performance monitoring and that these dysfunctions might be differentially manifested depending on the motivational context. Building upon these results, the present event-related potential (ERP) study aimed to investigate the impact of norm-referenced feedback on executive functions among students with high (HP; N = 75) or low (LP; N = 77) procrastination levels. Participants completed the parametric Go/No-Go task, while receiving either positive or negative false feedback indicating how well they performed in comparison to others. The results indicated that positive (as opposed to negative) feedback led to higher self-reported arousal and increased post-error slowing in HP (vs. LP) participants. Moreover, neurophysiological measures indicated lower neural activation linked to attentional control (P300) and performance monitoring (ERN, CRN and Pe) in HP than LP participants, while the groups did not differ in these indices during the positive feedback condition. Obtained findings indicate that HP might be more sensitive to the motivating effects of success and more vulnerable to the detrimental influence of failure.

The Human Centromedial Amygdala Contributes to Negative Prediction Error Signaling during Appetitive and Aversive Pavlovian Gustatory Learning.

Prediction error (PE) is the mismatch between a prior expectation and reality, and it lies at the core of associative learning about aversive and appetitive stimuli. Human studies on fear learning have linked the amygdala to aversive PEs. In contrast, the relationship between the amygdala and PE in appetitive settings and stimuli, unlike those that induce fear, has received less research attention. Animal studies show that the amygdala is a functionally heterogeneous structure. Nevertheless, the role of the amygdala nuclei in PE signaling remains unknown in humans. To clarify the role of two subdivisions of the human amygdala, the centromedial amygdala (CMA) and basolateral amygdala (BLA), in appetitive and aversive PE signaling, we used gustatory pavlovian learning involving eating-related naturalistic outcomes. Thirty-eight right-handed individuals (19 females) participated in the study. We found that surprise with neutral feedback when a reward is expected triggers activity within the left and right CMA. When an aversive outcome is expected, surprise with neutral feedback triggers activity only within the left CMA. Notably, the BLA was not activated by those conditions. Thus, the CMA engages in negative PE signaling during appetitive and aversive gustatory pavlovian learning, whereas the BLA is not critical for this process. In addition, PE-related activity within the left CMA during aversive learning is negatively correlated with neuroticism and positively correlated with extraversion. The findings indicate the importance of the CMA in gustatory learning when the value of outcomes changes and have implications for understanding psychological conditions that manifest perturbed processing of negative PEs.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT A discrepancy between a prediction and an actual outcome (PE) plays a crucial role in learning. Learning improves when an outcome is more significant than expected (positive PE) and worsens when it is smaller than expected (negative PE). We found that the negative PE during appetitive and aversive taste learning is associated with increased activity of the CMA, which suggests that the CMA controls taste learning. Our findings may have implications for understanding psychological states associated with deficient learning from negative PEs, such as obesity and addictive behaviors.

Learning about threat from friends and strangers is equally effective: An fMRI study on observational fear conditioning.

Humans often benefit from social cues when learning about the world. For instance, learning about threats from others can save the individual from dangerous first-hand experiences. Familiarity is believed to increase the effectiveness of social learning, but it is not clear whether it plays a role in learning about threats. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we undertook a naturalistic approach and investigated whether there was a difference between observational fear learning from friends and strangers. Participants (observers) witnessed either their friends or strangers (demonstrators) receiving aversive (shock) stimuli paired with colored squares (observational learning stage). Subsequently, participants watched the same squares, but without receiving any shocks (direct-expression stage). We observed a similar pattern of brain activity in both groups of observers. Regions related to threat responses (amygdala, anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex) and social perception (fusiform gyrus, posterior superior temporal sulcus) were activated during the observational phase, possibly reflecting the emotional contagion process. The anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex were also activated during the subsequent stage, indicating the expression of learned threat. Because there were no differences between participants observing friends and strangers, we argue that social threat learning is independent of the level of familiarity with the demonstrator.

Emotion schema effects on associative memory differ across emotion categories at the behavioural, physiological and neural level: Emotion schema effects on associative memory differs for disgust and fear.

