objectives: according to the gateway drug theory, tobacco use is a predisposing factor for future substance abuse. this study was conducted to compare nicotine and opiate dependents to identify the differences between their personality traits and psychopathology that makes them turn to other substances after cigarette smoking. methods: a causal-comparative study was conducted. three groups were...

Background The construct of craving has been shown to play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of addictive behaviors. Both novelty seeking and desire thinking have been identified, respectively, as important temperamental and cognitive predictors of craving. Aims In the present study we aimed to explore the relative contribution of novelty seeking and desire thinking towards cr...

A brain circuit that drives and gates curiosity Curiosity is what organisms to investigate each other their environment. It considered by many be as intrinsic hunger thirst, but the neurobiological mechanisms behind have remained elusive. In mice, Ahmadlou et al. found a specific population of genetically identified ?-aminobutyric acid (GABA)—ergic neurons in region called zona incerta receive ...

This paper considers novelty-seeking multi-agent systems as a step towards more efficient generation of creative artifacts. We describe a simple multi-agent architecture where agents have limited resources and exercise self-criticism, veto power and voting to collectively regulate which artifacts are selected to the domain i.e., the cultural storage of the system. To overcome their individual r...

Novelty seeking has been tied to impulsive choice and biased value based choice. It has been postulated that novel stimuli should trigger more vigorous approach and exploration. However, it is unclear whether stimulus novelty can enhance simple motor actions in the absence of explicit reward, a necessary condition for energizing approach and exploration in an entirely unfamiliar situation. In t...

The purposes of the study were to define the construct of novelty in the context of tourism, to conceptualize its role in the destination choice process, and to develop an instrument to measure novelty. The novelty construct was comprised of four interrelated but distinctive dimensions: thrill, change from routine, boredom alleviation, and surprise. A 21 item instrument was developed to measure...