Objective measures of reward sensitivity and motivation in people with high vs low anhedonia

Background. Anhedonia, a diminished interest or pleasure in activities, is a core self-reported symptom of depression which is poorly understood and often resistant to conventional antidepressants. This symptom may occur due to dysfunction in one or more sub-components of reward processing: motivation, consummatory experience, and/or learning. However, the precise impairments remain elusive. Dissociating these components (ideally, using cross-species measures) and relating them to the subjective experience of anhedonia is critical as it may benefit fundamental biology research and novel drug development. Methods. Using a battery of behavioural tasks based on rodent assays, we examined reward motivation (Joystick-Operated Runway Task, JORT; and Effort-Expenditure for Rewards Task, EEfRT) and reward sensitivity (Sweet Taste Test) in a non-clinical population who scored high (N = 32) or low (N = 34) on an anhedonia questionnaire (Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale). Results. Compared to the low anhedonia group, the high anhedonia group displayed marginal impairments in effort-based decision-making (EEfRT) and reduced reward sensitivity (Sweet Taste Test). However, we found no evidence of a difference between groups in physical effort exerted for reward (JORT). Interestingly, whilst the EEfRT and Sweet Taste Test correlated with anhedonia measures, they did not correlate with each other, lending support for the possibility of sub-groups within anhedonia. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that reward motivation and reward sensitivity are dissociable when tested in the same group of participants, and that anhedonia is a heterogenous symptom associated with impairments in reward sensitivity and effort-based decision-making.

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Prospective mental imagery in depression: Impact on reward processing and reward-motivated behaviour

Clinical Psychology in Europe ◽

10.32872/cpe.3013 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Fritz Renner ◽

Jessica Werthmann ◽

Andreas Paetsch ◽

Hannah E. Bär ◽

Max Heise ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Imagery ◽

Mechanistic Model ◽

Reward Processing ◽

Future Research ◽

Clinical Implementation ◽

Cognitive Behavioural ◽

Behavioural Therapies ◽

Processing Motivation ◽

Reward Motivation ◽

The Impact

Background Mental imagery has long been part of cognitive behavioural therapies. More recently, a resurgence of interest has emerged for prospective mental imagery, i.e. future-directed imagery-based thought, and its relation to reward processing, motivation and behaviour in the context of depression. Method We conducted a selective review on the role of prospective mental imagery and its impact on reward processing and reward-motivated behaviour in depression. Results Based on the current literature, we propose a conceptual mechanistic model of prospective mental imagery. Prospective mental imagery of engaging in positive activities can increase reward anticipation and reward motivation, which can transfer to increased engagement in reward-motivated behaviour and more experiences of reward, thereby decreasing depressive symptoms. We suggest directions for future research using multimodal assessments to measure the impact of prospective mental imagery from its basic functioning in the lab to real-world and clinical implementation. Conclusion Prospective mental imagery has the potential to improve treatment for depression where the aim is to increase reward-motivated behaviours. Future research should investigate how exactly and for whom prospective mental imagery works.

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Neurobiological Reward-Related Abnormalities Across Mood Disorders

The Oxford Handbook of Positive Emotion and Psychopathology ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190653200.013.15 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 222-238

Author(s):

Alexis E. Whitton ◽

Michael T. Treadway ◽

Manon L. Ironside ◽

Diego A. Pizzagalli

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Mood Disorders ◽

Treatment Strategies ◽

Reward Processing ◽

Reward Learning ◽

Symptom Presentation ◽

Psychiatric Symptomatology ◽

Symptom Dimensions ◽

Psychotherapeutic Interventions ◽

Primary Focus

This chapter provides a critical review of recent behavioral and neuroimaging evidence of reward processing abnormalities in mood disorders. The primary focus is on the neural mechanisms underlying disruption in approach motivation, reward learning, and reward-based decision-making in major depression and bipolar disorder. Efforts focused on understanding how reward-related impairments contribute to psychiatric symptomatology have grown substantially in recent years. This has been driven by significant advances in the understanding of the neurobiology of reward processing and a growing recognition that disturbances in motivation and hedonic capacity are poorly targeted by current pharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions. As a result, numerous studies have sought to test the presence of reward circuit dysfunction in psychiatric disorders that are marked by anhedonia, amotivation, mania, and impulsivity. Moreover, as the field has increasingly eschewed categorical diagnostic boundaries in favor of symptom dimensions, there has been a parallel rise in studies seeking to identify transdiagnostic neural markers of reward processing dysfunction that may transcend disorders. The thesis of this chapter is twofold: First, evidence indicates that specific subcomponents of reward processing map onto partially distinct neurobiological pathways. Second, specific subcomponents of reward processing, including reward learning and effort-based decision-making, are impaired across different mood disorder diagnoses and may point to dimensions in symptom presentation that possess more reliable behavioral and neural correlates. The potential for these findings to inform the development of prevention and treatment strategies is discussed.