Previous behavioural and neuroimaging studies have consistently reported that memory is enhanced for associations congruent or incongruent with the structure of prior knowledge, termed as schemas. However, it remains unclear if similar effects arise with emotion-related associations, and whether they depend on the type of emotions. Here, we addressed this question using a novel face-word pair association paradigm combined with fMRI and eye-tracking techniques. In two independent studies, we demonstrated and replicated that both congruency with emotion schemas and emotion category interact to affect associative memory. Overall, memory retrieval was higher for faces from pairs congruent vs. incongruent with emotion schemas, paralleled by a greater recruitment of left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) during successful encoding. However, emotion schema effects differed across two negative emotion categories. Disgust was remembered better than fear, and only disgust activated left IFG stronger during encoding of congruent vs. incongruent pairs, suggestive of deeper semantic processing for the associations. On the contrary, encoding of congruent fear vs. disgust-related pairs was accompanied with greater activity in right fusiform gyrus (FG), suggesting a stronger sensory processing of faces. In addition, successful memory formation for congruent disgust pairs was associated with a higher pupil dilation index related to sympathetic activation, longer gaze time on words compared to faces, and more gaze switches between paired words and faces. This was reversed for fear-related congruent pairs where the faces attracted longer gaze time (compared to words). Overall, our results provide converging evidence from behavioural, physiological, and neural measures to suggest that congruency with available emotion schemas influence memory associations in a similar manner to semantic schemas. However, these effects vary across distinct emotion categories, pointing to a differential role of semantic processing and visual attention processes in the modulation of memory by disgust and fear, respectively.

Abnormal behavioral and neural responses in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during emotional interference for cognitive control in pedophilic sex offenders.

Studies within the last decade have reported neural and behavioral differences in cognitive control between men with the pedophilic disorder who commit (CSO+) and do not commit (CSO-) child sexual abuse. Prior studies reported a higher number of errors in Go/Nogo task and lower activity of the prefrontal cortex in NoGo trials, in CSO+ compared with CSO-. Moreover, negative mood was reported as a risk factor for child sexual abuse in pedophilic men. We aimed to examine differences in brain function and behavior between CSO+ and CSO- patients regarding emotional interference on cognitive processes and inhibition. We recruited CSO+ (n = 11) and CSO- (n = 14) patients as well as matched healthy controls (HC) (n = 17). Participants performed the affective Go/NoGo task in a block-design functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment. The task comprised the following four conditions: Negative Go, including only Go stimuli and negatively valenced pictures; Negative NoGo, including 50% of Go and 50% of NoGo trials as well as negatively valenced pictures; and two corresponding conditions with neutral pictures. Brain analysis was restricted to the dorsolateral prefrontal (DLPFC), orbitofrontal, and anterior cingulate cortices. The HC and CSO- groups, but not the CSO+ group, showed significantly slower reactions in negative blocks compared with neutral blocks. Brain analysis revealed increased activation in the right DLPFC during emotional interference contrast (Negative > Neutral) in the HC and CSO- groups; however, there was decreased activation in the CSO+ group. In the CSO+ group, negative distractors did not increase cognitive control processes, which was observed in the CSO- and HC groups at the behavioral and neural levels. These results support previous reports indicating offender status is associated with cognitive and emotional impairments.

Brain structural correlates of cognitive-attentional syndrome - a Voxel-Based Morphometry Study.

Cognitive-attentional syndrome (CAS) is in the self-regulatory executive function model a set of cognitive and behavioural strategies aimed at regulating cognition and emotion originating from maladaptive metacognitive beliefs. Investigating the brain structure of people with high levels of CAS enables a better understanding of the syndrome and bridging between the metacognitive model of psychopathology and previous results on structural abnormalities in various psychological disorders. Participants with high (n=40) and low levels of CAS (n=44) underwent structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging session. Voxel-Based Morphometry analytical approach was used to compute grey matter volume (GMV) differences between the groups. The group with a high level of CAS had lower GMV in the dorsal part of the anterior cingulate cortex. Our results are in line with the self-regulatory executive function model of psychopathology, showing a link between CAS and lowered GMV in the brain region associated with the regulation of cognition and emotion. They are also in agreement with meta-analytical results on structural correlates of various psychological disorders.

