scholarly journals Dopamine Promotes Cognitive Effort by Biasing the Benefits Versus Costs of Cognitive Work

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Westbrook ◽  
R. van den Bosch ◽  
J. I. Määttä ◽  
L. Hofmans ◽  
D. Papadopetraki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sequential Sampling ◽  
D2 Receptor ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Striatal Dopamine ◽  
Dopamine Synthesis ◽  
Cost Ratio ◽  
Cost Information ◽  
Cognitive Work ◽  
Sequential Sampling Model ◽  
Dopamine Signaling

Stimulants like methylphenidate are increasingly used for cognitive enhancement, but precise mechanisms are unknown. We found that methylphenidate boosts willingness to expend cognitive effort by altering the benefit-to-cost ratio of cognitive work. Willingness to expend effort was greater for participants with higher striatal dopamine synthesis capacity, while methylphenidate and sulpiride – a selective D2 receptor antagonist – increased cognitive motivation more for participants with lower synthesis capacity. A sequential sampling model informed by momentary gaze revealed that decisions to expend effort are related to amplification of benefit-versus-cost information attended early in the decision process, while the effect of benefits is strengthened with higher synthesis capacity and by methylphenidate. These findings demonstrate that methylphenidate boosts the perceived benefits-versus-costs of cognitive effort by modulating striatal dopamine signaling.One Sentence SummaryStriatal dopamine increases cognitive effort by respectively amplifying and attenuating the subjective benefits and costs of cognitive control.

scholarly journals Dopamine promotes cognitive effort by biasing the benefits versus costs of cognitive work

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 367 (6484) ◽  
pp. 1362-1366 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Westbrook ◽  
R. van den Bosch ◽  
J. I. Määttä ◽  
L. Hofmans ◽  
D. Papadopetraki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sequential Sampling ◽  
D2 Receptor ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Striatal Dopamine ◽  
Dopamine Synthesis ◽  
Cost Ratio ◽  
Cost Information ◽  
Cognitive Work ◽  
Sequential Sampling Model ◽  
Dopamine Signaling

Stimulants such as methylphenidate are increasingly used for cognitive enhancement but precise mechanisms are unknown. We found that methylphenidate boosts willingness to expend cognitive effort by altering the benefit-to-cost ratio of cognitive work. Willingness to expend effort was greater for participants with higher striatal dopamine synthesis capacity, whereas methylphenidate and sulpiride, a selective D2 receptor antagonist, increased cognitive motivation more for participants with lower synthesis capacity. A sequential sampling model informed by momentary gaze revealed that decisions to expend effort are related to amplification of benefit-versus-cost information attended early in the decision process, whereas the effect of benefits is strengthened with higher synthesis capacity and by methylphenidate. These findings demonstrate that methylphenidate boosts the perceived benefits versus costs of cognitive effort by modulating striatal dopamine signaling.

D2 receptor genotype and striatal dopamine signaling predict motor cortical activity and behavior in humans

NeuroImage ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 2915-2921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Fazio ◽  
Giuseppe Blasi ◽  
Paolo Taurisano ◽  
Apostolos Papazacharias ◽  
Raffaella Romano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
D2 Receptor ◽  
Cortical Activity ◽  
Striatal Dopamine ◽  
Motor Cortical ◽  
Dopamine Signaling ◽  
And Behavior

scholarly journals Spontaneous eye blink rate and dopamine synthesis capacity: Preliminary evidence for an absence of positive correlation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Sescousse ◽  
Romain Ligneul ◽  
Ruth J. van Holst ◽  
Lieneke K. Janssen ◽  
Femke de Boer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dopamine D2 Receptor ◽  
D2 Receptor ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Striatal Dopamine ◽  
Dopamine Synthesis ◽  
Blink Rate ◽  
Eye Blink

AbstractDopamine is central to a number of cognitive functions and brain disorders. Given the cost of neurochemical imaging in humans, behavioral proxy measures of dopamine have gained in popularity in the past decade, such as spontaneous eye blink rate (sEBR). Increased sEBR is commonly associated with increased dopamine function based on pharmacological evidence and patient studies. Yet, this hypothesis has not been validated using in vivo measures of dopamine function in humans. In order to fill this gap, we measured sEBR and striatal dopamine synthesis capacity using [18F]DOPA PET in 20 participants (9 healthy individuals and 11 pathological gamblers). Our results, based on frequentist and Bayesian statistics, as well as region-of-interest and voxel-wise analyses, argue against a positive relationship between sEBR and striatal dopamine synthesis capacity. They show that, if anything, the evidence is in favor of a negative relationship. These results, which complement findings from a recent study that failed to observe a relationship between sEBR and dopamine D2 receptor availability, suggest that caution and nuance are warranted when interpreting sEBR in terms of a proxy measure of striatal dopamine.

