Norbury, AE;
(2015)
Brain mechanisms underlying sensation-seeking in humans.
Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Sensation-seeking is a personality trait concerned with motivation for intense and unusual sensory experiences, that has been identified as risk factor for a variety of psychopathologies with high social cost; in particular gambling and substance addictions. It has previously proved difficult to tease out neural mechanisms underlying sensation-seeking in humans, due to a lack of cognitive-behavioural paradigms probing sensation-seeking-like behaviour in the lab. The first aim of this thesis was to develop such a behavioural paradigm. Within, we present evidence from this novel task and a combination of psychopharmacological, functional imaging and computational approaches to argue that sensation-seeking behaviour in humans is driven by inter-individual differences in the activation of dopaminergic approach-withdrawal tendencies, when faced with the opportunity to experience intense and unusual sensory stimulation. In a parallel research stream, we investigate the relationship between self-reported sensation-seeking, D2-type dopamine receptor function and risky decision-making, motivated by the common implication of sensation-seeking personality and D2ergic drugs in disorders involving excessive risk-taking. Together, the findings presented here may aid investigation of various psychopathologies for which more extreme sensation-seeking scores constitute a vulnerability factor. In particular, a more precise understanding of sensation-seeking behaviour might aid in the identification of at-risk individuals and the development of individualised therapies and prevention strategies.
Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
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Title: | Brain mechanisms underlying sensation-seeking in humans |
Event: | University College London |
Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
Language: | English |
UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1471571 |
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