Category: Article

Additional press release for our research with the published article "Distinct Situational Cue Processing in Individuals with Kleptomania: A Preliminary Study" has been made. Check it out at the following links.

In Japanese:

産経新聞
https://www.sankei.com/article/20230402-NHSLDBUAONP3XL6SRRAZYZRT4Y/

京都府商工労働観光部ものづくり振興課「知の京都」
https://www.pref.kyoto.jp/sangyo-sien/specialist/gotosachiori.html

ヘルシスト（279号)
https://healthist.net/

KBS京都ラジオ「笑福亭晃瓶のほっかほかラジオ」（2023年4月19日07:15～）
https://www.kbs-kyoto.co.jp/radio/hokahoka/

共同通信

https://nordot.app/1027120974165360640

NHKラジオ第1・マイあさ！NHKけさのニュース５月11日(木)放送回

https://www.nhk.or.jp/radio/ondemand/detail.html?p=5642_04

Category: Article

2023年（令和5年）3月28日付の読売新聞「情報偏食」に関する記事（https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20230328-OYT1T50046/）

に私のコメントを使っていただいており、大変ありがたく思っております。文字数の関係から説明が不足している部分もありますので、この件に関して興味のある方に向けて、個人的に下記の補足説明をしておきたいと思います。

まずはじめに、SNSのいいね（承認）を報酬として認識するため、整形やダイエットを繰り返すような依存状態になってしまうというのはあまり考えられません。承認が欲しいのであれば、整形やダイエットではなく、加工した写真を繰り返しアップして承認を得るほうが手っ取り早いわけで、もっと認められたいという欲求が耐性によってどんどん強くなってSNSを使うこと自体がコントロールできない依存状態への原因にはなり得ますが、SNSが元となっての過度なダイエットや整形を繰り返す原因としては考えられません。

過度のダイエットや整形を繰り返すケースというのは、もちろんSNS発達以前からあり、「きれいになったとまわりから褒められた・認められた」といったような承認による報酬がもとになっている場合も考えられますが、多くは摂食障害や統合失調症のような精神疾患に関連して、負の感情とつながる（不安、恐怖、ストレス）強迫的な思考や自己をきちんと認識できない認知の歪みに起因していると考えられます。

 一般的に報酬系の回路は、ゼロ（何もない状態）からプラス（利益を得る）だけで活発化すると思われていますが、実際には、マイナス（不利益な状態）から脱出する（ゼロになる）でも活発化します（つまり、マイナスの状態からの脱出することが報酬として脳内で処理されます）。とくに、生命の危機（マイナスの状態）を回避・脱出できる情報は生物はとても重要だと認識しますので、誤っていても選択的に取り入れて学習してしまいますし、自身がすでにマイナスの状態（不安・恐怖・ストレスが強い状態）にあれば、そのようなあやまった情報の選択と学習がより顕著になり、依存の状態になりやすいと考えられます。

依存症になる過程には報酬系の活発化が必要と考えられていますが、例えば、ギャンブルでは、報酬が得られるか得られないかが不確かな状況というのが一番大きな要因としてあり、そのような不確実な報酬が報酬系をとても強く活発化することが原因であると考えられます。同様に、薬物でも報酬系に直接作用するコカインなどは、薬そのものが強い報酬系の活動を促します。

一方で、例えばアルコール依存症では、「お酒を飲んだらよく眠れた」という場合も、何もないけどお酒を飲んだらよく眠れた（ゼロからプラス）ときと、いやなこととかあって眠れないのでお酒を飲んだらよく眠れた（マイナスからの脱出）の２通りがありますが、後者のほうがより強迫的な思考との繋がりが強く依存症になりやすい状態と言えます。実際に、アルコール依存症を発症する場合は、みんなでワイワイ楽しくお酒を飲むようなものよりは、孤独で不安なときや嫌なことがありストレスからお酒を飲む場合のほうが多くなります。

SNSを見ていたら整形やダイエット願望がどんどん強くなり繰り返してしまったという場合もアルコール依存症などと同様で、不安や恐怖といった負の感情と結びつく強迫的な「自分は劣っている」という思考から過度な整形やダイエットをしてしまう（マイナスからゼロへの脱出）とすると、より合理的な説明が可能となります。ＳＮＳを見るーー＞不安になる（最初は不安は少なく、たんにＳＮＳの画像のようにきれいになりたい程度の気持ち）ーー＞整形・ダイエットをするーー＞不安解消する（報酬）ーー＞またＳＮＳを見るーー＞ＳＮＳを見ているとまだまだたくさん自分よりもきれいな人がいると、また不安になる（不安が強まる）ーー＞また整形・ダイエットをする・・・というループを繰り返し学習するうちに、強迫的な思考が強くなり、最終的にはＳＮＳをみただけで自分の行動を制御できなくなって整形・ダイエットをしてしまう状態になると考えられます。

