Volitional dysfunction in self-control failures and addictive behaviors (C01)

• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology ; Clinical Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry ; Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience ; Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
• Term: from 2012 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 178833530

Project C01 investigates mechanisms underlying impaired self-control in behaviors that stand in conflict with long-term goals (e.g., substance use, unhealthy eating habits, pathological gambling). To this end, we launched a longitudinal-prospective study, in which a large participant sample is repeatedly tested across seven years with (i) clinical assessments, (ii) behavioral task batteries, (iii) fMRI paradigms, and (iv) online assessments of daily self-control failures. The aim is to investigate whether impairments of cognitive control processes and dysfunctions in underlying brain systems predict an increased risk of daily self-control failures, substance use disorders, and behavioral addictions.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 940: Volition and Cognitive Control: Mechanisms, Modulators and Dysfunctions
• Applicant Institution: Technische Universität Dresden
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Gerhard Bühringer; Professor Dr. Thomas Goschke; Professor Dr. Michael Smolka; Professor Dr. Hans-Ulrich Wittchen, until 6/2020