scholarly journals Chronic Exposure to Glucocorticoids Induces Suboptimal Decision-Making in Mice

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lidia CABEZA ◽  
Bahrie RAMADAN ◽  
Julie GIUSTINIANI ◽  
Christophe HOUDAYER ◽  
Yann PELLEQUER ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Motor Learning ◽  
Chronic Exposure ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Positive Outcome ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Biological Psychiatry ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Receptor Expression ◽  
Gambling Task

Anxio-depressive symptoms as well as severe cognitive dysfunction including aberrant decision-making (DM) are documented in neuropsychiatric patients with hypercortisolaemia. Yet, the influence of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis on DM processes remains poorly understood. As a tractable mean to approach this human condition, adult male C57BL/6JRj mice were chronically treated with corticosterone (CORT) prior to behavioural, physiological and neurobiological evaluation. The behavioural data indicate that chronic CORT delays the acquisition of contingencies required to orient responding towards optimal DM performance in a mouse Gambling Task (mGT). Specifically, CORT-treated animals show a longer exploration and a delayed onset of the optimal DM performance. Remarkably, the proportion of individuals performing suboptimally in the mGT is increased in the CORT condition. This variability seems to be better accounted for by variations in sensitivity to negative rather than to positive outcome. Besides, CORT-treated animals perform worse than control animals in a spatial working memory (WM) paradigm and in a motor learning task. Finally, Western blotting neurobiological analyses show that chronic CORT downregulates glucocorticoid receptor expression in the medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC). Besides, corticotropin-releasing factor signalling in the mPFC of CORT individuals negatively correlates with their DM performance. Collectively, this study describes how chronic exposure to glucocorticoids induces suboptimal DM under uncertainty in a mGT, hampers WM and motor learning processes, thus affecting specific emotional, motor, cognitive and neurobiological endophenotypic dimensions relevant for precision medicine in biological psychiatry.

scholarly journals Task Learnability Modulates Surprise but Not Valence Processing for Reinforcement Learning in Probabilistic Choice Tasks

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Franz Wurm ◽  
Wioleta Walentowska ◽  
Benjamin Ernst ◽  
Mario Carlo Severo ◽  
Gilles Pourtois ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Gambling Task ◽  
Improve Performance ◽  
Probabilistic Choice ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Choice Tasks ◽  
Model Based Analysis

Abstract The goal of temporal difference (TD) reinforcement learning is to maximize outcomes and improve future decision-making. It does so by utilizing a prediction error (PE), which quantifies the difference between the expected and the obtained outcome. In gambling tasks, however, decision-making cannot be improved because of the lack of learnability. On the basis of the idea that TD utilizes two independent bits of information from the PE (valence and surprise), we asked which of these aspects is affected when a task is not learnable. We contrasted behavioral data and ERPs in a learning variant and a gambling variant of a simple two-armed bandit task, in which outcome sequences were matched across tasks. Participants were explicitly informed that feedback could be used to improve performance in the learning task but not in the gambling task, and we predicted a corresponding modulation of the aspects of the PE. We used a model-based analysis of ERP data to extract the neural footprints of the valence and surprise information in the two tasks. Our results revealed that task learnability modulates reinforcement learning via the suppression of surprise processing but leaves the processing of valence unaffected. On the basis of our model and the data, we propose that task learnability can selectively suppress TD learning as well as alter behavioral adaptation based on a flexible cost–benefit arbitration.

scholarly journals Hot and cold executive functions in youth with psychotic symptoms

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (16) ◽  
pp. 2844-2853 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. E. MacKenzie ◽  
V. C. Patterson ◽  
A. Zwicker ◽  
V. Drobinin ◽  
H. L. Fisher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Familial Risk ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
Early Interventions ◽  
Gambling Task

BackgroundPsychotic symptoms are common in children and adolescents and may be early manifestations of liability to severe mental illness (SMI), including schizophrenia. SMI and psychotic symptoms are associated with impairment in executive functions. However, previous studies have not differentiated between ‘cold’ and ‘hot’ executive functions. We hypothesized that the propensity for psychotic symptoms is specifically associated with impairment in ‘hot’ executive functions, such as decision-making in the context of uncertain rewards and losses.MethodsIn a cohort of 156 youth (mean age 12.5, range 7–24 years) enriched for familial risk of SMI, we measured cold and hot executive functions with the spatial working memory (SWM) task (total errors) and the Cambridge Gambling Task (decision-making), respectively. We assessed psychotic symptoms using the semi-structured Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia interview, Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes, Funny Feelings, and Schizophrenia Proneness Instrument – Child and Youth version.ResultsIn total 69 (44.23%) youth reported psychotic symptoms on one or more assessments. Cold executive functioning, indexed with SWM errors, was not significantly related to psychotic symptoms [odds ratio (OR) 1.36, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.85–2.17, p = 0.204). Poor hot executive functioning, indexed as decision-making score, was associated with psychotic symptoms after adjustment for age, sex and familial clustering (OR 2.37, 95% CI 1.25–4.50, p = 0.008). The association between worse hot executive functions and psychotic symptoms remained significant in sensitivity analyses controlling for general cognitive ability and cold executive functions.ConclusionsImpaired hot executive functions may be an indicator of risk and a target for pre-emptive early interventions in youth.

