Neuropsychological mechanisms of intrusive thinking

Question 1

types of content that drive recurring intrusive thoughts in healthy individuals

Answer 1

• emotionally salient events
• incompletions (tip of the tongue phenomenon)
• intentions
• anticipated events
• uncertain events
• dissonant facts, events, or beliefs
• frequent events, stimuli or ideas (ear worms)

Question 2

external and internal factors triggering intrusive thoughts in healthy individuals

Answer 2

• cue-driven retrieval
• matching mood and physiological state (experiences encoded in a sad mood are more likely to be retrieved when the individual is in a sad mood again).
• diminished cognitive control (sleep deprivation, stress, intoxication -> impair inhibitory control, leading to increased frequency of intrusive thoughts).

Question 3

when should you control intrusive thoughts

Answer 3

• concentration
• executing high performance cognitive and motor skills
• regulating pain
• regulating affect (return to a neutral or positive state of mind)
• persisting in the face of failure
• protecting self-image
• justifying inappropriate behaviour (people often suppress these thoughts to relieve discomfort from doing an uneithical act)
• maintaining attitudes and beliefs (new facts contradicting beliefs can create cognitive dissonance)
• forgiving others and maintaining attachment

Question 4

mind wandering qualities

Answer 4

• unwanted (as it disrupts task performance)
• unintended
• recurrent (50% of waking hours)
• associated with negative affect (may very per context)
• difficult to control (those who perceive it as outside of their control, experience it more often and are more disrupted in their performance)

Question 5

in welke disorders komt intrusive thinking allemaal voor en op welke manier

Answer 5

ptsd - intrusive memories, flashbacks, dreams
ocd - unwanted or ego-dystonic thoughts
substance use disorder - craving, memories of experiences with substance, planning
mood disorders - rumination, suicidal thoughts, flight of ideas, negative automatic thoughts
anxiety - fearful reactions or anticipation of future events
psychosis - hallucinations and delusions
adhd - excessive mind wandering
tourette - tic or urge

Question 6

key features from intrusive thoughts

Answer 6

• consciousness (nu: experienced)
• unwantedness (but not necessarily undesired!)
• involuntary (altough the degree of control may vary)
• diruptiveness (even if not perceived as disruptive)
• salience (capture attention)
• valence (not always negative)
• content and shape (can take various contents and shapes lol)
• punctutate vs extended (typically sudden onset, limited duration, but can persist for extended periods in certain cases (flashbacks in ptsd, rumination in depression))
• recurrence (can repeat themselves)
• trigger (both internal and external cues)
• agency (intrusions are attributed to oneself rather than an external agent, implying a sense of agency in experienced mental events)

Question 7

two proposed definitions of intrusive thinking:

Answer 7

• narrow: consciousness, unwanted, involuntariness
• broader/more inclusive: diruptiveness, salience, experienced mental events, that are recurrent (especially in clinical syndromes)

Question 8

symptoms in ptsd and ocd exemplify intrusive thinking most prototypically, whilst other manifestations like flash-forwards, drug craving and rumination may not always fit the traditional defintions but still qualify as intrusive thinking. however, the classification of intrusive thoughts in adhd and psychosis may remain less clear, due to variations in experienced agency and disruptiveness.

Answer 8

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