TY - GEN A1 - Brand, Ralf A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Ziegler, Matthias T1 - Drugs as instruments BT - describing and testing a behavioral approach to the study of neuroenhancement T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Neuroenhancement (NE) is the non-medical use of psychoactive substances to produce a subjective enhancement in psychological functioning and experience. So far empirical investigations of individuals' motivation for NE however have been hampered by the lack of theoretical foundation. This study aimed to apply drug instrumentalization theory to user motivation for NE. We argue that NE should be defined and analyzed from a behavioral perspective rather than in terms of the characteristics of substances used for NE. In the empirical study we explored user behavior by analyzing relationships between drug options (use over-the-counter products, prescription drugs, illicit drugs) and postulated drug instrumentalization goals (e.g., improved cognitive performance, counteracting fatigue, improved social interaction). Questionnaire data from 1438 university students were subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to address the question of whether analysis of drug instrumentalization should be based on the assumption that users are aiming to achieve a certain goal and choose their drug accordingly or whether NE behavior is more strongly rooted in a decision to try or use a certain drug option. We used factor mixture modeling to explore whether users could be separated into qualitatively different groups defined by a shared "goal X drug option" configuration. Our results indicate, first, that individuals decisions about NE are eventually based on personal attitude to drug options (e.g., willingness to use an over-the-counter product but not to abuse prescription drugs) rather than motivated by desire to achieve a specific goal (e.g., fighting tiredness) for which different drug options might be tried. Second, data analyses suggested two qualitatively different classes of users. Both predominantly used over-the-counter products, but "neuroenhancers" might be characterized by a higher propensity to instrumentalize over-the-counter products for virtually all investigated goals whereas "fatigue-fighters" might be inclined to use over-the-counter products exclusively to fight fatigue. We believe that psychological investigations like these are essential, especially for designing programs to prevent risky behavior. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 434 KW - psychoactive drugs KW - non-addictive behavior KW - cognitive enhancement KW - drug instrumentalization KW - user types Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-406738 IS - 434 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brand, Ralf A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Ziegler, Matthias T1 - Drugs As Instruments: Describing and Testing a Behavioral Approach to the Study of Neuroenhancement JF - Frontiers in psychology KW - psychoactive drugs KW - non-addictive behavior KW - cognitive enhancement KW - drug instrumentalization KW - user types Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01226 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 7 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Editorial: using substances to enhance performance BT - a psychology of neuroenhancement T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 443 KW - neuroenhancement KW - cognitive enhancement KW - doping KW - behavior KW - performance enhancement Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-407274 IS - 443 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Editorial: Using Substances to Enhance Performance: A Psychology of Neuroenhancement T2 - Frontiers in psychology KW - neuroenhancement KW - cognitive enhancement KW - doping KW - behavior KW - performance enhancement Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01741 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 7 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - GEN A1 - Beurskens, Rainer A1 - Steinberg, Fabian A1 - Antoniewicz, Franziska A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Granacher, Urs T1 - Neural Correlates of Dual-Task Walking BT - Effects of Cognitive versus Motor Interference in Young Adults N2 - Walking while concurrently performing cognitive and/or motor interference tasks is the norm rather than the exception during everyday life and there is evidence from behavioral studies that it negatively affects human locomotion. However, there is hardly any information available regarding the underlying neural correlates of single- and dual-task walking. We had 12 young adults (23.8 ± 2.8 years) walk while concurrently performing a cognitive interference (CI) or a motor interference (MI) task. Simultaneously, neural activation in frontal, central, and parietal brain areas was registered using a mobile EEG system. Results showed that the MI task but not the CI task affected walking performance in terms of significantly decreased gait velocity and stride length and significantly increased stride time and tempo-spatial variability. Average activity in alpha and beta frequencies was significantly modulated during both CI and MI walking conditions in frontal and central brain regions, indicating an increased cognitive load during dual-task walking. Our results suggest that impaired motor performance during dual-task walking is mirrored in neural activation patterns of the brain. This finding is in line with established cognitive theories arguing that dual-task situations overstrain cognitive capabilities resulting in motor performance decrements. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 291 Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-90742 SP - 1 EP - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beurskens, Rainer A1 - Steinberg, Fabian A1 - Antoniewicz, Franziska A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Granacher, Urs T1 - Neural Correlates of Dual-Task Walking BT - Effects of Cognitive versus Motor Interference in Young Adults JF - Neural plasticity N2 - Walking while concurrently performing cognitive and/or motor interference tasks is the norm rather than the exception during everyday life and there is evidence from behavioral studies that it negatively affects human locomotion. However, there is hardly any information available regarding the underlying neural correlates of single- and dual-task walking. We had 12 young adults (23.8 ± 2.8 years) walk while concurrently performing a cognitive interference (CI) or a motor interference (MI) task. Simultaneously, neural activation in frontal, central, and parietal brain areas was registered using a mobile EEG system. Results showed that the MI task but not the CI task affected walking performance in terms of significantly decreased gait velocity and stride length and significantly increased stride time and tempo-spatial variability. Average activity in alpha and beta frequencies was significantly modulated during both CI and MI walking conditions in frontal and central brain regions, indicating an increased cognitive load during dual-task walking. Our results suggest that impaired motor performance during dual-task walking is mirrored in neural activation patterns of the brain. This finding is in line with established cognitive theories arguing that dual-task situations overstrain cognitive capabilities resulting in motor performance decrements. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/8032180 VL - 2016 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Hindawi CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beurskens, Rainer A1 - Steinberg, Fabian A1 - Antoniewicz, Franziska A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Granacher, Urs T1 - Neural Correlates of Dual-Task Walking: Effects of Cognitive versus Motor Interference in Young Adults JF - Neural plasticity N2 - Walking while concurrently performing cognitive and/or motor interference tasks is the norm rather than the exception during everyday life and there is evidence from behavioral studies that it negatively affects human locomotion. However, there is hardly any information available regarding the underlying neural correlates of single-and dual-task walking. We had 12 young adults (23.8 +/- 2.8 years) walk while concurrently performing a cognitive interference (CI) or a motor interference (MI) task. Simultaneously, neural activation in frontal, central, and parietal brain areas was registered using a mobile EEG system. Results showed that the MI task but not the CI task affected walking performance in terms of significantly decreased gait velocity and stride length and significantly increased stride time and tempo-spatial variability. Average activity in alpha and beta frequencies was significantly modulated during both CI and MI walking conditions in frontal and central brain regions, indicating an increased cognitive load during dual-task walking. Our results suggest that impaired motor performance during dual-task walking is mirrored in neural activation patterns of the brain. This finding is in line with established cognitive theories arguing that dual-task situations overstrain cognitive capabilities resulting in motor performance decrements. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/8032180 SN - 2090-5904 SN - 1687-5443 PB - Hindawi CY - London ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Schindler, Sebastian A1 - Englert, Christoph A1 - Brand, Ralf A1 - Kissler, Johanna T1 - Uninstructed BIAT faking when ego depleted or in normal state BT - differential effect on brain and behavior T2 - BMC neuroscience N2 - Background: Deception can distort psychological tests on socially sensitive topics. Understanding the cerebral processes that are involved in such faking can be useful in detection and prevention of deception. Previous research shows that faking a brief implicit association test (BIAT ) evokes a characteristic ERP response. It is not yet known whether temporarily available self-control resources moderate this response. We randomly assigned 22 participants (15 females, 24.23 ± 2.91 years old) to a counterbalanced repeated-measurements design. Participants first com- pleted a Brief-IAT (BIAT ) on doping attitudes as a baseline measure and were then instructed