Differences in Reward and Persistency characterise Behavior in Chronic Pain for the Iowa Gambling Task in a Web-based Lab-in-the-field study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lili Zhang ◽  
Himanshu Vashisht ◽  
Alekhya Nethra ◽  
Brian Slattery ◽  
Tomas Ward
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Chronic Pain ◽  
Iowa Gambling Task ◽  
Learning Curves ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Gambling Task ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Pain Experiences

BACKGROUND Chronic pain is a significant world-wide health problem. It has been reported that people with chronic pain experience decision-making impairments, but these findings have been based on conventional lab experiments to date. In such experiments researchers have extensive control of conditions and can more precisely eliminate potential confounds. In contrast, there is much less known regarding how chronic pain impacts decision-making captured via lab-in-the-field experiments. Although such settings can introduce more experimental uncertainty, it is believed that collecting data in more ecologically valid contexts can better characterize the real-world impact of chronic pain. OBJECTIVE We aim to quantify decision-making differences between chronic pain individuals and healthy controls in a lab-in-the-field environment through taking advantage of internet technologies and social media. METHODS A cross-sectional design with independent groups was employed. A convenience sample of 45 participants were recruited through social media - 20 participants who self-reported living with chronic pain, and 25 people with no pain or who were living with pain for less than 6 months acting as controls. All participants completed a self-report questionnaire assessing their pain experiences and a neuropsychological task measuring their decision-making, i.e. the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) in their web browser at a time and location of their choice without supervision. RESULTS Standard behavioral analysis revealed no differences in learning strategies between the two groups although qualitative differences could be observed in learning curves. However, computational modelling revealed that individuals with chronic pain were quicker to update their behavior relative to healthy controls, which reflected their increased learning rate (95% HDI from 0.66 to 0.99) when fitted with the VPP model. This result was further validated and extended on the ORL model because higher differences (95% HDI from 0.16 to 0.47) between the reward and punishment learning rates were observed when fitted on this model, indicating that chronic pain individuals were more sensitive to rewards. It was also found that they were less persistent in their choices during the IGT compared to controls, a fact reflected by their decreased outcome perseverance (95% HDI from -4.38 to -0.21) when fitted using the ORL model. Moreover, correlation analysis revealed that the estimated parameters had predictive value for the self-reported pain experiences, suggesting that the altered cognitive parameters could be potential candidates for inclusion in chronic pain assessments. CONCLUSIONS We found that individuals with chronic pain were more driven by rewards and less consistent when making decisions in our lab-in-the-field experiment. In this case study, it was demonstrated that compared to standard statistical summaries of behavioral performance, computational approaches offered superior ability to resolve, understand and explain the differences in decision- making behavior in the context of chronic pain outside the lab.

scholarly journals Behavioral measures of impulsivity and compulsivity in adolescents with nonsuicidal self-injury

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Nina M. Lutz ◽  
Samuel R. Chamberlain ◽  
Ian M. Goodyer ◽  
Anupam Bhardwaj ◽  
Barbara J. Sahakian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Gambling Task ◽  
Reversal Task ◽  
Behavioral Measures ◽  
Self Injury ◽  
Neurocognitive Measures ◽  
Nonsuicidal Self Injury

Abstract Background Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is prevalent among adolescents and research is needed to clarify the mechanisms which contribute to the behavior. Here, the authors relate behavioral neurocognitive measures of impulsivity and compulsivity to repetitive and sporadic NSSI in a community sample of adolescents. Methods Computerized laboratory tasks (Affective Go/No-Go, Cambridge Gambling Task, and Probabilistic Reversal Task) were used to evaluate cognitive performance. Participants were adolescents aged 15 to 17 with (n = 50) and without (n = 190) NSSI history, sampled from the ROOTS project which recruited adolescents from secondary schools in Cambridgeshire, UK. NSSI was categorized as sporadic (1-3 instances per year) or repetitive (4 or more instances per year). Analyses were carried out in a series of linear and negative binomial regressions, controlling for age, gender, intelligence, and recent depressive symptoms. Results Adolescents with lifetime NSSI, and repetitive NSSI specifically, made significantly more perseverative errors on the Probabilistic Reversal Task and exhibited significantly lower quality of decision making on the Cambridge Gambling Task compared to no-NSSI controls. Those with sporadic NSSI did not significantly differ from no-NSSI controls on task performance. NSSI was not associated with behavioral measures of impulsivity. Conclusions Repetitive NSSI is associated with increased behavioral compulsivity and disadvantageous decision making, but not with behavioral impulsivity. Future research should continue to investigate how neurocognitive phenotypes contribute to the onset and maintenance of NSSI, and determine whether compulsivity and addictive features of NSSI are potential targets for treatment.

scholarly journals Risky decision making assessed with the gambling task in adults with HIV.

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Hardy ◽  
Charles H. Hinkin ◽  
Andrew J. Levine ◽  
Steven A. Castellon ◽  
Mona N. Lam
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Gambling Task ◽  
Risky Decision Making ◽  
Risky Decision

Underlying decision making processes on Iowa Gambling Task

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 63-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajesh Kumar ◽  
Keshav Janakiprasad Kumar ◽  
Vivek Benegal
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Iowa Gambling Task ◽  
Gambling Task ◽  
Decision Making Processes
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