COGNITIVE BIASES IN ADDICTION: A DUAL-SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE TO AUTOMATIC AND DELIBERATIVE PROCESSING

Background and Aim : The suboptimal decisions that may result from heuristic decision-making processes are known as ‘cognitive biases’. In other words, a cognitive bias is a systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment. There is a wide literature demonstrating that automatically triggered cognitive biases for addiction-related behaviours play an important role in substance abuse and dependence. More recently, the dual-process theory has posited that whilst the repeated usage of a substance leads to increased automatic processing and increased automatic tendencies to approach substance-specific cues, in addition, other normal cognitive processes are affected. Dual-systems theories explain lapses in self-control in terms of a conflict between automatic and deliberate modes of behavioural control. Because addiction is at its core a problem of self-control. The basic idea underlying different varieties of dual-process models is that many of our behaviours are the outcome of two qualitatively different types of processes: relatively automatic, associative, or impulsive processes impulsive and relatively controlled, symbolic, or reflective processes reflective . The cognitive control process, which normally serves to inhibit this automatic behaviour, is itself inhibited. In the other hand, brain regions directly associated with the mesolimbic dopamine system, the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in particular, capture some of the features assumed by automatic processing. Regions in the lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) are more closely linked to deliberative processing and the exertion of self-control in the suppression of impulses. While identifying these regions crudely supports dual-system theories, important modifications to what constitutes automatic and deliberative behavioural control are also suggested. In addition discuss two types of recent training interventions, both closely related to dual-process models. One type, cognitive bias modification (CBM), is aimed at changing disorder-specific maladaptive cognitive-motivational biases; the other, working memory training, is aimed at training domain-general cognitive control functions. Results : The main finding is the evidence that cognitive biases are present in the many studies identified. Conclusion : Cognitive biases have been consistently observed in addiction-related behaviours

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A search was conducted from November 2015 to January 2018 on PubMed ، MEDLINE ، Embase ، PsycINFO ، Science Direct ، Cochrane Central ، and Scopus