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Lloyd A, Roiser JP, Skeen S, Freeman Z, Badalova A, Agunbiade A, Busakhwe C, DeFlorio C, Marcu A, Pirie H, Saleh R, Snyder T, Fearon P, Viding E. Reviewing explore/exploit decision-making as a transdiagnostic target for psychosis, depression, and anxiety. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2024:10.3758/s13415-024-01186-9. [PMID: 38653937 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-024-01186-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
In many everyday decisions, individuals choose between trialling something novel or something they know well. Deciding when to try a new option or stick with an option that is already known to you, known as the "explore/exploit" dilemma, is an important feature of cognition that characterises a range of decision-making contexts encountered by humans. Recent evidence has suggested preferences in explore/exploit biases are associated with psychopathology, although this has typically been examined within individual disorders. The current review examined whether explore/exploit decision-making represents a promising transdiagnostic target for psychosis, depression, and anxiety. A systematic search of academic databases was conducted, yielding a total of 29 studies. Studies examining psychosis were mostly consistent in showing that individuals with psychosis explored more compared with individuals without psychosis. The literature on anxiety and depression was more heterogenous; some studies found that anxiety and depression were associated with more exploration, whereas other studies demonstrated reduced exploration in anxiety and depression. However, examining a subset of studies that employed case-control methods, there was some evidence that both anxiety and depression also were associated with increased exploration. Due to the heterogeneity across the literature, we suggest that there is insufficient evidence to conclude whether explore/exploit decision-making is a transdiagnostic target for psychosis, depression, and anxiety. However, alongside our advisory groups of lived experience advisors, we suggest that this context of decision-making is a promising candidate that merits further investigation using well-powered, longitudinal designs. Such work also should examine whether biases in explore/exploit choices are amenable to intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Lloyd
- Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AP, UK.
| | - Jonathan P Roiser
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - Sarah Skeen
- Institute for Life Course Health Research, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Ze Freeman
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Aygun Badalova
- Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | | | | | | | - Anna Marcu
- Young People's Advisor Group, London, UK
| | | | | | | | - Pasco Fearon
- Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AP, UK
- Centre for Family Research, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Essi Viding
- Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AP, UK
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2
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Fricke K, Alexander N, Jacobsen T, Vogel S. Comparison of two reaction-time-based and one foraging-based behavioral approach-avoidance tasks in relation to interindividual differences and their reliability. Sci Rep 2023; 13:22376. [PMID: 38104189 PMCID: PMC10725419 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-49864-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: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Approaching rewards and avoiding punishments is a fundamental aspect of behavior, yet individuals differ in the extent of these behavioral tendencies. One popular method to assess differences in approach-avoidance tendencies and even modify them, is using behavioral tasks in which spontaneous responses to differently valenced stimuli are assessed (e.g., the visual joystick and the manikin task). Understanding whether these reaction-time-based tasks map onto the same underlying constructs, how they predict interindividual differences in theoretically related constructs and how reliable they are, seems vital to make informed judgements about current findings and future studies. In this preregistered study, 168 participants (81 self-identified men, 87 women) completed emotional face versions of these tasks as well as an alternative, foraging-based paradigm, the approach-avoidance-conflict task, and answered self-report questionnaires regarding anxiety, aggression, depressive symptoms, behavioral inhibition and activation. Importantly, approach-avoidance outcome measures of the two reaction-time-based tasks were unrelated with each other, showed little relation to self-reported interindividual differences and had subpar internal consistencies. In contrast, the approach-avoidance-conflict task was related to behavioral inhibition and aggression, and had good internal consistencies. Our study highlights the need for more research into optimizing behavioral approach-avoidance measures when using task-based approach-avoidance measures to assess interindividual differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kim Fricke
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany.
