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Sarmiento LF, Lopes da Cunha P, Tabares S, Tafet G, Gouveia Jr A. Decision-making under stress: A psychological and neurobiological integrative model. Brain Behav Immun Health 2024; 38:100766. [PMID: 38694793 PMCID: PMC11061251 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbih.2024.100766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2024] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 05/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Understanding the impact of stress on cognitive processes, particularly decision-making, is crucial as it underpins behaviors essential for survival. However, research in this domain has yielded disparate results, with inconsistencies evident across stress-induction paradigms and drug administration protocols designed to investigate specific stress pathways or neuromodulators. Building upon empirical studies, this research identifies a multifaceted matrix of variables contributing to the divergent findings. This matrix encompasses factors such as the temporal proximity between stressors and decision tasks, the nature of stressors and decision contexts, individual characteristics including psychobiological profiles and affective states at the time of decision-making and even cultural influences. In response to these complexities, we propose a comprehensive model that integrates these relevant factors and their intricate interplay to elucidate the mechanisms governing decision-making during stressful events. By synthesizing these insights, our model not only refines existing paradigms but also provides a framework for future study designs, offering avenues for theoretical advancements and translational developments in the field of stress's impact on cognitive functions. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the nuanced relationship between stress and decision-making, ultimately advancing our knowledge of cognitive processes under challenging conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Felipe Sarmiento
- BioTechMed Center, Brain & Mind Electrophysiology Laboratory, Multimedia Systems Department, Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics, Gdansk University of Technology, Gdansk, Poland
| | - Pamela Lopes da Cunha
- Cognitive Neuroscience Center, University of San Andres, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Sonia Tabares
- International Foundation for the Development of Neurosciences, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Gustavo Tafet
- International Foundation for the Development of Neurosciences, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Texas A&M University, Texas, USA
| | - Amauri Gouveia Jr
- Laboratory of Neuroscience and Behavior, Federal University from Pará, Brazil
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Duarte IC, Dionísio A, Oliveira J, Simões M, Correia R, Dias JA, Caldeira S, Redondo J, Castelo-Branco M. Neural underpinnings of ethical decisions in life and death dilemmas in naïve and expert firefighters. Sci Rep 2024; 14:13222. [PMID: 38851794 PMCID: PMC11162493 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-63469-y] [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: 01/21/2024] [Accepted: 05/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/10/2024] Open
Abstract
When a single choice impacts on life outcomes, faculties to make ethical judgments come into play. Here we studied decisions in a real-life setting involving life-and-death outcomes that affect others and the decision-maker as well. We chose a genuine situation where prior training and expertise play a role: firefighting in life-threatening situations. By studying the neural correlates of dilemmas involving life-saving decisions, using realistic firefighting situations, allowed us to go beyond previously used hypothetical dilemmas, while addressing the role of expertise and the use of coping strategies (n = 47). We asked the question whether the neural underpinnings of deontologically based decisions are affected by expertise. These realistic life-saving dilemmas activate the same core reward and affective processing network, in particular the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens and amygdala, irrespective of prior expertise, thereby supporting general domain theories of ethical decision-making. We found that brain activity in the hippocampus and insula parametrically increased as the risk increased. Connectivity analysis showed a larger directed influence of the insula on circuits related to action selection in non-experts, which were slower than experts in non rescuing decisions. Relative neural activity related to the decision to rescue or not, in the caudate nucleus, insula and anterior cingulate cortex was negatively associated with coping strategies, in experts (firefighters) suggesting practice-based learning. This shows an association between activity and expert-related usage of coping strategies. Expertise enables salience network activation as a function of behavioural coping dimensions, with a distinct connectivity profile when facing life-rescuing dilemmas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabel C Duarte
- Institute for Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Ana Dionísio
- Institute for Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Joana Oliveira
- Institute for Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Faculty of Medicine (FMUC), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Marco Simões
- Institute for Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Center for Informatics and Systems of University of Coimbra (CISUC), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Rita Correia
- Institute for Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Center for Informatics and Systems of University of Coimbra (CISUC), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Joana A Dias
- Institute for Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Salomé Caldeira
- Centre for Prevention and Treatment of Psychological Trauma (CPTTP), Department of Psychiatry, Coimbra University Hospital Centre (CHUC), Coimbra, Portugal
| | - João Redondo
- Centre for Prevention and Treatment of Psychological Trauma (CPTTP), Department of Psychiatry, Coimbra University Hospital Centre (CHUC), Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Miguel Castelo-Branco
- Institute for Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
- Faculty of Medicine (FMUC), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
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Ankri YLE, Braw YC, Meiron O. Stress and Right Prefrontal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Interactive Effects on Visual Working Memory and Learning. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1642. [PMID: 38137090 PMCID: PMC10741696 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13121642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 11/16/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Stress impacts prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity and modulates working memory performance. In a recent study, stimulating the dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC) using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) interacted with social stress in modulating participants' working memory. More specifically, stress disrupted the enhancing effects of dlPFC tDCS on working memory performance. The current study aimed to further explore these initial findings by randomizing healthy females to four experimental conditions (N = 130); stimulation (right dlPFC tDCS vs. sham) and stress manipulation (social stress vs. control). Participants performed cognitive tasks (i.e., visual working memory task and a visual declarative memory task) at baseline and post-stimulation. They also completed self-report measures of stress and anxiety. A significant stimulation × stress interaction was evident in the declarative memory (One-Card Learning, OCL) task, while working memory performance was unaffected. Though tDCS stimulation and stress did not interact to affect working memory, further research is warranted as these initial findings suggest that immediate visual-memory learning may be affected by these factors. The limited number of earlier studies, as well as the variability in their designs, provides additional impetus for studying the interactive effects of stress and tDCS on human visual learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yael L. E. Ankri
- Department of Psychology, Ariel University, Ariel 4077625, Israel; (Y.L.E.A.); (Y.C.B.)
