Elaborated Intrusion theory (EI theory; Kavanagh, Andrade, & May, 2005) posits two main cognitive components in craving: associative processes that lead to intrusive thoughts about the craved substance or activity, and elaborative processes supporting mental imagery of the substance or activity. We used a novel visuospatial task to test the hypothesis that visual imagery plays a key role in cra...

Cancer treatment can impact the hypothalamic-pituitary region of the developing brain, impairing appetite regulation and causing food craving in children who have survived cancer. We assessed food craving using a modified Food Craving Inventory in 22 survivors of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and lymphoma (median age = 11.7 years) and evaluated its association with treatment expo...

OBJECTIVE Drug craving is defined as an urge to continue substance abuse. Drug dependents use different terms to express their subjective feeling of craving. This study was an attempt to generate an understanding of craving terminology among different groups of Persian speaking Iranian opiate dependents. METHOD Terms used for the meaning of drug craving were listed by 36 ex-opiate dependents ...

Despite the critical role of withdrawal, craving, and positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) in smoking relapse, relatively little is known about the temporal and predictive relationship between these constructs within the first day of abstinence. This pilot study aims to characterize dynamic changes in withdrawal, craving, and affect over the course of early abstinence using ecological ...

Most research on cognitive processes in craving has been carried out in the laboratory and focuses on food craving. This study extends laboratory findings to real world settings and cravings for drugs or activities as well as food. Previous laboratory research has found that playing Tetris reduces craving strength. The present study used an ecological momentary assessment protocol in which 31 u...

In developed countries, obesity has become an epidemic resulting in enormous health care costs for society and serious medical complications for individuals. The homeostatic regulation of food intake is critically dependent on top-down control of reward-driven food craving. There is accumulating evidence from animal studies that the neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) is involved in regulating hunger s...

One of the major challenges of cocaine addiction is the high rate of relapse to drug use after periods of withdrawal. During the first few weeks of withdrawal, cue-induced cocaine craving intensifies, or "incubates," and persists over extended periods of time. Although several brain regions and molecular mechanisms were found to be involved in this process, the underlying epigenetic mechanisms ...

Despite considerable research activity and application in treatment, the construct of craving remains poorly understood. We propose that cravings and urges are cognitive-emotional events in time, characterised by frequency, duration, intensity and salience. Commonly used measures of alcohol craving are reviewed, and their strengths and weaknesses identified. Most measures confound craving with ...

BACKGROUND ICD-10 includes a craving criterion for alcohol dependence while DSM-IV does not. Little is known about whether craving fits with or improves the DSM-IV criteria set for alcohol-use disorders. METHOD Data were derived from current drinkers (n=18 352) in the 1991-1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey (NLAES), a nationally representative survey of US adults >17 year...