Despite the physiological complexity of the hypothalamus, its role is typically restricted to
initiation or cessation of innate behaviors. For example, theories of lateral hypothalamus …

The incentive-sensitization theory (IST) of addiction was first published in 1993, proposing
that (a) brain mesolimbic dopamine systems mediate incentive motivation (“wanting”) for …

Recent years have seen a surge in the popularity of interventions that target common
distortions in thinking (cognitive-bias modification, or CBM). Although there is evidence of …

Effective decision-making involves multiple steps to reduce a nearly limitless set of available
choices to a final selection. The attention system plays a critical early role in this process by …

Flow is a subjective state characterized by immersion and engagement in one's current
activity. The benefits of flow for productivity and health are well-documented, but a rigorous …

Existing research indicates that learning about the Pavlovian 'signal value'of stimuli can
induce attentional biases: findings suggest that our attentional system prioritises detection of …

In the past two decades, a variety of cognitive training interventions have been developed to
help people overcome their addictive behaviors. Conceptually, it is important to distinguish …

The dominant biomedical perspective on addictions has been that they are chronic brain
diseases. While we acknowledge that the brains of people with addictions differ from those …

Although humans can voluntarily direct their attention to particular stimuli, attention can at
times be involuntarily allocated to stimuli and such attentional capture can result in …

Attention refers to the set of cognitive mechanisms that facilitate the prioritization of incoming
sensory information. Existing research suggests that motivationally salient stimuli, such as …