Distinct medial-tempora lobe mechanisms of encoding and amygdala-mediated memory reinstatement for disgust and fear.

Current models of episodic memory posit that retrieval involves the reenactment of encoding processes. Recent evidence has shown that this reinstatement process - indexed by subsequent encoding-retrieval similarity of brain activity patterns - is related to the activity in the hippocampus during encoding. However, we tend to re-experience emotional events in memory more richly than dull events. The role of amygdala - a critical hub of emotion processing - in reinstatement of emotional events was poorly understood. To investigate it, we leveraged a previously overlooked divergence in the role of amygdala in memory modulation by distinct emotions - disgust and fear. Here we used a novel paradigm in which participants encoded complex events (word pairs) and their memory was tested after 3 weeks, both phases during fMRI scanning. Using representational similarity analysis and univariate analyses, we show that the strength of amygdala activation during encoding was correlated with memory reinstatement of individual event representations in emotion-specific regions. Critically, amygdala modulated reinstatement more for disgust than fear. This was in line with other differences observed at the level of memory performance and neural mechanisms of encoding. Specifically, amygdala and perirhinal cortex were more involved during encoding of disgust-related events, whereas hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus during encoding of fear-related events. Together, these findings shed a new light on the role of the amygdala and medial temporal lobe regions in encoding and reinstatement of specific emotional memories.

It is Not (Always) the Mismatch That Beats You-On the Relationship Between Interaction of Early and Recent Life Stress and Emotion Regulation, an fMRI Study.

Stress may impact the ability to effectively regulate emotions. To study the impact of stressful experiences in early and recent life on emotion regulation, we examined the relationship between early life stress, recent stress, and brain activation during cognitive reappraisal. We investigated two regulation goals: the decrease and increase of emotional response to both negative and positive stimuli. Furthermore, two models of stress consequences were examined: the cumulative and match/mismatch models. A total of 83 participants (Mage = 21.66) took part in the study. There was an interaction between cumulative stress and stimuli valence in the cuneus, superior lateral occipital cortex, superior parietal lobule, supramarginal gyrus extending to superior temporal gyrus, and precentral gyrus extending to supplementary motor area. Interaction between mismatched stress index and stimuli valence was found in the left hippocampus, left insula extending to the orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala, and in a cluster including the anterior cingulate cortex, superior frontal gyrus, and frontal pole. Furthermore, there were differences between the effects of cumulative and mismatched stress indices on brain activation during reappraisal of positive but not negative stimuli. Results indicate that cumulative stress and match/mismatch approaches are both useful for explaining brain activation during reappraisal. This finding is important for our understanding of the multifaceted impact of stress on emotion regulation.

Self-regulation and learning from failures: Probabilistic reversal learning task reveals lower flexibility persisting after punishment in procrastinators.

Procrastination is a self-regulation failure in which people irrationally delay intended actions which leads to lower performance, satisfaction from achievements, and quality of life. Trait procrastination is estimated to affect 15% to 20% of the total population, and previous studies have shown procrastination to be related to impulsivity, emotion dysregulation, and executive dysfunctions, making it a good nonclinical example of a self-regulation disorder. Our previous fMRI results revealed impaired error processing (lower error-related activity of the anterior cingulate cortex) and lack of ability to intensify executive-control during the punishment context (no increase in activity in prefrontal regions) in procrastinators. This led us to the question of whether procrastination is related to impaired learning on errors and punishments. Low (LP) and high (HP) procrastinating students took part in a modified monetary probabilistic reversal learning task with separated reward and punishment conditions. Half of the participants started with reward and half with the punishment condition. Several learning models and model-free measures were applied to the collected behavioral data. Results suggest lower flexibility in the learning task in HP subjects, which can further decrease during the punishment condition. Moreover, HP subjects who began with the punishment condition tended to be less flexible throughout the rest of the task. These results suggest that impaired learning from errors and punishments may prevent highly procrastinating subjects from correcting their behaviors and add to the persistence of procrastination. We also conclude that impaired learning on errors and punishments might be a more general mechanism underpinning other self-regulation disorders. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The influence of light exposure and chronotype on working memory in humans.

Here we examine how exposure to blue (peaking at λ=470 nm), green (peaking at λ=505 nm) and red (peaking at λ=630 nm) light affects subsequent working memory performance measured with visual N-back tasks and associated functional brain responses in participants with extreme morning and extreme evening chronotype. We used within-subjects experimental manipulation on carefully selected samples and state of the art equipment for light exposure. The results show no differences between extreme morning-type and evening-type individuals in N-back task performance. We also did not replicate the alerting effect of exposure to blue wavelength light, supposedly enhancing performance on cognitive tasks. However, we found higher brain activity in the morning hours for extreme morning in comparison to extreme evening chronotype in several frontal areas of the precentral gyrus, middle and superior frontal gyri and in the occipital gyrus. This may indicate increased strategic or attentional recruitment of prefrontal areas, implicated in compensating working memory load in the morning type.

The brain signature of emerging reading in two contrasting languages.

Despite dissimilarities among scripts, a universal hallmark of literacy in skilled readers is the convergent brain activity for print and speech. Little is known, however, whether this differs as a function of grapheme to phoneme transparency in beginning readers. Here we compare speech and orthographic processing circuits in two contrasting languages, Polish and English, in 100 7-year-old children performing fMRI language localizer tasks. Results show limited language variation, with speech-print convergence evident mostly in left frontotemporal perisylvian regions. Correlational and intersect analyses revealed subtle differences in the strength of this coupling in several regions of interest. Specifically, speech-print convergence was higher for transparent Polish than opaque English in the right temporal area, associated with phonological processing. Conversely, speech-print convergence was higher for English than Polish in left fusiform, associated with visual word recognition. We conclude that speech-print convergence is a universal marker of reading even at the beginning of reading acquisition with minor variations that can be explained by the differences in grapheme to phoneme transparency. This finding at the earliest stages of reading acquisition conforms well with claims that reading exhibits a good deal of universality despite writing systems differences.

Male sexual orientation, gender nonconformity, and neural activity during mental rotations: an fMRI study.

The cross-sex shift hypothesis predicts that gay men should perform more like heterosexual women on important neurocognitive tasks on which men score higher than women, such as mental rotation. Studies also suggest sex differences exist in the neural correlates of mental rotation. However, no studies have taken sexual orientation into account or considered within-group variation attributable to recalled gender nonconformity (a developmental trait reliably associated with human nonheterosexuality). We quantified the neural correlates of mental rotation by comparing two groups of gay men, gender conforming (n = 23) and gender nonconforming (n = 23), to gender conforming heterosexual men (n = 22) and women (n = 22). We observed a sex difference between heterosexual men and women in the premotor cortex/supplementary motor cortex and left medial superior frontal gyrus. We also observed a sex difference as well as a cross-sex shift in gay men who recalled being gender nonconforming as children in the right superior frontal gyrus, right angular gyrus, right amygdala/parahippocampal gyrus, and bilaterally in the middle temporal gyrus and precuneus. Thus, cross-sex shifts may be associated with underlying developmental factors which are associated with sexual orientation (such as gender nonconformity). The results also suggest that gay men should not be studied as a homogenous group.

Observational learning of fear in real time procedure.