- Medical School Hamburg, ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Nina Alexander
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps University Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Str. 8, 35039, Marburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Jacobsen
- Experimental Psychology Unit, Helmut-Schmidt-University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Holstenhofweg 85, 22043, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Susanne Vogel
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany
- Medical School Hamburg, ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany
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3
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Sporrer JK, Brookes J, Hall S, Zabbah S, Serratos Hernandez UD, Bach DR. Functional sophistication in human escape. iScience 2023; 26:108240. [PMID: 38026199 PMCID: PMC10654542 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Revised: 05/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Animals including humans must cope with immediate threat and make rapid decisions to survive. Without much leeway for cognitive or motor errors, this poses a formidable computational problem. Utilizing fully immersive virtual reality with 13 natural threats, we examined escape decisions in N = 59 humans. We show that escape goals are dynamically updated according to environmental changes. The decision whether and when to escape depends on time-to-impact, threat identity and predicted trajectory, and stable personal characteristics. Its implementation appears to integrate secondary goals such as behavioral affordances. Perturbance experiments show that the underlying decision algorithm exhibits planning properties and can integrate novel actions. In contrast, rapid information-seeking and foraging-suppression are only partly devaluation-sensitive. Instead of being instinctive or hardwired stimulus-response patterns, human escape decisions integrate multiple variables in a flexible computational architecture. Taken together, we provide steps toward a computational model of how the human brain rapidly solves survival challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliana K. Sporrer
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research and Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1B 5EH, UK
| | - Jack Brookes
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research and Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1B 5EH, UK
| | - Samson Hall
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research and Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1B 5EH, UK
| | - Sajjad Zabbah
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research and Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1B 5EH, UK
| | - Ulises Daniel Serratos Hernandez
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research and Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1B 5EH, UK
| | - Dominik R. Bach
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research and Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1B 5EH, UK
- University of Bonn, Transdisciplinary Research Area “Life and Health”, Hertz Chair for Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience, 53121 Bonn, Germany
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Lloyd A, Viding E, McKay R, Furl N. Understanding patch foraging strategies across development. Trends Cogn Sci 2023; 27:1085-1098. [PMID: 37500422 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.07.004] [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: 03/30/2023] [Revised: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Patch foraging is a near-ubiquitous behaviour across the animal kingdom and characterises many decision-making domains encountered by humans. We review how a disposition to explore in adolescence may reflect the evolutionary conditions under which hunter-gatherers foraged for resources. We propose that neurocomputational mechanisms responsible for reward processing, learning, and cognitive control facilitate the transition from exploratory strategies in adolescence to exploitative strategies in adulthood - where individuals capitalise on known resources. This developmental transition may be disrupted by psychopathology, as there is emerging evidence of biases in explore/exploit choices in mental health problems. Explore/exploit choices may be an informative marker for mental health across development and future research should consider this feature of decision-making as a target for clinical intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Lloyd
- Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology, Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AP, UK.
| | - Essi Viding
- Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology, Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AP, UK
| | - Ryan McKay
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham Hill, Egham, TW20 0EX, UK
| | - Nicholas Furl
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham Hill, Egham, TW20 0EX, UK
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Reiter AMF, Hula A, Vanes L, Hauser TU, Kokorikou D, Goodyer IM, Fonagy P, Moutoussis M, Dolan RJ. Self-reported childhood family adversity is linked to an attenuated gain of trust during adolescence. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6920. [PMID: 37903767 PMCID: PMC10616102 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41531-z] [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: 04/25/2022] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 11/01/2023] Open
Abstract
A longstanding proposal in developmental research is that childhood family experiences provide a template that shapes a capacity for trust-based social relationships. We leveraged longitudinal data from a cohort of healthy adolescents (n = 570, aged 14-25), which included decision-making and psychometric data, to characterise normative developmental trajectories of trust behaviour and inter-individual differences therein. Extending on previous cross-sectional findings from the same cohort, we show that a task-based measure of trust increases longitudinally from adolescence into young adulthood. Computational modelling suggests this is due to a decrease in social risk aversion. Self-reported family adversity attenuates this developmental gain in trust behaviour, and within our computational model, this relates to a higher 'irritability' parameter in those reporting greater adversity. Unconditional trust at measurement time point T1 predicts the longitudinal trajectory of self-reported peer relation quality, particularly so for those with higher family adversity, consistent with trust acting as a resilience factor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea M F Reiter
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London, UK.
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK.
