Intrusive Thinking From Molecules to Free Will

An exploration of the neurological and behavioral mechanisms and processes involved in intrusive thinking.

On any given day, unintended, recurrent thoughts intrude on our thinking and affect our behavior in ways that can be adaptive. Such thoughts, however, become intrusive and problematic when they are unwanted, become compulsive, or lead to socially or medically unacceptable behavior. This volume explores what goes on in our brains to create thought intrusions, and how these instrusions lead to maladaptive behavior.

Peter Kalivas is Professor of Neuroscience at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Martin Paulus is Scientific Director and President of the Laureate Institute for Brain Research and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.

Contents
List of Contributors vii
Preface xi
The Day Sue Almost Got Mad at Me xv
1 Intrusive Thinking: From Molecules to Free Will 1
Molecules and Circuits
2 What Are the Circuits That Mediate and Update Intrusive
Thinking? 11
3 Corticostriatal Intrusions 21
4 What Is the State-of-the-Art Toolbox for How Circuits
Mediate Behavior? 39
5 Convergent Experimental Systems for Dissecting the
Neurobiology of Intrusive Thought: A Road Map 53
Psychology and Cognition
6 How Can Intrusive Thinking Be Measured in Vivo and
Studied in the Context of Brain Mechanisms? 79
7 Conceptualizing Intrusive Thinking at the Level of
Psychological Mechanisms 97
8 Current Psychiatric Perspectives on Intrusive Thinking 113
9 Neuropsychological Mechanisms of Intrusive Thinking 125
Systems and Models
10 Networks Relevant to Psychopathology and
Intrusive Thought 187
11 Brain Networks for Cognitive Control: Four Unresolved
Questions 203
12 A Framework for Understanding Agency 229
13 Systems Approach to Intrusive Experiences 245
Interventions and Treatments
14 Psychological Interventions as They Relate to Intrusive
Thinking: Intrusive, Emotional Mental Imagery after
Traumatic and Negative Events 287
15 Pharmacological Interventions as They Relate to
Intrusive Thinking 315
16 Developing a Neuromodulation Tool to Suppress Intrusive
Thinking: Things We (Think We) Know and Things We Need
to Figure Out 329
17 Interventions and Implications 347
Bibliography 379
Subject Index 447
Strüngmann Forum Report Series 456