Learning to avoid threats often occurs by observing others. Most previous research on observational fear learning (OFL) in humans has used pre-recorded standardized video of an actor and thus lacked ecological validity. Here, we aimed to enhance ecological validity of the OFL by engaging participants in a real-time observational procedure (35 pairs of healthy male friends, age 18-27). One of the participants watched the other undergo a differential fear conditioning task, in which a conditioned stimulus (CS+) was paired with an aversive electric shock and another stimulus (CS-) was always safe. Subsequently, the CS+ and CS- were presented to the observer to test the OFL. While the friend's reactions to the shock elicited strong skin conductance responses (SCR) in all observers, subsequent differential SCRs (CS+ > CS-) were found only when declarative knowledge of the CS+/US contingency (rated by the participants) was acquired. Contingency-aware observers also showed elevated fear potentiated startle responses during both CS+ and CS- compared to baseline. We conclude that our real-time procedure can be effectively used to study OFL. The procedure allowed for dissecting two components of the OFL: an automatic emotional reaction to the response of the demonstrator and learning about stimulus contingency.

Maintenance vs. Manipulation in Auditory Verbal Working Memory in the Elderly: New Insights Based on Temporal Dynamics of Information Processing in the Millisecond Time Range.

Working memory (WM) is a limited-capacity cognitive system that allows the storage and use of a limited amount of information for a short period of time. Two WM processes can be distinguished: maintenance (i.e., storing, monitoring, and matching information) and manipulation (i.e., reordering and updating information). A number of studies have reported an age-related decline in WM, but the mechanisms underlying this deterioration need to be investigated. Previous research, including studies conducted in our laboratory, revealed that age-related cognitive deficits are related to decreased millisecond timing, i.e., the ability to perceive and organize incoming events in time. The aim of the current study was: (1) to identify in the elderly the brain network involved in the maintenance and manipulation WM processes; and (2) to use an fMRI task to investigate the relation between the brain activity associated with these two processes and the efficiency of temporal information processing (TIP) on a millisecond level reflected by psychophysical indices. Subjects were 41 normal healthy elderly people aged from 62 to 78 years. They performed: (1) an auditory verbal n-back task for assessing WM efficiency in an MRI scanner; and (2) a psychophysical auditory temporal-order judgment (TOJ) task for assessing temporal resolution in the millisecond domain outside the scanner. The n-back task comprised three conditions (0-, 1-, and 2-back), which allowed maintenance (1- vs. 0-back comparisons) and manipulation (2- vs. 1-back comparisons) processes to be distinguished. Results revealed the involvement of a similar brain network in the elderly to that found in previous studies. However, during maintenance processes, we found relatively limited and focused activations, which were significantly extended during manipulation. A novel result of our study, never reported before, is an indication of significant moderate correlations between the efficiency of WM and TIP. These correlations were found only for manipulation but not for maintenance. Our results confirmed the hypothesis that manipulation in the elderly is a dynamic process requiring skilled millisecond timing with high temporal resolution. We conclude that millisecond timing contributes to WM manipulation in the elderly, but not to maintenance.

Familiarity with children improves the ability to recognize children's mental states: an fMRI study using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task and the Nencki Children Eyes Test.

Theory of mind plays a fundamental role in human social interactions. People generally better understand the mental states of members of their own race, a predisposition called the own-race bias, which can be significantly reduced by experience. It is unknown whether the ability to understand mental states can be similarly influenced by own-age bias, whether this bias can be reduced by experience and, finally, what the neuronal correlates of this processes are. We evaluate whether adults working with children (WC) have an advantage over adults not working with children (NWC) in understanding the mental states of youngsters. Participants performed fMRI tasks with Adult Mind (AM) and Child Mind (CM) conditions based on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test and a newly developed Nencki Children Eyes test. WC had better accuracy in the CM condition than NWC. In NWC, own-age bias was associated with higher activation in the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) in AM than in CM. This effect was not observed in the WC group, which showed higher activation in the pSTS and inferior frontal gyri in CM than in AM. Therefore, activation in these regions is required for the improvement in recognition of children's mental states caused by experience.

Effects of attention training technique on brain function in high- and low-cognitive-attentional syndrome individuals: Regional dynamics before, during, and after a single session of ATT.