さらに、SNSの場合は、外から入ってくる情報が歪んでいる（きれいな顔で細い体型になるように修正された画像）ため、認知の歪みが無くても、それらの歪んだ情報を誤って学習するうちに、認知の歪みと等価な状態になることも依存症の状態に至る過程に関わっていると考えられます。ですので、この場合は、ＳＮＳ発達以前は、歪んだ情報に接する機会が多くなかったためいままではあまり見られなかったような依存症が、ＳＮＳによって起きるようになった（ＳＮＳが新しい依存症を誘発する場を提供している）と考えられます。

Category: Article

Press release for our research with the published article "Distinct Situational Cue Processing in Individuals with Kleptomania: A Preliminary Study" has been made. Check it out at the following links.

In Japanese:

MBS 毎日放送
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0GotQvM7so

ABEMAヒルズ
https://abema.tv/video/episode/89-71_s10_p4593

JSTサイエンスポータル
https://scienceportal.jst.go.jp/newsflash/20230302_n01/

産経ニュース
https://www.sankei.com/article/20230217-SDWXEEM6SRDUFKQDZKO372K7NI/

イザ
https://www.iza.ne.jp/article/20230217-SDWXEEM6SRDUFKQDZKO372K7NI/

しんぶん赤旗
2023年（令和5年）3月5日付

In English:

EurekAlert!
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/980095

In Chinese:
客観日本
https://www.keguanjp.com/kgjp_keji/kgjp_kj_smkx/pt20230310000003.html 

Category: Article

Distinct Situational Cue Processing in Individuals with Kleptomania: A Preliminary Study 

Yui Asaoka1, Moojun Won2,3, Tomonari Morita2, Emi Ishikawa2 and Yukiori Goto 4

1 Kyoto University Graduate School of Sciences, Kyoto, Japan
2 Kyowa Hospital, Obu, Aichi 474-0071, Japan
3 Present address: MRC Lab Clinic, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-0012, Japan

4 Kyoto University Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto, Japan

Abstract

Background : Impulse control disorder has been suggested to meet the criteria of addiction and is often considered a behavioral addiction; however, few studies have examined whether the disorder involves altered responses to situational cues that are associated with symptoms. In this study, we examined behavioral and neural responses to situational cues among individuals with an impulse control disorder, i.e., kleptomania.

Method : Healthy adults and kleptomania patients whose symptoms were characterized by repetitive, uncontrolled shoplifting of sales goods in stores were recruited. Images with and without situational cues (e.g., a grocery store) were presented, and gazing patterns for the images were detected with the eye-tracker. Additionally, prefrontal cortical (PFC) responses were measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. PFC activities were further examined while subjects were watching video clips in virtual reality with and without situational cues.

Results : Among kleptomania patients, the gazing pattern for an image with situational cues was distinct from gazing patterns for other images; such differences were not observed in healthy subjects. Consistent with gazing patterns, PFC local network responses by hemoglobin changes to images and videos with situational cues were substantially different from other images and videos in kleptomania patients, whereas PFC responses were consistent across all image and video presentations in healthy subjects.

Conclusions : These results suggest that kleptomania patients may perceive situational cues associated with their problematic behaviors differently from healthy subjects.

https://doi.org/10.1093/ijnp/pyad005

京都大学プレスリリース：
https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ja/research-news/2023-02-16

Category: Article

Book Title: Handbook of Anger, Aggression, and Violence

Editors: Colin Martin, Victor R. Preedy, Vinood B. Patel

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98711-4

Aggression in Behavioral Addictions

In book: Handbook of Anger, Aggression, and Violence

Yui Asaoka1 & Yukiori Goto2

1  Kyoto University Graduate School of Sciences, Kyoto, Japan
2 Kyoto University Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto, Japan

Abstract

Behavioral addiction is an emerging concept referring to psychiatric conditions characterized by repeated and uncontrolled urges of seeking specific behaviors despite negative consequences are expected. As an addictive disorder, several behavioral problems are thought to mutually be involved in behavioral and drug addiction, one of which is heighted aggression. Although relatively few studies have been conducted to examine aggression in behavioral addiction to date, an emerging picture suggests heterogeneous nature of aggression that depends on subtypes of addiction. In this chapter, a current state of what is known about aggression and its biological mechanisms is described from the perspective of behavioral addiction. Then, implications arguing that aggression is a promising target for understanding not only drug addiction but also behavioral addiction are given.

