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Yamamoto, Rinah Tikvah

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Yamamoto

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Rinah Tikvah

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Yamamoto, Rinah Tikvah
Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.8570aaf1-22de-4474-808a-2dc53416e440

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    Gender Differences in the Motivational Processing of Babies Are Determined by Their Facial Attractiveness
    (Public Library of Science, 2009) Yamamoto, Rinah Tikvah; Ariely, Dan; Chi, Won; Langleben, Daniel D.; Elman, Igor
    Background: This study sought to determine how esthetic appearance of babies may affect their motivational processing by the adults. Methodology and Principal Findings: Healthy men and women were administered two laboratory-based tasks: a) key pressing to change the viewing time of normal-looking babies and of those with abnormal facial features (e.g., cleft palate, strabismus, skin disorders, Down's syndrome and fetal alcohol syndrome) and b) attractiveness ratings of these images. Exposure to the babies' images produced two different response patterns: for normal babies, there was a similar effort by the two groups to extend the visual processing with lower attractiveness ratings by men; for abnormal babies, women exerted greater effort to shorten the viewing time despite attractiveness ratings comparable to the men. Conclusions: These results indicate that gender differences in the motivational processing of babies include excessive (relative to the esthetic valuation) motivation to extend the viewing time of normal babies by men vs. shortening the exposure to the abnormal babies by women. Such gender-specific incentive sensitization phenomenon may reflect an evolutionary-derived need for diversion of limited resources to the nurturance of healthy offspring.
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    Yohimbine-Induced Amygdala Activation in Pathological Gamblers: A Pilot Study
    (Public Library of Science, 2012) Elman, Igor; Becerra, Lino; Tschibelu, Evelyne; Yamamoto, Rinah Tikvah; George, Edward; Borsook, David
    Rationale and Objectives: There is evidence that drug addiction is associated with increased physiological and psychological responses to stress. In this pilot functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study we assessed whether a prototype behavioral addiction, pathological gambling (PG), is likewise associated with an enhanced response to stress. Methods We induced stress by injecting yohimbine (0.2–0.3 mg/kg, IV), an alpha-2 adrenoceptor antagonist that elicits stress-like physiological and psychological effects in humans and in laboratory animals, to four subjects with PG and to five non-gamblers mentally healthy control subjects. Their fMRI brain responses were assessed along with subjective stress and gambling urges ratings. Results: Voxelwise analyses of data sets from individual subjects, utilizing generalized linear model approach, revealed significant left amygdala activation in response to yohimbine across all PG subjects. This amygdala effect was not observed in the five control individuals. Yohimbine elicited subjective stress ratings in both groups with greater (albeit not statically significantly) average response in the PG subjects. On the other hand, yohimbine did not induce urges to gamble. Conclusions: The present data support the hypothesis of brain sensitization to pharmacologically-induced stress in PG.
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    Effects of Perceived Cocaine Availability on Subjective and Objective Responses to the Drug
    (BioMed Central, 2007) Yamamoto, Rinah Tikvah; Karlsgodt, Katherine H; Rott, David; Lukas, Scott; Elman, Igor
    Rationale: Several lines of evidence suggest that cocaine expectancy and craving are two related phenomena. The present study assessed this potential link by contrasting reactions to varying degrees of the drug's perceived availability. Method: Non-treatment seeking individuals with cocaine dependence were administered an intravenous bolus of cocaine (0.2 mg/kg) under 100% ('unblinded'; N = 33) and 33% ('blinded'; N = 12) probability conditions for the delivery of drug. Subjective ratings of craving, high, rush and low along with heart rate and blood pressure measurements were collected at baseline and every minute for 20 minutes following the infusions. Results: Compared to the 'blinded' subjects, their 'unblinded' counterparts had similar craving scores on a multidimensional assessment several hours before the infusion, but reported higher craving levels on a more proximal evaluation, immediately prior to the receipt of cocaine. Furthermore, the 'unblinded' subjects displayed a more rapid onset of high and rush cocaine responses along with significantly higher cocaine-induced heart rate elevations. Conclusion: These results support the hypothesis that cocaine expectancy modulates subjective and objective responses to the drug. Provided the important public health policy implications of heavy cocaine use, health policy makers and clinicians alike may favor cocaine craving assessments performed in the settings with access to the drug rather than in more neutral environments as a more meaningful marker of disease staging and assignment to the proper level of care.