Emotional interference and attentional bias in compulsive sexual behaviors disorder – An fMRI study on heterosexual males

Draps, Małgorzata and Kulesza, Maria and Glica, Agnieszka and Szymanowska, Julia and Lewińska, Katarzyna and Żukrowska, Weronika and Gola, Mateusz (2024) Emotional interference and attentional bias in compulsive sexual behaviors disorder – An fMRI study on heterosexual males. JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL ADDICTIONS, 13 (3). pp. 791-806. ISSN 2062-5871 (print); 2063-5303 (online)

Preview

Text 2006-article-p791.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

Background and aims Despite the inclusion of the Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder (CSBD) in the 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases, emotional and cognitive impairments related to CSBD remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the behavioral and neuronal effects of emotional interference on cognition among CSBD patients. Methods Thirty heterosexual males with CSBD and matched healthy controls (HC) were studied with the Emotional Stroop Task using 5 categories of emotionally arousing words (sex-related, positive, fear-related, negative, neutral) during functional magnetic imaging. Results At the behavioral level, we found the main effect of the condition: sex-related words evoked a stronger Stroop effect than other conditions. At the neural level, we found a significant group effect. Among CSBD patients processing of sex-related words was related to increased activity in the right putamen, right thalamus, hippocampi, and left pulvinar, when compared to HC. We also found a negative correlation between neuronal activation and time spent on sexual activity during the week preceding study and numerous group differences in brain regions connected to the emotional and motivational processing of sexually explicit material, correlating with CSBD symptoms. Conclusions Behavioral results indicate a specific attentional bias toward sex-related stimuli in both groups, while neural data uncovered stronger reactivity to sex-related words in CSBD compared to HC. This reactivity is related to CSBD symptoms and provides evidence for the interference of sex-related stimuli with cognition. Such results are firmly in line with the Incentive Salience Theory and conceptualizing CSBD as a behavioral addiction.

Actions (login required)

Edit Item