Effort valuation and psychopathology in children and adults

Neural correlates of reward valuation in individuals with nonsuicidal self-injury under uncertainty

BACKGROUND

Attitudes toward risk and ambiguity significantly influence how individuals assess and value rewards. This fMRI study examines the reward valuation process under conditions of uncertainty and investigates the associated neural mechanisms in individuals who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) as a coping mechanism for psychological pain.

METHODS

The study involved 44 unmedicated individuals who reported five or more NSSI episodes in the past year, along with 42 age-, sex-, handedness-, IQ-, and socioeconomic status-matched controls. During the fMRI scans, all participants were presented with decision-making scenarios involving uncertainty, both in terms of risk (known probabilities) and ambiguity (unknown probabilities).

RESULTS

In the NSSI group, aversive attitudes toward ambiguity were correlated with increased emotion reactivity and greater method versatility. Whole-brain analysis revealed notable group-by-condition interactions in the right middle cingulate cortex and left hippocampus. Specifically, the NSSI group showed decreased neural activation under ambiguity v. risk compared to the control group. Moreover, reduced hippocampal activation under ambiguity in the NSSI group was associated with increased emotion regulation problems.

CONCLUSIONS

This study presents the first evidence of reduced brain activity in specific regions during value-based decision-making under conditions of ambiguity in individuals with NSSI. These findings have important clinical implications, particularly concerning emotion dysregulation in this population. This study indicates the need for interventions that support and guide individuals with NSSI to promote adaptive decision-making in the face of ambiguous uncertainty.

Novel genome-wide associations for effort valuation and psychopathology in children and adults

The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative was established by the US National Institute of Mental Health as a multilevel, disorder-agnostic framework for analysis of human psychopathology through designated domains and constructs, including the "Positive Valence Systems" domain focused on reward-related behavior. This study investigates the reward valuation subconstruct of "effort" and its association with genetic markers, functional neurobiological pathways, and polygenic risk scores for psychopathology in 1215 children aged 6-12 and their parents (n = 1044). All participants completed the effort expenditure for rewards task (EEfRT), which assesses "effort" according to two quantitative measures: hard-task choice and reward sensitivity. Genetic association analyses were undertaken in MAGMA, utilizing EEfRT outcome variables as genome-wide association studies phenotypes to compute SNP and gene-level associations. Genome-wide association analyses found two distinct genetic loci that were significantly associated with measures of reward sensitivity and a separate genetic locus associated with hard task choice. Gene-set enrichment analysis yielded significant associations between "effort" and multiple gene sets involved in reward processing-related pathways, including dopamine receptor signaling, limbic system and forebrain development, and biological response to cocaine. These results serve to establish "effort" as a relevant construct for understanding reward-related behavior at the genetic level and support the RDoC framework for assessing disorder-agnostic psychopathology.

Reward Functioning in General and Specific Psychopathology in Children and Adults

OBJECTIVE

Problems with reward processing have been implicated in multiple psychiatric disorders, but psychiatric comorbidities are common and their specificity to individual psychopathologies is unknown. Here, we evaluate the association between reward functioning and general or specific psychopathologies.

METHOD

1,213 adults and their1,531 children (ages 6-12) completed various measures of the Positive Valence System domain from the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC). Psychopathology was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist for children and the Adult Self Report for parents.

RESULTS

One general factor identified via principal factors factor analysis explained most variance in psychopathology in both groups. Measures of reward were associated with the general factor and most specific psychopathologies. Certain reward constructs were associated solely with specific psychopathologies but not general psychopathology. However, some prior associations between reward and psychopathology did not hold following removal of comorbidity.

CONCLUSION

Reward dysfunction is significantly associated with both general and specific psychopathologies.

Impaired cognitive control moderates the relation between the attribution of incentive salience and severity of consumption in patients with methamphetamine dependence

BACKGROUND

Cognitive control and the attribution of incentive salience are two key neuropsychological processes proposed to explain substance use disorder (SUD). However, little is known about how they interact to influence the severity of drug use in people with SUD.

OBJECTIVE

To determine if cognitive control exerts a moderating effect on the relation between the attribution of salience to drug/reward-related cues and the severity of drug use in SUD cases.

METHOD

Sixty-nine SUD cases with methamphetamine as the main drug of consumption were selected and evaluated. Participants performed the Stroop, Go/No-Go, and Flanker tasks to identify a latent cognitive control factor, and the Effort-Expenditure for Reward task, as well as answering the Methamphetamine Incentive Salience Questionnaire to measure the attribution of incentive salience. Severity of drug use was determined by the KMSK scale and an exploratory clinical interview.

RESULTS

As expected, higher incentive salience attribution predicted greater severity of methamphetamine use. Unexpectedly, however, we found a moderating effect of impaired cognitive control on the relations between higher incentive salience scores and higher monthly drug use, and between younger age at onset of systematic drug use and higher incentive salience scores.

CONCLUSION

Results show the moderating role of cognitive control on the relation between incentive salience attribution and severity of drug use in SUD cases, and help explain the chronic, relapsing nature of addiction, knowledge necessary to develop more precise prevention and treatment strategies.

Examining the reliability and validity of two versions of the Effort-Expenditure for Rewards Task (EEfRT)

The Effort-Expenditure for Rewards Task (EEfRT) has gained validity evidence from several studies. However, various modifications have been applied to the original version, which have never been compared systematically. In Study 1, we tested 120 healthy participants to directly compare two versions of the EEfRT. In Study 2, we tested a larger sample of 394 healthy participants to further examine the original EEfRT. We replicated the split-half reliability of both task versions. However, self-reported personality traits (e.g., trait BAS) correlated with only some task performance parameters in Study 1, which did not replicate for the original EEfRT in Study 2. Our results indicate complex and sometimes inconsistent relations between different personality traits, task properties, and reward attributes.