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P.3.a.002 Deficits in reward sensitivity and reversal learning in chronic schizophrenia during decision-making tasks

European Neuropsychopharmacology ◽

10.1016/s0924-977x(07)70600-4 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 17 ◽

pp. S402

Author(s):

Y.T. Kim ◽

B.D. Lee ◽

W. Cho ◽

D.H. Kwon ◽

S.N. Cho

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Reversal Learning ◽

Chronic Schizophrenia ◽

Reward Sensitivity

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Mice are not automatons; subjective experience in premotor circuits guides behavior

10.1101/2021.06.23.449617 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Drew C. Schreiner ◽

Christian Cazares ◽

Rafael Renteria ◽

Christina M Gremel

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Motor Cortex ◽

Adaptive Behavior ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Contextual Factors ◽

Neural Mechanisms ◽

Neural Representation ◽

Recent Experience ◽

Checking Behavior ◽

Corticostriatal Circuits

Subjective experience is a powerful driver of decision-making and continuously accrues. However, most neurobiological studies constrain analyses to task-related variables and ignore how continuously and individually experienced internal, temporal, and contextual factors influence adaptive behavior during decision-making and the associated neural mechanisms. We show mice rely on learned information about recent and longer-term subjective experience of variables above and beyond prior actions and reward, including checking behavior and the passage of time, to guide self-initiated, self-paced, and self-generated actions. These experiential variables were represented in secondary motor cortex (M2) activity and its projections into dorsal medial striatum (DMS). M2 integrated this information to bias strategy-level decision-making, and DMS projections used specific aspects of this recent experience to plan upcoming actions. This suggests diverse aspects of experience drive decision-making and its neural representation, and shows premotor corticostriatal circuits are crucial for using selective aspects of experiential information to guide adaptive behavior.

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The Role of Social Reward and Corticostriatal Connectivity in Substance Use

10.31234/osf.io/su7vg ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel Sazhin ◽

Angelique Frazier ◽

Caleb River Haynes ◽

Camille Johnston ◽

Iris Ka-Yi Chat ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Substance Use ◽

Social Context ◽

Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽

Strategic Behavior ◽

Reward Processing ◽

Reward Sensitivity ◽

Social Reward ◽

Neural Responses ◽

Social Stimuli ◽

Neuroimaging Study

This report describes an ongoing R03 grant that explores the links between trait reward sensitivity, substance use, and neural responses to social and nonsocial reward. Although previous research has shown that trait reward sensitivity and neural responses to reward are linked to substance use, whether this relationship is impacted by how people process social stimuli remains unclear. We are investigating these questions via a neuroimaging study with college-aged participants, using individual difference measures that examine the relation between substance use, social context, and trait reward sensitivity with tasks that measure reward anticipation, strategic behavior, social reward consumption, and the influence of social context on reward processing. We predict that substance use will be tied to distinct patterns of striatal dysfunction. Specifically, reward hyposensitive individuals will exhibit blunted striatal responses to social and non-social reward and enhanced connectivity with the orbitofrontal cortex; in contrast, reward hypersensitive individuals will exhibit enhanced striatal responses to social and non-social reward and blunted connectivity with the orbitofrontal cortex. We also will examine the relation between self-reported reward sensitivity, substance use, and striatal responses to social reward and social context. We predict that individuals reporting the highest levels of substance use will show exaggerated striatal responses to social reward and social context, independent of self-reported reward sensitivity. Examining corticostriatal responses to reward processing will help characterize the relation between reward sensitivity, social context and substance use while providing a foundation for understanding risk factors and isolating neurocognitive mechanisms that may be targeted to increase the efficacy of interventions.

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Relationship between systolic blood pressure and decision-making during emotional processing

10.1101/2021.10.22.465429 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sophie Jacqueline Andree Betka ◽

David Watson ◽

Sarah N Garfinkel ◽

Gaby Pfeifer ◽

Henrique Sequeira ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Decision Making ◽

Systolic Blood Pressure ◽

Emotional Processing ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Memory Task ◽

Emotional States ◽

Physiological Changes ◽

The Impact

Objective: Emotional states are expressed in body and mind through subjective experience of physiological changes. In previous work, subliminal priming of anger prior to lexical decisions increased systolic blood pressure (SBP). This increase predicted the slowing of response times (RT), suggesting that baroreflex-related autonomic changes and their interoceptive (feedback) representations, influence cognition. Alexithymia is a subclinical affective dysfunction characterized by difficulty in identifying emotions. Atypical autonomic and interoceptive profiles are observed in alexithymia. Therefore, we sought to identify mechanisms through which SBP fluctuations during emotional processing might influence decision-making, including whether alexithymia contributes to this relationship. Methods Thirty-two male participants performed an affect priming paradigm and completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Emotional faces were briefly presented (20ms) prior a short-term memory task. RT, accuracy and SBP were recorded on a trial-by-trial basis. Generalized mixed-effects linear models were used to evaluate the impact of emotion, physiological changes, alexithymia score, and their interactions, on performances. Results A main effect of emotion was observed on accuracy. Participants were more accurate on trials with anger primes, compared to neutral priming. Greater accuracy was related to increased SBP. An interaction between SBP and emotion was observed on RT: Increased SBP was associated with RT prolongation in the anger priming condition, yet this relationship was absent under the sadness priming. Alexithymia did not significantly moderate the above relationships. Conclusions Our data suggest that peripheral autonomic responses during affective challenges guide cognitive processes. We discuss our findings in the theoretical framework proposed by Lacey and Lacey (1970).