10.1007/978-3-030-98711-4_51-1

Category: Research

Yui Asaoka has been selected for 2022 JSPS Overseas Challenge Program for Young Researcher. She has been studying for a half year to learn non-invasive human brain stimulation techniques in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Nitsche at Leipniz Reserach Center for Working Environment and Human Factors in Dortmund, Germany since August.

Category: Other

The affiliation of the principal investigator has been changed from the Primate Research Institute to Graduate school of Informatics in Kyoto University. since April 2022.  Due to this change, the lab has also been relocated from Inuyama, AIchi to the main campus (Yoshida campus) of Kyoto University in Kyoto-city.

Category: Article

Comparable level of aggression between patients with behavioural addiction and healthy subjects

Yui Asaoka1, Moojun Won2,3, Tomonari Morita2, Emi Ishikawa2 and Yukiori Goto 1

1 Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan
2 Kyowa Hospital, Obu, Aichi 474-0071, Japan
3 Present address: MRC Lab Clinic, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-0012, Japan

Abstract

Heightened aggression is identified in several psychiatric disorders, including addiction. In this preliminary study with a relatively small number of samples, aggression in subjects diagnosed with behavioural addiction (BA) was implicitly assessed using the point subtraction aggression paradigm (PSAP) test along with measurements of oxy- and deoxyhaemoglobin dynamics in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during the test using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Aggression in BA patients was no higher than that of healthy control (CT) subjects in the PSAP test. Although no apparent increase or decrease in haemoglobin concentrations was observed in the PFC of either BA patients or CT subjects, abnormal correlations within the PFC network were present in BA patients. Consistent with comparable aggression between the groups, blood concentrations of the sex hormone testosterone, which has been shown to be associated with aggressiveness, was even lower in BA patients than in CT subjects. In contrast, when a set of questionnaire surveys for the assessment of aggression were administered, BA patients rated themselves as more aggressive than non-BA subjects. Collectively, these results suggest that aggression may not be heightened in BA, but BA patients may overestimate their aggressiveness, raising concerns about the use of questionnaire surveys for assessments of affective traits such as aggression in behavioural addiction.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01502-8

Category: Article

Cognitive and Affective Processes Associated with Social Biases

Asuka Kaneko1, Yui Asaoka1, Young-A Lee2, & Yukiori Goto1

1Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan
2Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Daegu Catholic University, Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk, 38430, South Korea

Abstract

Background : Decision-making and judgments in our social activities often erroneous and irrational, known as social biases. However, cognitive and affective processes that produce such biases remain largely unknown. In this study, we investigated associations between social schemas, such as social judgment and conformity, entailing social biases and psychological measurements relevant to cognitive and affective functions.

Method : Forty-two healthy adult subjects were recruited in this study. A psychological test and a questionnaire were administered to assess biased social judgements by superficial attributes and social conformity by adherence to social norms, respectively, along with additional questionnaires and psychological tests for cognitive and affective measurements, including negative affects, autistic traits, and Theory of Mind (ToM). Associations of social judgment and conformity with cognitive and affective functions were examined multiple regression analysis and structural equation modeling.

Results : Anxiety and the cognitive realm of ToM were mutually associated with both social judgments and conformity, although social judgements and conformity were still independent processes with each other. Social judgements were also associated with autistic traits and the affective realm of ToM, whereas social conformity was associated with negative affects other than anxiety and intuitive decision-making style.

Conclusions : These results suggest that ToM and negative affects may play important roles in social judgements and conformity, and social biases connoted in these social schemas.

https://doi.org/10.1093/ijnp/pyab022

Category: Other

Naijun has now finished her stay for one year as a special research student in our lab.  She will continue working to pursue her Ph.D. degree after back to Jinan University in China, and I am sure that she will get a degree soon.  We look forward to seeing Naijun again at scientific conferences or any other chances somewhere in the world.  Naijun, good luck for your future!

 Category: Award

Category: Award

Category: Article

Heightened Negative Affects Associated with Neurotic Personality in Behavioral Addiction

Yui Asaoka1, Moojun Won2, Tomonari Morita2, Emi Ishikawa2, & Yukiori Goto1

1Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan
2Kyowa Hospital, Obu, Aichi, 474-0071, Japan

Abstract
Although studies have demonstrated that negative affects are critical attributes of drug addiction, this has remained less clear in behavioral addiction. In this preliminary study with a relatively small number of samples, we investigated negative affects in patients diagnosed with behavioral addiction, particularly paraphilia and kleptomania. Negative affects were examined using self-rating questionnaire, and further evaluated by objective assessments in behavioral addicts and normal subjects. Explicit, self-referential negative affects, such as anxiety, stress, and depression, were higher in behavioral addicts than control subjects. Such self-referential negative affects were, although not entirely, consistent with objective evaluations by others and blood stress hormone concentrations. Further investigation of personality traits in behavioral addicts unveiled that heightened negative affects were associated with stronger neurotic personality in behavioral addicts than normal subjects. These results suggest that behavioral addiction, such as paraphilia and kleptomania, may be characterized by heightened negative affects attributable to stronger neurotic personality.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.561713/full

Category: Article

Monoamine and Genome-wide DNA Methylation Investigation in Behavioral Addiction

Yui Asaoka1, Moojun Won2, Tomonari Morita2, Emi Ishikawa2, Young-A Lee3, & Yukiori Goto1

1Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan
2Kyowa Hospital, Obu, Aichi, 474-0071, Japan
3Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Daegu Catholic University, Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk, 38430, South Korea

ABSTRACT
Behavioral addiction (BA) is characterized by repeated, impulsive and compulsive seeking of specific behaviors, even with consequent negative outcomes.  In drug addiction, alterations in biological mechanisms, such as monoamines and epigenetic processes, have been suggested, whereas whether such mechanisms are also altered in BA remains unknown.  In this preliminary study with a small sample size, we investigated monoamine concentrations and genome-wide DNA methylation in blood samples from BA patients and control (CT) subjects.  Higher dopamine (DA) metabolites and the ratio between DA and its metabolites were observed in the BA group than in the CT group, suggesting increased DA turnover in BA.  In the methylation assay, 186 hyper- or hypomethylated CpGs were identified in the BA group compared to the CT group, of which 64 CpGs were further identified to correlate with methylation status in brain tissues with database search.  Genes identified with hyper- or hypomethylation were not directly associated with DA transmission, but with cell membrane trafficking and the immune system.  Some of the genes were also associated with psychiatric disorders, such as drug addiction, schizophrenia, and autism spectrum disorder.  These results suggest that BA may involve alterations in epigenetic regulation of the genes associated with synaptic transmission, including that of monoamines, and neurodevelopment.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-68741-5

Press release
http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ja/research/research_results/2020/200716_3.html

Category: Article

Higher Risk Taking and Impaired Probability Judgment in Behavioral Addiction

Yui Asaoka1, Moojun Won2, Tomonari Morita2, Emi Ishikawa2, & Yukiori Goto1

1Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan
2Kyowa Hospital, Obu, Aichi, 474-0071, Japan

Significance Statement
Behavioral addiction has recently been gaining extensive attention in the society, along with emergence of new psychiatric conditions of it, such as gaming disorders and Internet use disorder. However, behavioral addiction is still a conceptually new disorder, and its criteria have not yet been determined. To further elucidate what characteristics may be associated with behavioral addiction, we investigated whether cognitive biases, systematic errors in judgment and decision making, were different from healthy subjects in patients diagnosed with kleptomania and paraphilia, both of which are psychiatric conditions thought to fit into the criteria of behavioral addiction. Our study demonstrates that, although no clear difference of cognitive biases themselves between behavioral addicts and healthy subjects, behavioral addicts exhibit impairments of probability judgment associated with compromised prefrontal cortical activity, which consequently lead to higher risk taking in decision making.

https://academic.oup.com/ijnp/article/doi/10.1093/ijnp/pyaa044/5861572

Press release
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/kansai-news/20200707/2000031869.htm
lhttp://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ja/research/research_results/2020/200625_2.html

Category: Award

Yui Asaoka has been selected for the CINP Student Encouragement Award at 2021 CINP World Congress held on February 25-28, 2021.

--> The conference will be held on-line.

Category: Research

We visited IfADo (Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors) in Dortmund, Germany from February 24th to March 2nd, and discussed with Prof. Michael Nitsche and his lab members about our future research collaboration for human research using non-invasive transcranial brain stimulation with pharmacological manipulations of dopamine/serotonin transmission. In addition, Graduate students, Srishti Tripathi and Yui Asaoka presented their studies at the institute. 

Category: Other

Category: Other

Category: Award

Yui Asaoka presented her study at the 9th annual conference of the Japanese Emotionology Society, and received the Present award.