scholarly journals Methylphenidate boosts choices of mental labor over leisure depending on baseline striatal dopamine

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lieke Hofmans ◽  
Danae Papadopetraki ◽  
Ruben van den Bosch ◽  
Jessica I. Määttä ◽  
Monja I. Froböse ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Opportunity Cost ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Striatal Dopamine ◽  
Dopamine Synthesis ◽  
Effort Discounting ◽  
Cognitive Motivation ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Motivational Account ◽  
Healthy Participants

ABSTRACTThe cognitive enhancing effects of methylphenidate are well established, but the mechanisms remain unclear. We recently demonstrated that methylphenidate boosts cognitive motivation by enhancing the weight on the benefits of a cognitive task in a manner that depended on striatal dopamine. Here we considered the complementary hypothesis that methylphenidate might also act by changing the weight on the opportunity cost of a cognitive task. To this end, fifty healthy participants (25 women) completed a novel cognitive effort discounting task that was sensitive to opportunity cost, and required choices between task and leisure. They were tested on methylphenidate, sulpiride or placebo and also underwent an [18F]DOPA PET scan to quantify baseline dopamine synthesis capacity. Methylphenidate boosted choices of cognitive effort over leisure across the group, and this effect was greatest in participants with more striatal dopamine at baseline. The effects of sulpiride did not reach significance. This study strengthens the motivational account of methylphenidate’s effects on cognition and suggests that methylphenidate reduces the cost of mental labor by increasing striatal dopamine.

scholarly journals Interactions between hippocampal activity and striatal dopamine in people at clinical high risk for psychosis: relationship to adverse outcomes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gemma Modinos ◽  
Anja Richter ◽  
Alice Egerton ◽  
Ilaria Bonoldi ◽  
Matilda Azis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Functional Outcomes ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Striatal Dopamine ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
Dopamine Synthesis ◽  
Clinical High Risk ◽  
Hippocampal Activity ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractPreclinical models propose that increased hippocampal activity drives subcortical dopaminergic dysfunction and leads to psychosis-like symptoms and behaviors. Here, we used multimodal neuroimaging to examine the relationship between hippocampal regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and striatal dopamine synthesis capacity in people at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis and investigated its association with subsequent clinical and functional outcomes. Ninety-five participants (67 CHR and 28 healthy controls) underwent arterial spin labeling MRI and 18F-DOPA PET imaging at baseline. CHR participants were followed up for a median of 15 months to determine functional outcomes with the global assessment of function (GAF) scale and clinical outcomes using the comprehensive assessment of at-risk mental states (CAARMS). CHR participants with poor functional outcomes (follow-up GAF < 65, n = 25) showed higher rCBF in the right hippocampus compared to CHRs with good functional outcomes (GAF ≥ 65, n = 25) (pfwe = 0.026). The relationship between rCBF in this right hippocampal region and striatal dopamine synthesis capacity was also significantly different between groups (pfwe = 0.035); the association was negative in CHR with poor outcomes (pfwe = 0.012), but non-significant in CHR with good outcomes. Furthermore, the correlation between right hippocampal rCBF and striatal dopamine function predicted a longitudinal increase in the severity of positive psychotic symptoms within the total CHR group (p = 0.041). There were no differences in rCBF, dopamine, or their associations in the total CHR group relative to controls. These findings indicate that altered interactions between the hippocampus and the subcortical dopamine system are implicated in the pathophysiology of adverse outcomes in the CHR state.

scholarly journals Striatal dopamine synthesis capacity reflects smartphone social activity

iScience ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 102497
Author(s):  
Andrew Westbrook ◽  
Arko Ghosh ◽  
Ruben van den Bosch ◽  
Jessica I. Määttä ◽  
Lieke Hofmans ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Activity ◽  
Striatal Dopamine ◽  
Dopamine Synthesis
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