- Department of Child and Adolescence Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Centre of Mental Health, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
- Department of Psychology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
- CRC Cognitive Control, Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
| | - Andreas Hula
- Austrian Institute of Technology, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lucy Vanes
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Tobias U Hauser
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London, UK
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School and University Hospital, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Tübingen, Germany
| | - Danae Kokorikou
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Ian M Goodyer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Peter Fonagy
- Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Michael Moutoussis
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London, UK
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
| | - Raymond J Dolan
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London, UK
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
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Sidorenko N, Chung HK, Grueschow M, Quednow BB, Hayward-Könnecke H, Jetter A, Tobler PN. Acetylcholine and noradrenaline enhance foraging optimality in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2305596120. [PMID: 37639601 PMCID: PMC10483619 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2305596120] [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: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Foraging theory prescribes when optimal foragers should leave the current option for more rewarding alternatives. Actual foragers often exploit options longer than prescribed by the theory, but it is unclear how this foraging suboptimality arises. We investigated whether the upregulation of cholinergic, noradrenergic, and dopaminergic systems increases foraging optimality. In a double-blind, between-subject design, participants (N = 160) received placebo, the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist nicotine, a noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor reboxetine, or a preferential dopamine reuptake inhibitor methylphenidate, and played the role of a farmer who collected milk from patches with different yield. Across all groups, participants on average overharvested. While methylphenidate had no effects on this bias, nicotine, and to some extent also reboxetine, significantly reduced deviation from foraging optimality, which resulted in better performance compared to placebo. Concurring with amplified goal-directedness and excluding heuristic explanations, nicotine independently also improved trial initiation and time perception. Our findings elucidate the neurochemical basis of behavioral flexibility and decision optimality and open unique perspectives on psychiatric disorders affecting these functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nick Sidorenko
- Department of Economics, Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, University of Zurich, Zurich8006, Switzerland
- Department of Economics, Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, University of Zurich, Zurich8006, Switzerland
| | - Hui-Kuan Chung
- Department of Economics, Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, University of Zurich, Zurich8006, Switzerland
- Department of Economics, Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, University of Zurich, Zurich8006, Switzerland
| | - Marcus Grueschow
- Department of Economics, Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, University of Zurich, Zurich8006, Switzerland
- Department of Economics, Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, University of Zurich, Zurich8006, Switzerland
| | - Boris B. Quednow
- Experimental and Clinical Pharmacopsychology, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich8008, Switzerland
- Neuroscience Center Zurich, ETH Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich8057, Switzerland
| | - Helen Hayward-Könnecke
- Department of Neurology, Section of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis Research, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich8091, Switzerland
| | - Alexander Jetter
- National Poisons Information Centre, Tox Info Suisse, Associated Institute of the University of Zurich, Zurich8032, Switzerland
| | - Philippe N. Tobler
- Department of Economics, Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, University of Zurich, Zurich8006, Switzerland
- Department of Economics, Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, University of Zurich, Zurich8006, Switzerland
- Neuroscience Center Zurich, ETH Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich8057, Switzerland
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Fricke K, Alexander N, Jacobsen T, Krug H, Wehkamp K, Vogel S. The effects of hydrocortisone and yohimbine on human behavior in approach-avoidance conflicts. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2023; 240:1705-1717. [PMID: 37314480 PMCID: PMC10265560 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-023-06396-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE Balancing approach of positive and avoidance of negative stimuli is essential when faced with approach-avoidance conflicts, e.g., situations with both positive and negative outcomes. This balance is disturbed in several mental disorders, e.g., excessive avoidance in anxiety disorders, and heightened approach in substance use disorders. Since stress is assumed to impact these disorders' etiology and maintenance, it seems crucial to understand how stress influences behavior in approach-avoidance conflicts. Indeed, some studies suggested altered approach-avoidance behavior under acute stress, but the mechanism underlying these effects is unknown. OBJECTIVES Investigate how the pharmacological manipulation of major stress mediators (cortisol and noradrenaline) influences task-based approach-avoidance conflict behavior in healthy individuals. METHODS Ninety-six participants (48 women, 48 men) received either 20mg hydrocortisone, 20mg yohimbine, both, or placebo before performing a task targeting foraging under predation in a fully crossed double-blind between-subject design. Moreover, we investigated effects of gender and endogenous testosterone and estradiol levels on approach-avoidance behavior. RESULTS While biological stress markers (cortisol concentration, alpha amylase activity) indicated successful pharmacological manipulation, behavior in approach-avoidance conflicts was not affected as expected. Although yohimbine administration affected risky foraging latency under predation, we found no main effect of hydrocortisone or their interaction on behavior. In contrast, we found gender differences for almost all behavioral outcome measures, which might be explained by differences in endogenous testosterone levels. CONCLUSIONS The investigated major stress mediators were not sufficient to imitate previously shown stress effects on approach-avoidance conflict behavior. We discuss potential reasons for our findings and implications for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kim Fricke
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany.
- ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Nina Alexander
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps University Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Str. 8, 35039, Marburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Jacobsen
- Experimental Psychology Unit, Helmut-Schmidt-University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Holstenhofweg 85, 22043, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Henriette Krug
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Kai Wehkamp
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Susanne Vogel
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany
- ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany
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Scholl J, Trier HA, Rushworth MFS, Kolling N. The effect of apathy and compulsivity on planning and stopping in sequential decision-making. PLoS Biol 2022; 20:e3001566. [PMID: 35358177 PMCID: PMC8970514 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2019] [Accepted: 02/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Real-life decision-making often comprises sequences of successive decisions about whether to take opportunities as they are encountered or keep searching for better ones instead. We investigated individual differences related to such sequential decision-making and link them especially to apathy and compulsivity in a large online sample (discovery sample: n = 449 and confirmation sample: n = 756). Our cognitive model revealed distinct changes in the way participants evaluated their environments and planned their own future behaviour. Apathy was linked to decision inertia, i.e., automatically persisting with a sequence of searches for longer than appropriate given the value of searching. Thus, despite being less motivated, they did not avoid the effort associated with longer searches. In contrast, compulsivity was linked to self-reported insensitivity to the cost of continuing with a sequence of searches. The objective measures of behavioural cost insensitivity were clearly linked to compulsivity only in the discovery sample. While the confirmation sample showed a similar effect, it did not reach significance. Nevertheless, in both samples, participants reported awareness of such bias (experienced as "overchasing"). In addition, this awareness made them report preemptively avoiding situations related to the bias. However, we found no evidence of them actually preempting more in the task, which might mean a misalignment of their metacognitive beliefs or that our behavioural measures were incomplete. In summary, individual variation in distinct, fundamental aspects of sequential decision-making can be linked to variation in 2 measures of behavioural traits associated with psychological illness in the normal population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacqueline Scholl
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292, PSYR2 Team, University Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, Pôle EST, Bron, France
- Wellcome Integrative Neuroimaging (WIN), Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Oxford Centre of Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Integrative Neuroimaging (WIN), Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Hailey A. Trier
- Wellcome Integrative Neuroimaging (WIN), Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Matthew F. S. Rushworth
- Wellcome Integrative Neuroimaging (WIN), Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB), Wellcome Integrative Neuroimaging (WIN), Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Nils Kolling
- Oxford Centre of Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Integrative Neuroimaging (WIN), Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Univ Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Inserm, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute U1208, Bron, France
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The non-human perspective on the neurobiology of temperament, personality, and psychopathology: what’s next? Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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10
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Resource scarcity compromises explore-exploit decision-making. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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11
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Cross-species anxiety tests in psychiatry: pitfalls and promises. Mol Psychiatry 2022; 27:154-163. [PMID: 34561614 PMCID: PMC8960405 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-021-01299-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Revised: 08/16/2021] [Accepted: 09/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Behavioural anxiety tests in non-human animals are used for anxiolytic drug discovery, and to investigate the neurobiology of threat avoidance. Over the past decade, several of them were translated to humans with three clinically relevant goals: to assess potential efficacy of candidate treatments in healthy humans; to develop diagnostic tests or biomarkers; and to elucidate the pathophysiology of anxiety disorders. In this review, we scrutinise these promises and compare seven anxiety tests that are validated across species: five approach-avoidance conflict tests, unpredictable shock anticipation, and the social intrusion test in children. Regarding the first goal, three tests appear suitable for anxiolytic drug screening in humans. However, they have not become part of the drug development pipeline and achieving this may require independent confirmation of predictive validity and cost-effectiveness. Secondly, two tests have shown potential to measure clinically relevant individual differences, but their psychometric properties, predictive value, and clinical applicability need to be clarified. Finally, cross-species research has not yet revealed new evidence that the physiology of healthy human behaviour in anxiety tests relates to the physiology of anxiety symptoms in patients. To summarise, cross-species anxiety tests could be rendered useful for drug screening and for development of diagnostic instruments. Using these tests for aetiology research in healthy humans or animals needs to be queried and may turn out to be unrealistic.
