Cognitive functioning in ADHD

Inhibition, memory, temporal discounting, decision-making, timing, and intraindividual variability in reaction time have emerged as key cognitive domains for understanding neurocognitive deficits in individuals with ADHD. In the domain of inhibition, motor inhibition has been studied most extensively, with deficits demonstrated in both restraint and cancellation. Working memory difficulties have been identified using a broad range of tasks. Decision-making has been less well studied, but risky decision-making and temporal discounting have displayed relatively consistent effects. Motor timing, duration discrimination, duration reproduction, and variability on all of these tasks have also been implicated in ADHD. From a clinical perspective, whilst ADHD is clearly associated with a broad range of neuropsychological deficits, there is considerable heterogeneity and none of these deficits is required or necessary for a diagnosis. However, neuropsychological measures may help define cognitive subgroups within ADHD and these may in turn be useful in predicting course, outcome, and treatment response.

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Investigating the Relationships of P3b with Negative Symptoms and Neurocognition in Subjects with Chronic Schizophrenia

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci11121632 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (12) ◽

pp. 1632

Author(s):

Giulia M. Giordano ◽

Andrea Perrottelli ◽

Armida Mucci ◽

Giorgio Di Lorenzo ◽

Mario Altamura ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Negative Symptoms ◽

State Of The Art ◽

Chronic Schizophrenia ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Neurocognitive Deficits ◽

Cognitive Domains ◽

Attentional Resources ◽

Attention To Task ◽

Goal Directed Behavior

Neurocognitive deficits and negative symptoms (NS) have a pivotal role in subjects with schizophrenia (SCZ) due to their impact on patients’ functioning in everyday life and their influence on goal-directed behavior and decision-making. P3b is considered an optimal electrophysiological candidate biomarker of neurocognitive impairment for its association with the allocation of attentional resources to task-relevant stimuli, an important factor for efficient decision-making, as well as for motivation-related processes. Furthermore, associations between P3b deficits and NS have been reported. The current research aims to fill the lack of studies investigating, in the same subjects, the associations of P3b with multiple cognitive domains and the expressive and motivation-related domains of NS, evaluated with state-of-the-art instruments. One hundred and fourteen SCZ and 63 healthy controls (HCs) were included in the study. P3b amplitude was significantly reduced and P3b latency prolonged in SCZ as compared to HCs. In SCZ, a positive correlation was found between P3b latency and age and between P3b amplitude and the Attention-vigilance domain, while no significant correlations were found between P3b and the two NS domains. Our results indicate that the effortful allocation of attention to task-relevant stimuli, an important component of decision-making, is compromised in SCZ, independently of motivation deficits or other NS.

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Decision Making after Traumatic Brain Injury: A Temporal Discounting Paradigm

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s135561771200118x ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 181-188 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Rodger Ll. Wood ◽

Louise McHugh

Keyword(s):

Traumatic Brain Injury ◽

Decision Making ◽

Executive Function ◽

Brain Injury ◽

Temporal Discounting ◽

Monetary Reward ◽

Control Group ◽

Neuropsychological Measures ◽

And Gender ◽

The Impact

AbstractA temporal discounting paradigm was used to examine decision making for hypothetical monetary reward following traumatic brain injury (TBI). A case-control design compared individuals following moderate or severe TBI with a healthy control group matched for age and gender. The impact of intelligence, impulsivity, and mood on temporal discounting performance was examined. A within-subjects design for the TBI group determined the influence of a range of neuropsychological tests on temporal discounting performance. Both patients and controls demonstrated temporal discounting. However, the TBI group discounted more than controls, suggesting that their decision making was more impulsive, consistent with ratings on the impulsiveness questionnaire. Discounting performance was independent of neuropsychological measures of intelligence, memory, and executive function. There was no relationship between temporal discounting and ratings of everyday executive function made by patients' relatives. Low mood did not account for discounting performance. The results of this study suggest that temporal discounting may be a useful neuropsychological paradigm to assess decision making linked to monetary reward following TBI. Performance was relatively independent of intelligence, memory and standard tests of executive ability and may therefore assist when assessing a patient's mental capacity to manage their financial affairs. (JINS, 2013,19, 1–8)

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Population Modelling in Affective Disorders

Current Behavioral Neuroscience Reports ◽

10.1007/s40473-021-00229-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 21-27

Author(s):