to fake a negative dop - ing attitude both when self-control resources were depleted and non-depleted. Cerebral activity during BIAT perfor - mance was assessed using high-density EEG. Results: Compared to the baseline BIAT, event-related potentials showed a first interaction at the parietal P1, while significant post hoc differences were found only at the later occurring late positive potential. Here, signifi- cantly decreased amplitudes were recorded for ‘normal’ faking, but not in the depletion condition. In source space, enhanced activity was found for ‘normal’ faking in the bilateral temporoparietal junction. Behaviorally, participants were successful in faking the BIAT successfully in both conditions. Conclusions: Results indicate that temporarily available self-control resources do not affect overt faking success on a BIAT. However, differences were found on an electrophysiological level. This indicates that while on a phenotypical level self-control resources play a negligible role in deliberate test faking the underlying cerebral processes are markedly different. KW - EEG/ERP KW - implicit association test (IAT) KW - faking KW - deception KW - ego depletion KW - cognitive control Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-407342 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Schindler, Sebastian A1 - Englert, Christoph A1 - Brand, Ralf A1 - Kissler, Johanna T1 - Uninstructed BIAT faking when ego depleted or in normal state: differential effect on brain and behavior JF - BMC neuroscience N2 - Background: Deception can distort psychological tests on socially sensitive topics. Understanding the cerebral processes that are involved in such faking can be useful in detection and prevention of deception. Previous research shows that faking a brief implicit association test (BIAT) evokes a characteristic ERP response. It is not yet known whether temporarily available self-control resources moderate this response. We randomly assigned 22 participants (15 females, 24.23 +/- 2.91 years old) to a counterbalanced repeated-measurements design. Participants first completed a Brief-IAT (BIAT) on doping attitudes as a baseline measure and were then instructed to fake a negative doping attitude both when self-control resources were depleted and non-depleted. Cerebral activity during BIAT performance was assessed using high-density EEG. Conclusions: Results indicate that temporarily available self-control resources do not affect overt faking success on a BIAT. However, differences were found on an electrophysiological level. This indicates that while on a phenotypical level self-control resources play a negligible role in deliberate test faking the underlying cerebral processes are markedly different. KW - EEG/ERP KW - Implicit association test (IAT) KW - Faking KW - Deception KW - Ego depletion KW - Cognitive control Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12868-016-0249-8 SN - 1471-2202 VL - 17 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Sandouqa, Yaser A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Using, the simple sample count to estimate the frequency of prescription drug neuroenhancement in a sample of Jordan employees JF - International journal of drug policy N2 - Background: Epidemiological research indicates that the use of prescription drugs to enhance cognitive functioning is prevalent in Western countries, however, research on this phenomenon in Arab countries is lacking. Our study aimed to investigate the frequency of neuroenhancement (NE) using prescription drugs in a sample of employees in Jordan. Methods: A sample of 1186 employees (37.11 +/- 8.37 years old, 495 female), of whom 723 (35.65 +/- 7.53 years old, 396 female) served as teachers, completed a paper-pencil questionnaire. The single sample count technique (SSC) was used in order to secure confidential, self-reporting of prescription drug NE. Results: The 12-month prevalence of NE, estimated with the SSC was 15.43%. At 26.16%, the prevalence estimate was markedly higher in the subsample of teachers compared to non-teachers, 0.29%. Surprisingly, 336 participants did not use the SSC and directly affirmed or denied prescription drug NE. These direct responses yielded a prevalence of 11.57% for the full sample, 9.73% for the teachers and 15.60% for the non-teachers. Conclusion: This is the first study of the frequency of NE in an Arab sample. Results indicate that the use of prescription drug NE is not limited to Western countries and that teachers in Jordan might constitute a high-risk population. Further, participants seem to differ in their use of indirect estimation methods for reporting prescription drug NE. For future research, it might be useful to triangulate standard self reports and indirect estimation methods to assess NE. Possible cultural differences and specific high-risk populations for NE should be investigated further. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Neuroenhancement KW - Jordan KW - Single sample count Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2015.12.014 SN - 0955-3959 SN - 1873-4758 VL - 31 SP - 51 EP - 55 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -