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Wüllhorst R, Wüllhorst V, Endrass T. Risk-Taking Is Associated with Decreased Subjective Value Signals and Increased Prediction Error Signals in the Hot Columbia Card Task. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e1337232024. [PMID: 38561225 PMCID: PMC11112641 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1337-23.2024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Revised: 03/05/2024] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
It remains a pressing concern to understand how neural computations relate to risky decisions. However, most observations of brain-behavior relationships in the risk-taking domain lack a rigorous computational basis or fail to emulate of the dynamic, sequential nature of real-life risky decision-making. Recent advances emphasize the role of neural prediction error (PE) signals. We modeled, according to prospect theory, the choices of n = 43 human participants (33 females, 10 males) performing an EEG version of the hot Columbia Card Task, featuring rounds of sequential decisions between stopping (safe option) and continuing with increasing odds of a high loss (risky option). Single-trial regression EEG analyses yielded a subjective value signal at centroparietal (300-700 ms) and frontocentral (>800 ms) electrodes and in the delta band, as well as PE signals tied to the feedback-related negativity, P3a, and P3b, and in the theta band. Higher risk preference (total number of risky choices) was linked to attenuated subjective value signals but increased PE signals. Higher P3-like activity associated with the most positive PE in each round predicted stopping in the present round but not risk-taking in the subsequent round. Our findings indicate that decreased representation of decision values and increased sensitivity to winning despite low odds (positive PE) facilitate risky choices at the subject level. Strong neural responses when gains are least expected (the most positive PE on each round) adaptively contribute to safer choices at the trial-by-trial level but do not affect risky choice at the round-by-round level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raoul Wüllhorst
- Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden 01187, Germany
| | - Verena Wüllhorst
- Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden 01187, Germany
| | - Tanja Endrass
- Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden 01187, Germany
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Marciano D, Bellier L, Mayer I, Ruvalcaba M, Lee S, Hsu M, Knight RT. Dynamic expectations: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence of sub-second updates in reward predictions. Commun Biol 2023; 6:871. [PMID: 37620589 PMCID: PMC10449862 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05199-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Expectations are often dynamic: sports fans know that expectations are rapidly updated as games unfold. Yet expectations have traditionally been studied as static. Here we present behavioral and electrophysiological evidence of sub-second changes in expectations using slot machines as a case study. In Study 1, we demonstrate that EEG signal before the slot machine stops varies based on proximity to winning. Study 2 introduces a behavioral paradigm to measure dynamic expectations via betting, and shows that expectation trajectories vary as a function of winning proximity. Notably, these expectation trajectories parallel Study 1's EEG activity. Studies 3 (EEG) and 4 (behavioral) replicate these findings in the loss domain. These four studies provide compelling evidence that dynamic sub-second updates in expectations can be behaviorally and electrophysiologically measured. Our research opens promising avenues for understanding the dynamic nature of reward expectations and their impact on cognitive processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Déborah Marciano
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
- Haas Business School, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
| | - Ludovic Bellier
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Ida Mayer
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Haas Business School, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Michael Ruvalcaba
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Sangil Lee
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Ming Hsu
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Haas Business School, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Robert T Knight
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
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Rehbein MA, Kroker T, Winker C, Ziehfreund L, Reschke A, Bölte J, Wyczesany M, Roesmann K, Wessing I, Junghöfer M. Non-invasive stimulation reveals ventromedial prefrontal cortex function in reward prediction and reward processing. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1219029. [PMID: 37650099 PMCID: PMC10465130 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1219029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Studies suggest an involvement of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in reward prediction and processing, with reward-based learning relying on neural activity in response to unpredicted rewards or non-rewards (reward prediction error, RPE). Here, we investigated the causal role of the vmPFC in reward prediction, processing, and RPE signaling by transiently modulating vmPFC excitability using transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). Methods Participants received excitatory or inhibitory tDCS of the vmPFC before completing a gambling task, in which cues signaled varying reward probabilities and symbols provided feedback on monetary gain or loss. We collected self-reported and evaluative data on reward prediction and processing. In addition, cue-locked and feedback-locked neural activity via magnetoencephalography (MEG) and pupil diameter using eye-tracking were recorded. Results Regarding reward prediction (cue-locked analysis), vmPFC excitation (versus inhibition) resulted in increased prefrontal activation preceding loss predictions, increased pupil dilations, and tentatively more optimistic reward predictions. Regarding reward processing (feedback-locked analysis), vmPFC excitation (versus inhibition) resulted in increased pleasantness, increased vmPFC activation, especially for unpredicted gains (i.e., gain RPEs), decreased perseveration in choice behavior after negative feedback, and increased pupil dilations. Discussion Our results support the pivotal role of the vmPFC in reward prediction and processing. Furthermore, they suggest that transient vmPFC excitation via tDCS induces a positive bias into the reward system that leads to enhanced anticipation and appraisal of positive outcomes and improves reward-based learning, as indicated by greater behavioral flexibility after losses and unpredicted outcomes, which can be seen as an improved reaction to the received feedback.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maimu Alissa Rehbein
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Thomas Kroker
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Constantin Winker
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Lena Ziehfreund
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Anna Reschke
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Jens Bölte
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | | | - Kati Roesmann
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Institute for Clinical Psychology, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
| | - Ida Wessing
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Markus Junghöfer
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany
- Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
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Migeot J, Hesse E, Fittipaldi S, Mejía J, Fraile M, García AM, García MDC, Ortega R, Lawlor B, Lopez V, Ibáñez A. Allostatic-interoceptive anticipation of social rejection. Neuroimage 2023; 276:120200. [PMID: 37245560 PMCID: PMC11163516 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Anticipating social stress evokes strong reactions in the organism, including interoceptive modulations. However, evidence for this claim comes from behavioral studies, often with inconsistent results, and relates almost solely to the reactive and recovery phase of social stress exposure. Here, we adopted an allostatic-interoceptive predictive coding framework to study interoceptive and exteroceptive anticipatory brain responses using a social rejection task. We analyzed the heart-evoked potential (HEP) and task-related oscillatory activity of 58 adolescents via scalp EEG, and 385 human intracranial recordings of three patients with intractable epilepsy. We found that anticipatory interoceptive signals increased in the face of unexpected social outcomes, reflected in larger negative HEP modulations. Such signals emerged from key brain allostatic-interoceptive network hubs, as shown by intracranial recordings. Exteroceptive signals were characterized by early activity between 1-15 Hz across conditions, and modulated by the probabilistic anticipation of reward-related outcomes, observed over distributed brain regions. Our findings suggest that the anticipation of a social outcome is characterized by allostatic-interoceptive modulations that prepare the organism for possible rejection. These results inform our understanding of interoceptive processing and constrain neurobiological models of social stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joaquín Migeot
- Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile; Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Eugenia Hesse
- Cognitive Neuroscience Center (CNC), Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Departamento de Matemática y Ciencias, Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Sol Fittipaldi
- Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile; Cognitive Neuroscience Center (CNC), Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, San Francisco, United States and Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
| | - Jhonny Mejía
- Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Matías Fraile
- Cognitive Neuroscience Center (CNC), Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Adolfo M García
- Cognitive Neuroscience Center (CNC), Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, San Francisco, United States and Trinity College Dublin, Ireland; Departamento de Lingüística y Literatura, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | | | - Rodrigo Ortega
- Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile
| | - Brian Lawlor
- Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, San Francisco, United States and Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
| | - Vladimir Lopez
- Escuela de Psicología, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencias, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile; Cognitive Neuroscience Center (CNC), Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, San Francisco, United States and Trinity College Dublin, Ireland; Predictive Brain Health Modelling Group, Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Dublin, Ireland.
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Fryer SL, Marton TF, Roach BJ, Holroyd CB, Abram SV, Lau KJ, Ford JM, McQuaid JR, Mathalon DH. Alpha Event-Related Desynchronization During Reward Processing in Schizophrenia. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2023; 8:551-559. [PMID: 37045705 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2022.12.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2022] [Revised: 12/28/2022] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Alterations in the brain's reward system may underlie motivation and pleasure deficits in schizophrenia (SZ). Neuro-oscillatory desynchronization in the alpha band is thought to direct resource allocation away from the internal state, to prioritize processing salient environmental events, including reward feedback. We hypothesized reduced reward-related alpha event-related desynchronization (ERD) in SZ, consistent with less externally focused processing during reward feedback. METHODS Electroencephalography was recorded while participants with SZ (n = 54) and healthy control participants (n = 54) played a simple slot machine task. Total alpha band power (8-14 Hz), a measure of neural oscillation magnitude, was extracted via principal component analysis and compared between groups and reward outcomes. The clinical relevance of hypothesized alpha power alterations was examined by testing associations with negative symptoms within the SZ group and with trait rumination, dimensionally, across groups. RESULTS A group × reward outcome interaction (p = .018) was explained by healthy control participants showing significant posterior-occipital alpha power suppression to wins versus losses (p < .001), in contrast to participants with SZ (p > .1). Among participants with SZ, this alpha ERD was unrelated to negative symptoms (p > .1). Across all participants, less alpha ERD to reward outcomes covaried with greater trait rumination for both win (p = .005) and loss (p = .002) outcomes, with no group differences in slope. CONCLUSIONS These findings demonstrate alpha ERD alterations in SZ during reward outcome processing. Additionally, higher trait rumination was associated with less alpha ERD during reward feedback, suggesting that individual differences in rumination covary with external attention to reward processing, regardless of reward outcome valence or group membership.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanna L Fryer
- VA San Francisco Healthcare System, Mental Health Service, San Francisco, California; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
| | - Tobias F Marton
- VA San Francisco Healthcare System, Mental Health Service, San Francisco, California; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Brian J Roach
- VA San Francisco Healthcare System, Mental Health Service, San Francisco, California
| | - Clay B Holroyd
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Samantha V Abram
- VA San Francisco Healthcare System, Mental Health Service, San Francisco, California; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Ken J Lau
- VA San Francisco Healthcare System, Mental Health Service, San Francisco, California
| | - Judith M Ford
- VA San Francisco Healthcare System, Mental Health Service, San Francisco, California; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - John R McQuaid
- VA San Francisco Healthcare System, Mental Health Service, San Francisco, California; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Daniel H Mathalon
- VA San Francisco Healthcare System, Mental Health Service, San Francisco, California; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California
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Marciano D, Bellier L, Mayer I, Ruvalcaba M, Lee S, Hsu M, Knight RT. Dynamic expectations: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence of sub-second updates in reward predictions. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.04.18.537382. [PMID: 37131777 PMCID: PMC10153130 DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.18.537382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Expectations are often dynamic: any sports fan knows that expectations are rapidly updated as games unfold. Yet expectations have traditionally been studied as static. Here, using slot machines as a case study, we provide parallel behavioral and electrophysiological evidence of sub-second moment-to-moment changes in expectations. In Study 1, we show that the dynamics of the EEG signal before the slot machine stopped differed depending on the nature of the outcome, including not only whether the participant won or lost, but also how close they came to winning. In line with our predictions, Near Win Before outcomes (the slot machine stops one item before a match) were similar to Wins, but different than Near Win After (the machine stops one item after a match) and Full Miss (the machine stops two or three items from a match). In Study 2, we designed a novel behavioral paradigm to measure moment-to-moment changes in expectations via dynamic betting. We found that different outcomes also elicited unique expectation trajectories in the deceleration phase. Notably, these behavioral expectation trajectories paralleled Study 1's EEG activity in the last second prior to the machine's stop. In Studies 3 (EEG) and 4 (behavior) we replicated these findings in the loss domain where a match entails a loss. Again, we found a significant correlation between behavioral and EEG results. These four studies provide the first evidence that dynamic sub-second updates in expectations can be behaviorally and electrophysiologically measured. Our findings open up new avenues for studying the ongoing dynamics of reward expectations and their role in healthy and unhealthy cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Déborah Marciano
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley
- Haas Business School, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Ludovic Bellier
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Ida Mayer
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley
- Haas Business School, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Michael Ruvalcaba
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Sangil Lee
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Ming Hsu
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley
- Haas Business School, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Robert T Knight
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley
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