Erdem Pulcu

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Major Depression ◽

Psychosocial Functioning ◽

Affective Disorders ◽

Real Life ◽

Computational Modelling ◽

Temporal Discounting ◽

Population Modelling ◽

Risky Decision ◽

Underlying Mechanisms

Abstract Purpose of Review The prevalence of affective disorders is on the rise. This upward trajectory leads to a substantial personal and societal cost. There is growing body of literature demonstrating decision-making impairments associated with affective disorders, and more studies are using computational modelling methods to infer underlying mechanisms of these impairments from participant choice behaviour. However, lack of population modelling suggests that data resources may still be underutilised. Recent Findings A number of recent studies associated major depression with abnormal risky decision-making as well as impairments in temporal discounting and social decision-making. These domains capture relevant aspects of real-life decision-making. Consequently, data from these studies can be used to define behavioural phenotypes for major depression. Summary The manuscript describes a detailed proposal for population modelling to capture changes in the prevalence rate of major depression. The population modelling approach can also identify which decision-making domains can account for a larger part of impairments in psychosocial functioning and how behavioural interventions built on computational principles can target these to improve real-life psychosocial functioning in patient groups.

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Risk-Taking Unmasked: Using Risky Choice and Temporal Discounting to Explain COVID-19 Preventative Behaviors

10.31234/osf.io/uaqc2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Kaileigh A. Byrne ◽

Stephanie Gabrielle Six ◽

Reza Ghaiumy Anaraky ◽

Maggie W. Harris ◽

Emma L. Winterlind

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Temporal Discounting ◽

The United States ◽

Risky Choice ◽

Risky Decision Making ◽

Risky Decision ◽

Social Distancing ◽

Prevention Guidelines ◽

Decision Making Behavior

To reduce the spread of COVID-19 transmission, government agencies in the United States (US) have recommended COVID prevention guidelines, including wearing masks and social distancing. However, compliance with these guidelines have been inconsistent. This study examined whether individual differences in decision-making and motivational propensities predicted compliance with COVID-19 preventative behaviors in a representative sample of US adults (N=225). Participants completed an online study in September 2020 that included a risky choice decision-making task, temporal discounting task, and measures of appropriate mask wearing, social distancing, and perceived risk of engaging in public activities. Linear regression results indicated that greater risky decision-making behavior and temporal discounting were associated with less appropriate mask-wearing behavior and social distancing. Additionally, demographic factors, including political affiliation and income level, were also associated with differences in COVID-19 preventative behaviors. Path analysis results showed that risky decision-making behavior, temporal discounting, and risk perception collectively predicted 61% of the variance in appropriate mask-wearing behavior. Individual differences in general decision-making patterns are therefore highly predictive of who complies with COVID-19 prevention guidelines.

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Risk-taking unmasked: Using risky choice and temporal discounting to explain COVID-19 preventative behaviors

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0251073 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (5) ◽

pp. e0251073

Author(s):

Kaileigh A. Byrne ◽

Stephanie G. Six ◽

Reza Ghaiumy Anaraky ◽

Maggie W. Harris ◽

Emma L. Winterlind

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Perceived Risk ◽

Temporal Discounting ◽

The United States ◽

Risky Choice ◽

Risky Decision Making ◽

Risky Decision ◽

Social Distancing ◽

Online Study

To reduce the spread of COVID-19 transmission, government agencies in the United States (US) recommended precautionary guidelines, including wearing masks and social distancing to encourage the prevention of the disease. However, compliance with these guidelines has been inconsistent. This correlational study examined whether individual differences in risky decision-making and motivational propensities predicted compliance with COVID-19 preventative behaviors in a sample of US adults (N = 404). Participants completed an online study from September through December 2020 that included a risky choice decision-making task, temporal discounting task, and measures of appropriate mask-wearing, social distancing, and perceived risk of engaging in public activities. Linear regression results indicated that greater temporal discounting and risky decision-making were associated with less appropriate mask-wearing behavior and social distancing. Additionally, demographic factors, including personal experience with COVID-19 and financial difficulties due to COVID-19, were also associated with differences in COVID-19 preventative behaviors. Path analysis results showed that risky decision-making behavior, temporal discounting, and risk perception collectively predicted 55% of the variance in appropriate mask-wearing behavior. Individual differences in general decision-making patterns are therefore highly predictive of who complies with COVID-19 prevention guidelines.

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