Psychology Commons^™

Neural Hyperactivity During Value-Based Decision-Making In People With Daily/Near Daily Cannabis Use, Miranda Ramirez

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Value-based decision-making involves the coordinated effort of multiple brain regions to guide future choices based on past experiences. These processes are disrupted in cannabis use disorder, where individuals continue to use cannabis despite negative consequences. Reinforcement learning (RL) paradigms can be used to capture changes in the value of available options and may inform how the brain is impacted by frequent cannabis use. This study combined fMRI with behavioral modeling of probabilistic choice task data to compare value-based choices between young adults reporting daily/near daily cannabis use (CAN) and controls (CTRL). Participants selected one of two options reinforced ($0.25) at …

Does The Pain Of Rejection Promote The Pleasure Of Revenge? A Neural Investigation Of Cingulo-Striatal Contributions To Violence, David Chester

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Aggression is a dynamic and costly feature of human behavior. One reliable cause of aggression is social rejection, though the underlying mechanisms of this effect remain to be fully understood. Previous research has identified two psychological processes that are independently linked to aggressive retaliation: pain and pleasure. Given recent findings that pain magnifies the experience of pleasure, I predicted that the pain of rejection would promote the pleasure of aggression and thus, aggression itself. I also expected that this indirect effect of aggressive pleasure would only be observed among individuals with weaker self-regulatory abilities that are necessary to cope with …

The Rewarding Nature Of Anger Rumination In Borderline Personality Disorder: An Fmri Investigation, Jessica R. Peters

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Anger rumination, or persistently dwelling on feelings of anger, is associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and related features, such as aggressive behavior and cognitive distortions. To develop more effective treatments, it is crucial to understand why individuals with BPD engage in anger rumination despite its negative outcomes. The activation of energy associated with anger, as well as feelings of justification and validation, may be experienced in the short-term as rewarding. This may prevent individuals with BPD from attempting to reduce their rumination.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioral methods were utilized to examine this theory in a sample …

Neuropsychological Correlates And Underlying Cortical Mechanisms Of Working Memory In Moderate To Severe Traumatic Brain Injury, Jessica Ann Clark

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a relatively new tool that has been used to examine patterns of neural activation within those with traumatic brain injuries (TBI). A review of relevant literature is presented, including alterations in activity within the frontal and parietal regions that are thought to be compensatory in nature. In addition, possible explanations for discrepancies within this research are discussed. The current study expands upon previous work by incorporating a delayed-match-to-sample (DMS) task within an event-related paradigm and neuropsychological testing to compare 12 individuals with a history of TBI to 12 control participants with orthopedic injuries (OI). …