Perseverative Processes Research Articles

Neurobiogical and biochemical mechanisms of the influence of alcohol on the central nervous system and cognitive personal activity

Topicality. The problem of alcohol addiction remains an acute medical and social problem. The intense stressful biochemical background of today greatly burdens alcohol abuse with all the consequences that follow. Given the availability of alcohol in our country, the negative multi-organ effects, including on the nervous and mental systems and cognitive functions, as well as the attractiveness of its rapid anxiolytic, hypnotic and other effects, the problem of alcohol addiction requires close attention of specialists. The purpose of this work was to determine the neurobiological and biochemical mechanisms of the formation of cognitive disorders due to alcohol consumption. Materials and methods: Modern scientific publications on neurobiological and biochemical mechanisms of the effect of ethanol on the central nervous system and, as a result, on human cognitive activity were analyzed. Results: The analysis of literature data showed that with alcohol addiction, the frontal lobes of the cerebral hemispheres are more prone to damage, which is manifested by a violation of executive functions (ability to abstract and plan, inhibition of perseverative processes, switching between different cognitive processes, speed of cognitive processes, etc.). The neurotransmitter systems of the brain are also negatively affected. The disease progresses as the compensatory capabilities of the body are exhausted, the role of which is performed by the increased synthesis of catecholamines in the central nervous system. Hypotheses explaining the phenomenology of the neuropsychological defect in alcoholism are considered. Conclusions: Thus, timely detection of brain dysfunctions associated with alcohol dependence in patients is of great importance at all stages of work - both in diagnostic and therapeutic processes. Also, theses from the given analytical data can be used when conducting psychoeducation as a stage of CBT intervention in alcohol addiction for all participants of the therapeutic process.

A review and novel theoretical model of how negative emotions influence inflammation: The critical role of emotion regulation

Psychological distress is an inevitable part of life. Research drawing on theories from clinical psychology, health psychology, and psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) has identified relationships between negative emotions such as anxiety and sadness with inflammation. When not regulated properly, negative emotions can create biological wear and tear on the body that can increase risk for morbidity and mortality. This review discusses previously available research on relationships between negative emotions and emotion regulation with inflammation among both physically healthy adults and those with chronic illnesses. I then present a novel comprehensive biobehavioral model of negative emotionality. This model emphasizes the influence of negative emotions and their contribution to heightened inflammation. Further, I also discuss how emotion regulation (including perseverative processes such as worry and rumination) mediates this association. The relationships between negative emotionality and emotion regulation may be bidirectional, and empirical investigation of this model should specifically seek to disentangle these relationships. The proposed model offers the opportunity to advance PNI research through understanding how emotional factors alter inflammation and contribute to accelerated biological aging and disease risk.

Are experiences of psychosis associated with unhelpful metacognitive coping strategies? A systematic review of the evidence.

This review investigated whether unhelpful metacognitive coping strategies, such as attentional biases, worry, rumination, and thought control, are associated with experiences of psychosis. These processes, known collectively as the Cognitive Attentional Syndrome (CAS), form a central tenet of the Self-Regulatory Executive Function model. Three research questions based on assumptions underlying the CAS were addressed. It was predicted that processes of (a) self-focused processing, (b) negative perseverative thinking (worry and rumination), and (c) counterproductive thought control would be associated with experiences of psychosis. A comprehensive search of the literature identified 51 eligible studies: 17 investigated self-focused attention, 25 investigated perseverative processing (worry: n=18; rumination: n=10), and 9 investigated thought control strategies. Findings indicated that unhelpful metacognitive coping strategies associated with the CAS are related to experiences of psychosis and appear to share important relationships with distress. Implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

An experimental exploration of behavioral and cognitive–emotional aspects of intolerance of uncertainty in eating disorder patients

Objective Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is an important concept in eating disorders (ED). Cognitive, emotional, and behavioral features of IU amongst individuals with and without ED were investigated. Method Participants completed the intolerance of uncertainty scale (IUS) and four versions of a data-gathering task varying in difficulty/uncertainty, and rated their Beads task experience. Results ED groups had significantly higher IUS scores than healthy controls (HC). Bulimia Nervosa (BN) participants requested more cues than HC and Anorexia Nervosa (AN) participants before making decisions. ED groups found the task more distressing than HC participants, with those with BN feeling more uncertain and less confident in their decisions, and those with AN attributing greater importance in making the correct decision. Discussion While both ED groups reported raised IUS scores only BN participants engaged in an elevated evidence requirement data gathering style. Future research might benefit from further exploration of the role of perseverative processes in BN.

Cognitive flexibility in preschoolers: the role of representation activation and maintenance

Preschoolers' lack of cognitive flexibility has often been attributed to perseverative processing. This study investigates alternative potential sources of difficulty such as deficits in activating previously ignored information and in maintaining currently relevant information. In Experiment 1, a new task tapping attentional switching was designed to isolate the difficulty of overriding an initial representation, that is, perseverative processing ('Perseveration' version), and the difficulty of activating a previously ignored representation, that is, activation deficit ('Activation-deficit' version). Three-year-olds' performance suggested that inflexibility may primarily stem from an activation deficit. Control experiments confirmed that the difficulty of the 'Activation-deficit' version could not be attributed to the effect of attraction to novelty. In Experiment 2, 'distraction' errors, alleged to reflect a failure to maintain a relevant representation, and 'perseverative' errors were distinguished. The results highlighted the important role of representation maintenance in flexibility. The present study indicates that preschoolers' lack of cognitive flexibility is multi-determined and prompts us to reconsider the role of perseveration.

Capturing worry in daily life: Are trait questionnaires sufficient?

Worry is crucial in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders and has been associated with several other adverse health outcomes. Yet, little is known about the frequency and perseveration of worry in daily life, and its predictability by widely used trait questionnaires.In this study 432 students completed the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ), the Worry Domains Questionnaire (WDQ) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait version (STAI-T) and kept a log of worry frequency and duration during six consecutive days and nights.The results showed that worry is a very common phenomenon that is predicted by the two trait worry questionnaires, independent of trait anxiety. The often clinically utilized PSWQ predicted worry duration better than the WDQ, and exclusively predicted night-time worry and several other indices of perseverative and potentially pathogenic worry.Although this study provides some support for the predictive validity of the PSWQ and the WDQ, these questionnaires did not account for the larger part of variance in daily worry. Future studies of worry and its associated perseverative processes should consider using momentary assessments.

Stuck in a rut: Perseverative response tendencies and the neuroticism-distress relationship.

Clinical views of neuroticism-linked distress often make reference to the perseverative sorts of mental processes that reinforce such experiences. The goal of the present 7 studies, involving 488 undergraduate participants, was to directly examine such perseverative processes. Individual differences in response perseveration were operationalized in terms of choice reaction time difficulties switching (vs. repeating) responses across consecutive trials. Response perseveration interacted with neuroticism in predicting negative emotion, dissatisfaction with life, and displays of negative emotion (Studies 1-4). Specifically, neuroticism-outcome relations were quite a bit stronger at high levels of perseveration. Additional studies (Studies 5-7) provided support for the convergent and discriminant validity of response perseveration. Overall, the results highlight the manner in which response perseveration reinforces experiences of negative emotion.