Underlying decision making processes on Iowa Gambling Task

Older adults' decision-making following bad advice

There is minimal research investigating the influence of advice on decision-making in older age. The present study investigated the effect of different types of bad advice, relative to no advice, on young and older adults' decision-making in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Fifty-four older adults and 59 young adults completed the IGT after receiving no advice, or advice to select from disadvantageous deck A (small, high-frequency losses), or disadvantageous deck B (larger, low-frequency losses). Corrugator EMG, memory and fluid intelligence were assessed. Averaged across advice conditions, older adults made more disadvantageous selections than young adults. There were no age-related differences in responding to bad advice, nor in corrugator activity in response to losses (i.e. frowning), or in learning to avoid deck A faster than deck B. Selecting from deck B was associated with reduced education among older adults, and reduced fluid intelligence among young adults. The data suggest that older adults make more disadvantageous decisions than young adults, and this is not exacerbated by bad advice. Both young and older adults are slower at learning to avoid choices resulting in low frequency relative to high-frequency losses, and this may be associated with individual differences in cognitive processing.

Decision-making and frontoparietal resting-state functional connectivity among impulsive-compulsive diagnoses. Insights from a Bayesian approach

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is one of the most widely used paradigms for assessing decision-making. An impairment in this process may be linked to several psychopathological disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), substance abuse disorder (SUD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which could make it a good candidate for being consider a transdiagnostic domain. Resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) has been proposed as a promising biomarker of decision-making. In this study, we aimed to identify idiosyncratic decision-making profiles among healthy people and impulsive-compulsive spectrum patients during the IGT, and to investigate the role of frontoparietal network (FPN) rsFC as a possible biomarker of different decision-making patterns. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), rsFC of 114 adults (34 controls; 25 OCD; 41 SUD; 14 ADHD) was obtained. Then, they completed the IGT. Hybrid clustering methods based on individual deck choices yielded three decision-makers subgroups. Cluster 1 (n = 27) showed a long-term advantageous strategy. Cluster 2 (n = 25) presented a maladaptive decision-making strategy. Cluster 3 (n = 62) did not develop a preference for any deck during the task. Interestingly, the proportion of participants in each cluster was not different between diagnostic groups. A Bayesian general linear model showed no credible differences in the IGT performance between diagnostic groups nor credible evidence to support the role of FPN rsFC as a biomarker of decision-making under the IGT context. This study highlights the importance of exploring in depth the behavioral and neurophysiological variables that may drive decision-making in clinical and healthy populations.

High-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex reduces drug craving and improves decision-making ability in methamphetamine use disorder

Methamphetamine abuse is escalating worldwide. Its strong and irreversible neurotoxicity generally causes structural and functional changes in the brain. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) as a non-invasive tool can be used to modulate neuronal activity, cortical excitability, and dopaminergic neurotransmission. This study aims to explore the efficacy of high-frequency rTMS in reducing drug craving and increasing decision-making ability for methamphetamine use disorder patients. Sixty-four methamphetamine use disorder patients were randomized to sham rTMS group and 10-Hz rTMS group. Visual analog scale (VAS) and Iowa game test (IGT) were used to evaluate drug craving and cognitive decision-making ability before and after treatment. Before the treatment, the two groups had no differences in the scores of VAS and IGT. After the intervention, VAS scores of 10-Hz rTMS group were significantly lower than that of sham rTMS group. In addition, the two groups had significant differences in the net score of IGT on block 4 and block 5, which favoured the 10-Hz rTMS group. Taken together, the present results suggest that High-frequency rTMS can be used to reduce drug craving and improve decision-making function for methamphetamine use disorder.

Age-related differences in decision-making process in the context of healthy aging

During aging cognitive functions change differently from others. Unlike most of the body systems, there is no clear decline pattern in cognitive processes. One of the most significant cognitive processes is decision-making, which defines social interactions, economical relationships, and risky behavior. Among factors influence decisionmaking process, individual lifelong experience is considered to be an important one. Obviously, older adults have more life experience, than the younger groups. However, the former often do not tend to rational choices and beneficial strategies. In this case it is important to assess how aging processes in brain contribute into searching for the most beneficial option during decision-making. On the basis of today’s studies about risky behavior, judgement of fairness, financial games, and modern neuroimaging data this review will observe and discuss age-related differences in decision-making. Thus, a correct cognitive profile of older adult in decision-making context can be determined.

Integrated intervention program for alcoholism improves impulsiveness and disadvantageous reward processing/risk-taking

BACKGROUND

Impulsivity and aberrant reward processing are the core features of substance use disorders, including alcoholism. The present study examined the effects of an Integrated Intervention Program for Alcoholism (IIPA) on impulsiveness and disadvantageous reward processing/risk-taking in persons with alcoholism.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study adopted age- and education-matched (±1 year) randomized control design with the pre-post comparison. The sample comprised 50 persons with alcoholism. They were allotted randomly into two groups, the intervention (IIPA) group and treatment as usual (TAU) group (n = 25 in each). Participants were assessed at pre-intervention on impulsivity (Barratt's Impulsiveness Scale) and decision-making task, which reflects reward processing deficits (modified Iowa gambling task [mIGT]). The TAU group received usual treatment for alcoholism (i.e., pharmacotherapy; three sessions in a week group therapy on relapse prevention and six sessions in week yoga) for 18 days. The intervention group received IIPA along with usual treatment (except yoga). Outcome assessment was repeated after 18 days of intervention.

RESULTS

Both groups were comparable at pre-intervention (baseline). However, the intervention (IIPA) group showed a significant reduction in impulsivity and selection from disadvantageous decks on mIGT at post-intervention, while the TAU group had no significant change.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that IIPA could improve impulsivity and disadvantageous reward processing/risk-taking in persons with alcoholism. These are core features of substance use disorders and could pose a high chance for relapse after treatment. Further studies may examine improving these characteristics with IIPA and its impact on treatment outcomes such as relapse rate and maintaining sobriety.

[A quasi-experimental study on the decisions, behavioral regulation, and metacognition of Ecuadorian men]

Introduction

Decision-making is one of the most critical components of people's lives. It involves cognitive factors, which are responsible for processing the stimuli present in the task, remembering past experiences, and assessing the possible consequences that emotional decisions can have. So far, there are no studies of this nature in Ecuador, so this research seeks to establish the characteristics of the Ecuadorian population. With the results obtained, we expect to gain insight into the way this population handles decisions in daily life.

Objective

To relate decision-making to behavioral regulation and metacognition in a sample of Ecuadorian men.

Methods

We used a quasi-experimental design. We recruited 33 male subjects from the general population. We evaluated decision-making through the experimental Iowa Gambling Task. Behavior regulation and metacognition were assessed with the Executive Func-tion Behavior Classification (adult version).

Results

The main result was that, in the index of behavior regulation, decision-making is related to change and emotional control. In the metacognition index, it is related to working memory, task organization, and planning and organization. We found that the partic-ipants tend to make risky decisions at the beginning of the task, but as it progresses, participants make less risky decisions.

Conclusions

The implicit learning of the test operation allows the participants to assign emotional values to the results obtained when choos-ing a particular deck that takes into account past experiences, thus making it possible to anticipate consequences. The results are novel in that the relationship between an experimental behavior pattern linked to risky and non-risky decisions and its association with different executive functions is analyzed through the application of a questionnaire.