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Moutoussis M, Garzón B, Neufeld S, Bach DR, Rigoli F, Goodyer I, Bullmore E, Guitart-Masip M, Dolan RJ. Decision-making ability, psychopathology, and brain connectivity. Neuron 2021; 109:2025-2040.e7. [PMID: 34019810 PMCID: PMC8221811 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.04.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2020] [Revised: 02/16/2021] [Accepted: 04/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Decision-making is a cognitive process of central importance for the quality of our lives. Here, we ask whether a common factor underpins our diverse decision-making abilities. We obtained 32 decision-making measures from 830 young people and identified a common factor that we call "decision acuity," which was distinct from IQ and reflected a generic decision-making ability. Decision acuity was decreased in those with aberrant thinking and low general social functioning. Crucially, decision acuity and IQ had dissociable brain signatures, in terms of their associated neural networks of resting-state functional connectivity. Decision acuity was reliably measured, and its relationship with functional connectivity was also stable when measured in the same individuals 18 months later. Thus, our behavioral and brain data identify a new cognitive construct that underpins decision-making ability across multiple domains. This construct may be important for understanding mental health, particularly regarding poor social function and aberrant thought patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Moutoussis
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK; Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, UK.
| | - Benjamín Garzón
- Aging Research Centre, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Sharon Neufeld
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0SZ, UK
| | - Dominik R Bach
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK; Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, UK; Computational Psychiatry Research, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | - Ian Goodyer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0SZ, UK
| | - Edward Bullmore
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0SZ, UK
| | - Marc Guitart-Masip
- Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, UK; Aging Research Centre, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Raymond J Dolan
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK; Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, UK
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Lloyd A, McKay R, Sebastian CL, Balsters JH. Are adolescents more optimal decision-makers in novel environments? Examining the benefits of heightened exploration in a patch foraging paradigm. Dev Sci 2020; 24:e13075. [PMID: 33305510 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2020] [Revised: 12/05/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Adolescence is a period of heightened exploration relative to adulthood and childhood. This predisposition has been linked with negative behaviours related to risk-taking, including dangerous driving, substance misuse and risky sexual practices. However, recent models have argued that adolescents' heightened exploration serves a functional purpose within the lifespan, allowing adolescents to develop experiential knowledge of their surroundings. Yet, there is limited evidence that heightened exploration in adolescence is associated with positive outcomes. To address this, the present pre-registered study utilised a foraging paradigm with a sample of adolescents aged 16-17 (N = 68) and of adults aged 21 and above (N = 69). Participants completed a patch foraging task, which required them to choose between exploiting a known resource which gradually yields fewer rewards, and exploring a novel, unknown resource with a fresh distribution of rewards. Findings demonstrated that adolescents explored more than adults, which - in the context of the current task-represented more optimal patch foraging behaviour. These findings indicate that adolescents' heightened exploration can be beneficial, as they were able to effectively navigate unknown environments and accrue rewards more successfully than adults. This provides evidence that heightened exploration in adolescence, relative to adulthood, can lead to positive outcomes and contributes to our understanding of the role increased novelty-seeking plays at this point in the lifespan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Lloyd
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
| | - Ryan McKay
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
| | | | - Joshua H Balsters
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
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