OBJECTIVE: Attention Training Technique (ATT) is a key therapeutic tool in metacognitive therapy. There are numerous studies on the behavioral effects of ATT, however the neural mechanisms at work in the training are yet to be uncovered. To date there have been no controlled fMRI studies of ATT. METHOD: We conducted a randomized double-blind controlled study of two groups with varying levels of cognitive-attentional syndrome (CAS). Groups with high (n = 43) and low (n = 46) levels of CAS underwent a single session of ATT or a control condition (CON) in an MRI scanner. Participants underwent resting state functional MRI (rsfMRI) sessions and rumination induction sessions both pre- and post-intervention Functional connectivity analyses and inter-subject correlations analyses were computed. We also collected data on emotion and attention functioning pre- and post-intervention. RESULTS: We did not observe any behavioral effects of ATT. However, direct comparison between ATT and CON sessions revealed greater inter-subject correlations in almost all hubs belonging to the studied functional networks. Moreover, subjects who received ATT showed diminished connectivity in the fronto-parietal network during ruminations and diminished connectivity of the precuneus with lateral occipital cortices and the intraparietal sulcus in abstract thinking and rsfMRI, respectively. Furthermore, some of the observed effects in functional connectivity and inter-subject correlations were specific to different levels of CAS. CONCLUSIONS: Our results may support a proposed neural mechanism for ATT: disengagement of attention from CAS-type processing in either low- or high-CAS individuals. It is also possible that some neural effects of ATT are specific to individuals with different levels of CAS.

Impaired Learning From Errors and Punishments and Maladaptive Avoidance-General Mechanisms Underlying Self-Regulation Disorders?

Self-regulation (SR) is an important human function that relates to quality of life in multiple domains including mental health. Previous studies have found important correlates of low SR including impulsivity and poor emotional regulation; however, underpinnings of low SR are incompletely understood. Individuals low in SR frequently engage in maladaptive behaviors (substance abuse, procrastination, etc.) despite negative consequences. This phenomenon suggests that impaired learning from errors and punishments may be important mechanisms underlying low SR. Consistently, previous studies observed impaired error processing in a wide spectrum of individuals with low SR and impaired learning from errors and punishments in SR-related disorders. We also note a possible role for poor emotional regulation and refer to concepts suggesting that engaging in maladaptive behaviors may serve as short term emotion regulation strategies aimed at avoiding or alleviating negative affect. We speculate on transdiagnostic factors underlying poor SR. We propose that impaired error processing (possibly related to striatal functioning) may prevent subjects with low SR from learning from errors and punishments and thus learning better SR skills or tendencies. Additionally, impaired coping in emotionally challenging situations, possibly related to prefrontal-cortical functioning, may lead to maladaptive avoidance. Moreover, maladaptive behaviors may be reinforced by the temporary decreases in negative affect and rewarding values of behaviors. Given existing knowledge gaps, we call for more extensive research and describe possible directions and challenges for future studies.

Attenuated brain activity during error processing and punishment anticipation in procrastination - a monetary Go/No-go fMRI study.

Procrastination is a self-regulatory failure in which people voluntarily but irrationally delay important tasks. Trait procrastination is estimated to affect 15-20% of the total population and leads to a significant decrease in performance, satisfaction with achievements, and quality of life. Procrastination is related to impulsivity and reduced executive control, especially in the domain of inhibition. Moreover, procrastinatory tendencies seem to increase with negative affect, suggesting impaired emotion regulation. The aim of this study was to investigate the neuronal mechanisms of inhibition, error processing, and behavioral control under pressure of punishment in procrastinators. Non-student subjects recruited to low (LP) and high procrastination (HP) groups performed an fMRI monetary Go/No-go task. HP showed significantly lower error-related activity in ACC than LP. There was also a significant group by condition interaction in the ACC and right DLPFC suggesting increase of control during the punishment condition in LP but not HP group. These results suggest that procrastinators have impaired error processing mechanisms which may add to the persistence of procrastination through difficulties in correction of faulty behaviors. Procrastination also seems to be related to a decreased ability to intensify self-control in more demanding situations and/or impaired coping in the context of negative situations.