Looking under the hood of executive function impairments in psychopathology: A commentary on “Advancing understanding of executive function impairments and psychopathology: bridging the gap between clinical and cognitive approaches”

Heeren, Alexandre; Billieux, Joël; Philippot, Pierre; Maurage, Pierre

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01170

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…First, prominent models of attentional systems postulate that attention control is a multifaceted construct (e.g., Petersen & Posner, 2012; Posner & Rothbart, 2007), including at least three distinct attentional networks: alerting (i.e., maintenance of alertness), orienting (i.e., selective engagement and disengagement with certain stimuli rather than others), and an executive component (i.e., top-down control of attention exemplified by maintenance of attention on certain stimuli and resisting distraction by other stimuli). However, although some research have suggested that the three attentional networks might be distinctively associated with processes assumedly involved in the maintenance of anxiety and related psychopathology (e.g., Heeren, Maurage, & Philippot, 2015; Heeren & McNally, 2016), prior research in the field of attentional bias for threat have almost exclusively treated attention control as a unitary construct and did not differentiate the attentional networks (for a discussion, see Heeren, Billieux, Philippot, & Maurage, 2015). Second, although previous research has suggested that PFC-related areas might be considered as proxy of attention control, there is no study directly testing whether attention control improvement does indeed mediate the impact of PFC-modulation on attentional bias for threat.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Change in Attention Control Mediate the Impact of tDCS on Attentional Bias for Threat? Limited Evidence from a Double-blind Sham-controlled Experiment in an Unselected Sample

Coussement

Maurage

Billieux

et al. 2019

Psychologica Belgica

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Neurocognitive models of attentional bias for threat posit that attentional bias may result from a decreased activation of the left prefrontal cortex, and especially of its dorsolateral part (dlPFC), resulting in an impaired attention control. Consequently, a transient increase of neural activity within the left dlPFC via non-invasive brain stimulation reduces attentional bias among both anxious and nonanxious participants. Yet, it is still unclear whether the impact of dlPFC activation on attentional bias is mediated by improvement in attention control. In this experiment, we sought to test this hypothesis in an unselected sample ( n = 20). Accordingly, we adopted a double-blind within-subject protocol in which we delivered a single-session of anodal versus sham transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) over the left dlPFC during the completion of a task assessing attention control. We also assessed its subsequent impact on attentional bias. Neither attention control nor attentional bias did significantly improve following anodal tDCS. Although our results do not support our main hypothesis, we believe the present null results to be particularly useful for future meta-research in the field. We also formulated a series of methodological recommendations for future research aiming at testing the tDCS-induced modification of attentional bias.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Change in Attention Control Mediate the Impact of tDCS on Attentional Bias for Threat? Limited Evidence from a Double-blind Sham-controlled Experiment in an Unselected Sample

Coussement

Maurage

Billieux

et al. 2019

Psychologica Belgica

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…At a more fundamental level, an inhibitory deficit seems to be present in many psychopathological conditions, which can be generalized (Billieux, Gay, Rochat, & Van der Linden, ), or limited to a specific situation. Such fundamental deficits might generate a succession of deficits and biases in more complex processes that depend upon inhibition, such as attentional control (Heeren, Billieux, Philippot, & Maurage, ). Biassed attention determines which information is attended to and processed, which in turn determines the information available for consolidating in memory, and for elaborating a judgement.…”

Section: A Classification Of Psychopathological Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such fundamental deficits might generate a succession of deficits and biases in more complex processes that depend upon inhibition, such as attentional control (Heeren, Billieux, Philippot, & Maurage, 2015).…”

Section: Level Of Specificitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Case conceptualization from a process‐based and modular perspective: Rationale and application to mood and anxiety disorders

Philippot

Bouvard

Baeyens

et al. 2018

Clin Psychology and Psychoth

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article presents the theoretical, clinical, and practical arguments supporting a process‐based transdiagnostic approach to psychotherapy. A working definition of “psychological process” is provided, as well as a tri‐dimensional categorization of psychological processes potentially involved in psychopathology. Guidelines are proposed to select psychological interventions based on the active psychopathological processes evidenced in a given case. We also provide a rationale to organize treatment as a set of modules, each addressing a specific psychopathological process. Next, we review the main processes that may be active in mood and anxiety disorders, and that are accessible to clinicians in regular practice. For each process, we propose a validated assessment questionnaire. Finally, we offer a free‐access web‐based instrument that allows clients to fill in these questionnaires via an internet survey, and that provides therapists with a tool to easily decode and interpret the questionnaire results and to present them to the clients.

show abstract

“…Furthermore, in the two studies investigating the association between AC and extinction learning, AC was assessed by self-report ( Barry et al, 2016a , 2017 ). The use of performance-based tasks (see below) may provide important information on the role of different attentional networks beyond general AC (see Heeren et al, 2015a ; Heeren and McNally, 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attentional Control and Fear Extinction in Subclinical Fear: An Exploratory Study

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Attentional control (AC) and fear extinction learning are known to be involved in pathological anxiety. In this study we explored whether individual differences in non-emotional AC were associated with individual differences in the magnitude and gradient of fear extinction (learning and recall). In 50 individuals with fear of spiders, we collected measures of non-emotional AC by means of self-report and by assessing the functioning of the major attention networks (executive control, orienting, and alerting). The participants then underwent a paradigm assessing fear extinction learning and extinction recall. The two components of the orienting network functioning (costs and benefits) were significantly associated with fear extinction gradient over and above the effects of trait anxiety. Specifically, participants with enhanced orienting costs (i.e., difficulties in disengaging attention from cues not relevant for the task) showed faster extinction learning, while those with enhanced orienting benefits (i.e., attention facilitated by valid cues) exhibited faster extinction recall as measured by fear-potentiated startle and Unconditioned Stimulus expectancies, respectively. Our findings suggest that, in non-emotional conditions, the orienting component of attention may be predictive of fear extinction. They also show that the use of fear extinction gradients and the exploration of individual differences in non-emotional AC (using performance-based measures of attentional network functioning) can provide a better understanding of individual differences in fear learning. Our findings also may help to understand differences in exposure therapy outcomes.

show abstract

Looking under the hood of executive function impairments in psychopathology: A commentary on “Advancing understanding of executive function impairments and psychopathology: bridging the gap between clinical and cognitive approaches”

Cited by 9 publications

References 28 publications

Does Change in Attention Control Mediate the Impact of tDCS on Attentional Bias for Threat? Limited Evidence from a Double-blind Sham-controlled Experiment in an Unselected Sample

Does Change in Attention Control Mediate the Impact of tDCS on Attentional Bias for Threat? Limited Evidence from a Double-blind Sham-controlled Experiment in an Unselected Sample

Case conceptualization from a process‐based and modular perspective: Rationale and application to mood and anxiety disorders

Attentional Control and Fear Extinction in Subclinical Fear: An Exploratory Study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About