Cognitive Defusion as Strategy to Reduce the Intensity of Craving Episodes and Improve Eating Behavior.

The elaborated intrusion theory of desire proposes that craving is a cognitive motivational process involving intrusive thoughts. Changing the way we react to them, cognitive defusion (CD), should limit thought elaboration and craving. We induced chocolate craving in female chocolate cravers before CD (Study 1). A decrease in craving measured by a single-item scale, Visual Analogical Scale (VAS; p < .001, ηp2 = .449) and as a state, State Food Craving Questionnaire (FCQ-S; p = .029, ηp2 = .106) were found in the experimental group, while similar results were also found in group control. The reduction in craving (VAS) in group CD correlated negatively with chocolate consumption on a bogus taste test (r = -.439, p = .036), while the correlation was positive in the case of group control (r = .429, p = .047). Food craving as a trait, measured by the Trait Food Craving Questionnaire (FCQ-T), showed negative correlations with measures of CD and mindfulness skills (lowest r = -.313, p = .018). In Study 2 participants made use of a smartphone application implementing the CD procedure in real contexts whenever they experienced food craving. A corresponding decline in self-reported craving was found, as well as in consumption of the craved food (indulgence) compared with the control condition. Our findings indicate that CD may be a promising intervention for tackling the elaboration of intrusive thoughts and eating behavior in young female food cravers, both in a controlled laboratory environment after a cue-food exposure craving induction procedure, as well as responding to naturally occurring food cravings in real-life settings.

Implicit and explicit measures of the sensory and hedonic analysis of beer: The role of tasting expertise.

Measures of drinking and eating behaviors may be assessed both explicitly (e.g., sensory and quality judgments) and implicitly (e.g., Electroencephalography, EEG), although the relationship between the results of both approaches remains unclear and each might be differentially affected by acquired knowledge. The main aim of the present study was to determine the strength of the relationship between these measures in sensory and hedonic processing of beers depending on the degree of tasting expertise. Beer experts, experts in non-beer beverages or edibles, and non-expert consumers took part in a sensory analysis procedure where they rated beers in terms of their sensory attributes and general quality-visual, olfactory, and gustatory phases-as well as their global hedonic value while their brain activity was recorded. The results suggest that participants evaluated the sensory properties of the beers in a rather similar manner. However, during the gustatory phase, experts and general tasters differed in terms of the activation of brain areas related to memory processes, while general tasters and consumers differed in brain activation related to hedonic processing. The relationship between self-reported quality judgments and EEG activity - particularly in relation to recognition and working memory components - appeared to be stronger in experts in comparison with the other groups (lowest |r| = 0.67, p < .01). Although lower in number, significant relationships were also found in general tasters and consumers, primarily involving hedonic processing (lowest |r| = 0.58, p < .01) and recognition memory (lowest |r| = 0.57, p < .01) components. Moreover, those relationships differed significantly, mostly between experts and consumers (lowest |z| = 2.68, p < .01), in terms of the involvement of working memory components. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that beer experts have a more efficient pattern of gustatory processing and show a better fit between explicit (judgments) and implicit (EEG) measures of sensory and hedonic quality of beers.

Cognitive Defusion as Strategy to Reduce the Intensity of Craving Episodes and Improve Eating Behavior

The elaborated intrusion theory of desire proposes that craving is a cognitive motivational process involving intrusive thoughts. Changing the way we react to them, cognitive defusion (CD), should limit thought elaboration and craving. We induced chocolate craving in female chocolate cravers before CD (Study 1). A decrease in craving measured by a single-item scale, Visual Analogical Scale (VAS; p < .001, ηp2 = .449) and as a state, State Food Craving Questionnaire (FCQ-S; p = .029, ηp2 = .106) were found in the experimental group, while similar results were also found in group control. The reduction in craving (VAS) in group CD correlated negatively with chocolate consumption on a bogus taste test (r = –.439, p = .036), while the correlation was positive in the case of group control (r = .429, p = .047). Food craving as a trait, measured by the Trait Food Craving Questionnaire (FCQ-T), showed negative correlations with measures of CD and mindfulness skills (lowest r = –.313, p = .018). In Study 2 participants made use of a smartphone application implementing the CD procedure in real contexts whenever they experienced food craving. A corresponding decline in self-reported craving was found, as well as in consumption of the craved food (indulgence) compared with the control condition. Our findings indicate that CD may be a promising intervention for tackling the elaboration of intrusive thoughts and eating behavior in young female food cravers, both in a controlled laboratory environment after a cue-food exposure craving induction procedure, as well as responding to naturally occurring food cravings in real-life settings. (AU)

Affect-driven impulsivity impairs human action control and selection, as measured through Pavlovian instrumental transfer and outcome devaluation.

Two experiments were designed to study the role of emotional impulsiveness in action control and selection, involving healthy young women participants. In Experiment 1, the effects of both outcome devaluation and Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) were assessed on instrumental responding. In Experiment 2, we further explored the effect of outcome devaluation on outcome-specific PIT. The role of emotional impulsivity, specifically negative urgency (NU), was also evaluated in both experiments using a self-reported measure (UPPS-P scale, Spanish short version). Experiment 1 showed both outcome devaluation and outcome-specific PIT effects, which were positively inter-correlated and negatively correlated with scores in NU. Experiment 2 found an effect of outcome devaluation on outcome-specific PIT, which was negatively correlated with scores on NU. These results highlight the relevance of considering individual differences in affect-driven impulsivity, specifically NU, when addressing failures in action control and selection (proneness to habit). Moreover, these findings suggest that, at least with the procedure used in these experiments, outcome-specific PIT may be based on a goal-directed process that is under the participant's control.