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Subsecond dopamine fluctuations in human striatum encode superposed error signals about actual and counterfactual reward

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1513619112 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 113 (1) ◽

pp. 200-205 ◽

Cited By ~ 92

Author(s):

Kenneth T. Kishida ◽

Ignacio Saez ◽

Terry Lohrenz ◽

Mark R. Witcher ◽

Adrian W. Laxton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Decision Making ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Animal Models ◽

Large Body ◽

Reward Processing ◽

Dopamine Neurons ◽

Model Organisms ◽

Mammalian Brain ◽

Prediction Errors

In the mammalian brain, dopamine is a critical neuromodulator whose actions underlie learning, decision-making, and behavioral control. Degeneration of dopamine neurons causes Parkinson’s disease, whereas dysregulation of dopamine signaling is believed to contribute to psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia, addiction, and depression. Experiments in animal models suggest the hypothesis that dopamine release in human striatum encodes reward prediction errors (RPEs) (the difference between actual and expected outcomes) during ongoing decision-making. Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) imaging experiments in humans support the idea that RPEs are tracked in the striatum; however, BOLD measurements cannot be used to infer the action of any one specific neurotransmitter. We monitored dopamine levels with subsecond temporal resolution in humans (n = 17) with Parkinson’s disease while they executed a sequential decision-making task. Participants placed bets and experienced monetary gains or losses. Dopamine fluctuations in the striatum fail to encode RPEs, as anticipated by a large body of work in model organisms. Instead, subsecond dopamine fluctuations encode an integration of RPEs with counterfactual prediction errors, the latter defined by how much better or worse the experienced outcome could have been. How dopamine fluctuations combine the actual and counterfactual is unknown. One possibility is that this process is the normal behavior of reward processing dopamine neurons, which previously had not been tested by experiments in animal models. Alternatively, this superposition of error terms may result from an additional yet-to-be-identified subclass of dopamine neurons.

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Teaching Executive Functions, Self-Management, and Ethical Decision-Making through Popular Videogame Play

Assistive Technologies ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-4422-9.ch039 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 771-785

Author(s):

Randy Kulman ◽

Gary Stoner ◽

Louis Ruffolo ◽

Stephanie Marshall ◽

Jennifer Slater ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Learning Disabilities ◽

Problem Solving ◽

Ethical Decision ◽

Ethical Decision Making ◽

Clinical Population ◽

Attention And Memory ◽

Problem Solving Skills ◽

Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Executive Functioning Skills

Numerous studies support the contention that videogames can be useful in developing specific attention and memory skills. Videogames and other digital technologies also require the practice of critical-thinking and executive-functioning skills, but there is little evidence that these skills, which lead to decision-making and problem-solving skills, can be generalized from the game to the real world. This chapter examines strategies that use videogames to enhance the development of these problem-solving and ethical decision-making skills. This chapter discusses the use of these strategies with a clinical population of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities and considers methods for parents, teachers, and game publishers to make popular videogames a potent teaching tool for developing decision-making skills in children.

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Reward sensitivity differs depending on global self-esteem in value-based decision-making

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-78635-1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Aya Ogasawara ◽

Yoshiyuki Ohmura ◽

Yasuo Kuniyoshi

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Computational Models ◽

Learning Task ◽

Self Esteem ◽

Expected Value ◽

Reward Sensitivity ◽

Self Confidence ◽

Maximum Value ◽

Individual Personality ◽

Social Decision Making

AbstractGlobal self-esteem is a component of individual personality that impacts decision-making. Many studies have discussed the different preferences for decision-making in response to threats to a person’s self-confidence, depending on global self-esteem. However, studies about global self-esteem and non-social decision-making have indicated that decisions differ due to reward sensitivity. Here, reward sensitivity refers to the extent to which rewards change decisions. We hypothesized that individuals with lower global self-esteem have lower reward sensitivity and investigated the relationship between self-esteem and reward sensitivity using a computational model. We first examined the effect of expected value and maximum value in learning under uncertainties because some studies have shown the possibility of saliency (e.g. maximum value) and relative value (e.g. expected value) affecting decisions, respectively. In our learning task, expected value affected decisions, but there was no significant effect of maximum value. Therefore, we modelled participants’ choices under the condition of different expected value without considering maximum value. We used the Q-learning model, which is one of the traditional computational models in explaining experiential learning decisions. Global self-esteem correlated positively with reward sensitivity. Our results suggest that individual reward sensitivity affects decision-making depending on one’s global self-esteem.

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