Neuroscience
Takahashi T. Time-estimation error following Weber-Fechner law may explain subadditive time-discounting.. Medical Hypotheses. 2006 Jul 25; [Epub ahead of print]
Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Science, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan.
Impulsivity in drug addicts have been associated with impatience in intertemporal choice, i.e., high degrees to which delayed rewards are discounted, indicating the importance of reducing the degree of discounting in drug addicts. Intertemporal choice (delay discounting) has been attracting attention in neuropsychopharmacology and behavioral neuroeconomics. Recently, behavioral economists have reported that impatience/impulsivity in intertemporal choice is increased if a delay period is presented as a sum of divided time-blocks, which is referred to as subadditive discounting (i.e., "total patience" over the delay period is larger than the "sum of patience" over divided delay periods). This finding implies that abstinent drug addicts may more readily relapse into addiction if an abstinence period is presented as a series of shorter abstinent periods, rather than a single block of a long abstinence period. Therefore, understanding of neuropsychological processing underlying subadditive discounting is important for establishing medical treatments of drug addiction, although to date, no study has addressed this question. In this study, we propose that time-estimation following Weber-Fechner law, formerly introduced for explaining hyperbolic discounting, may also explain subadditive discounting. Our present hypothesis also predicts that possibility of relapse into drug dependence can be decreased by helping abstinent patients to perceive time-duration of an abstinence/withdrawal period precisely.
PMID: 16872753 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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Neuroscience
Abstract of the Day: Of Time and the River
Takahashi T. Time-estimation error following Weber-Fechner law may explain subadditive time-discounting.. Medical Hypotheses. 2006 Jul 25; [Epub ahead of print]
Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Science, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan.
Impulsivity in drug addicts have been associated with impatience in intertemporal choice, i.e., high degrees to which delayed rewards are discounted, indicating the importance of reducing the degree of discounting in drug addicts. Intertemporal choice (delay discounting) has been attracting attention in neuropsychopharmacology and behavioral neuroeconomics. Recently, behavioral economists have reported that impatience/impulsivity in intertemporal choice is increased if a delay period is presented as a sum of divided time-blocks, which is referred to as subadditive discounting (i.e., "total patience" over the delay period is larger than the "sum of patience" over divided delay periods). This finding implies that abstinent drug addicts may more readily relapse into addiction if an abstinence period is presented as a series of shorter abstinent periods, rather than a single block of a long abstinence period. Therefore, understanding of neuropsychological processing underlying subadditive discounting is important for establishing medical treatments of drug addiction, although to date, no study has addressed this question. In this study, we propose that time-estimation following Weber-Fechner law, formerly introduced for explaining hyperbolic discounting, may also explain subadditive discounting. Our present hypothesis also predicts that possibility of relapse into drug dependence can be decreased by helping abstinent patients to perceive time-duration of an abstinence/withdrawal period precisely.
PMID: 16872753 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
-
Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain
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The old idea that we make decisions like rational agents has given way over the last few decades to a more realistic, psychologically informed picture that recognises the biases and mental short-cuts that sway our thinking. Supposedly one of these is...
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Youngsters tend to live for the moment whilst older folks are more concerned about their futures. But when in a person's life does this change in perspective usually occur? A new study identifies a period between the ages of thirteen and sixteen as...
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From the National Institutes of Health (NIH):FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, August 25, 2005 Researchers Identify a Brain Chemical That Plays a Key Role in Food and Drug-Seeking Behavior New research performed in rats suggests that orexin, a...
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From the University of Southern California website: US-Japan Conference on Drug Development and Rational Drug Design - Pathways of Innovative Drug Targeting: From a Molecular to Clinical Perspective This conference represents the 3rd Conference on Drug...
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