| | - Yoram C. Braw
- Department of Psychology, Ariel University, Ariel 4077625, Israel; (Y.L.E.A.); (Y.C.B.)
| | - Oded Meiron
- Faculty of Education, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel
- Clinical Research Center for Brain Sciences, Herzog Medical Center, P.O. Box 3900, Jerusalem 9103702, Israel
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Bode S, Jiwa M, Chum C, Frost L, Heekeren HR, Wingenfeld K, Deuter CE. Non-instrumental information seeking is resistant to acute stress. Sci Rep 2023; 13:19505. [PMID: 37945712 PMCID: PMC10636112 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-46766-w] [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: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 11/04/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous research has shown that people intrinsically value non-instrumental information, which cannot be used to change the outcome of events, but only provides an early resolution of uncertainty. This is true even for information about rather inconsequential events, such as the outcomes of small lotteries. Here we investigated whether participants' willingness to pay for non-instrumental information about the outcome of simple coin-flip lotteries with guaranteed winnings was modulated by acute stress. Stress was induced using the Socially Evaluated Cold Pressor Test (SECPT), and information-seeking choices were compared to a warm water control group. Our results neither support the hypothesis that stress decreases information-seeking by directing cognitive resources away from the relevance of the lotteries, nor the opposite hypothesis that stress increases information-seeking by driving anxiety levels up. Instead, we found that despite successful stress induction, as evidenced by increased saliva cortisol levels in the SECPT group, information valuation was remarkably stable. This finding is in line with recent findings that experimentally increased state anxiety did not modulate non-instrumental information seeking. Together, these results suggest that the aversiveness of "not knowing" is a stable cognitive state and not easily modulated by situational context, such as acute stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Bode
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 3010, Australia.
| | - Matthew Jiwa
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 3010, Australia
| | - Chelsea Chum
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 3010, Australia
| | - Leilani Frost
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 3010, Australia
| | - Hauke R Heekeren
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195, Berlin, Germany
- Universität Hamburg, 20148, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Katja Wingenfeld
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 12203, Berlin, Germany
- DZPG (German Center for Mental Health), 12203, Berlin, Germany
| | - Christian E Deuter
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 12203, Berlin, Germany.
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Muñoz-Parreño JA, Belando-Pedreño N, Valero-Valenzuela A. Emotional intelligence, spelling performance and intelligence quotient differences based on the executive function profile of schoolchildren. Eur J Neurosci 2023; 58:3879-3891. [PMID: 37783819 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.16152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2022] [Revised: 09/07/2023] [Accepted: 09/08/2023] [Indexed: 10/04/2023]
Abstract
The aim of this study was to determine the correlation of intelligence quotient with spelling performance, executive functions and emotional intelligence and to analyse the profiles in executive functions presented by the participants and the differences at the level of intelligence quotient, spelling performance and emotional intelligence. The sample consisted of 125 Spanish primary school students (58 girls and 67 boys) in a rural environment, with a mean age of 10.92 (±.68) years. Intelligence quotient and spelling performance were measured using the BADyG test; executive functions were assessed using the NIH EXAMINER battery and emotional intelligence was assessed using the Bar-On questionnaire. The results show a high correlation of intelligence quotient with spelling performance, executive functions and two emotional intelligence dimensions (adaptability and interpersonal). Two clusters were observed: a high executive functions profile (n = 74, 59.7%), with high scores on all measured variables (working memory, planning, cognitive flexibility, inhibition and verbal fluency), and a low executive functions profile (n = 50, 40.3%) with low scores on all executive functions-related variables. The multivariate analysis of variance (MANCOVA) found variations between the different clusters in the intelligence quotient, spelling performance and interpersonal emotional intelligence variables, showing that students with a higher executive functions profile had a higher intelligence quotient, spelling performance and interpersonal emotional intelligence values. This study could help to better define what kind of teaching methodology favours the development of academic performance in schoolchildren and the connections between important educational aspects such as emotional intelligence and executive functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julián Alfonso Muñoz-Parreño
- Faculty of Health Sciences and Faculty of Education, Universidad Isabel I and Universidad Alfonso X, Burgos and Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Alfonso Valero-Valenzuela
- Research group of Salud, Actividad Física y Educación (SAFE), Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Science, University of Murcia, San Javier Campus, Murcia, Spain
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Molins F, Paz M, Rozman L, Ben Hassen N, Serrano MÁ. Stressed individuals exhibit pessimistic bursting beliefs and a lower risk preference in the balloon analogue risk task. Physiol Behav 2022; 256:113953. [PMID: 36030830 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2022.113953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Revised: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Stress alters decision-making by usually promoting risk-taking and reward-seeking, which could be advantageous in a context where risk is rewarded, such as the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). However, previous studies addressing this issue showed inconsistencies which could emerge from assessing decision-making as a single dimension. Our aim is to study through computational modelling how stress influences cognitive subprocesses of the decision-making during the BART. For this purpose, 94 healthy participants were submitted to BART, but only half were exposed to the virtual Trier Social Stress Test (TSST-VR). The Experimental-Weight Mean-Variance (EWMV) model was used to gain insight into the subprocesses involved in risk-taking during BART. Rather than reward-seeking, our results showed a pessimistic prior belief about the balloons bursting likelihood, and a lower risk preference in the stressed participants. This cautious attitude could be attributable to an alertness state promoted by stress. Yet, since risk is rewarded in BART, it could also evidence a maladaptive decision-making derived from learning difficulties and altered feedback-processing under stress.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mónica Paz
- Department of Psychobiology, Universitat de València, Spain
| | - Liza Rozman
- Department of Psychobiology, Universitat de València, Spain
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