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 Dispositional individual differences in cognitive effort investment: establishing the core construct

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinna Kührt ◽  
Sebastian Pannasch ◽  
Stefan J. Kiebel ◽  
Alexander Strobel
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Latent Variables ◽  
Effortful Control ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Behavioral Measures ◽  
Effort Discounting ◽  
Cognitive Motivation ◽  
Goal Directed Behavior

Abstract Background Individuals tend to avoid effortful tasks, regardless of whether they are physical or mental in nature. Recent experimental evidence is suggestive of individual differences in the dispositional willingness to invest cognitive effort in goal-directed behavior. The traits need for cognition (NFC) and self-control are related to behavioral measures of cognitive effort discounting and demand avoidance, respectively. Given that these traits are only moderately related, the question arises whether they reflect a common core factor underlying cognitive effort investment. If so, the common core of both traits might be related to behavioral measures of effort discounting in a more systematic fashion. To address this question, we aimed at specifying a core construct of cognitive effort investment that reflects dispositional differences in the willingness and tendency to exert effortful control. Methods We conducted two studies (N = 613 and N = 244) with questionnaires related to cognitive motivation and effort investment including assessment of NFC, intellect, self-control and effortful control. We first calculated Pearson correlations followed by two mediation models regarding intellect and its separate aspects, seek and conquer, as mediators. Next, we performed a confirmatory factor analysis of a hierarchical model of cognitive effort investment as second-order latent variable. First-order latent variables were cognitive motivation reflecting NFC and intellect, and effortful self-control reflecting self-control and effortful control. Finally, we calculated Pearson correlations between factor scores of the latent variables and general self-efficacy as well as traits of the Five Factor Model of Personality for validation purposes. Results Our findings support the hypothesized correlations between the assessed traits, where the relationship of NFC and self-control is specifically mediated via goal-directedness. We established and replicated a hierarchical factor model of cognitive motivation and effortful self-control that explains the shared variance of the first-order factors by a second-order factor of cognitive effort investment. Conclusions Taken together, our results integrate disparate literatures on cognitive motivation and self-control and provide a basis for further experimental research on the role of dispositional individual differences in goal-directed behavior and cost–benefit-models.

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.

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 Quantifying the cost of cognitive stability and flexibility

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danae Papadopetraki ◽  
Monja I. Froböse ◽  
Andrew Westbrook ◽  
Bram B. Zandbelt ◽  
Roshan Cools
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Cognitive Stability ◽  
Effort Discounting ◽  
Memory Representations ◽  
The Cost

AbstractExerting cognitive control is well known to be accompanied by a subjective effort cost and people are generally biased to avoid it. However, the nature of cognitive control costs is currently unclear. Recent theorizing suggests that the cost of cognitive effort serves as a motivational signal to bias the system away from excessive focusing (i.e. cognitive stability) and towards more cognitive flexibility. We asked whether the effort cost of cognitive stability is higher than that of cognitive flexibility. Specifically, we tested this prediction in the domain of working memory by using (i) a delayed response paradigm that allows us to manipulate demands for stability (distractor resistance) and flexibility (flexible updating) of working memory representations, as well as (ii) a subsequent cognitive effort discounting paradigm that allows us to quantify the subjective effort costs assigned to performing the delayed response paradigm. We show strong evidence, in two different samples (28 and 62 participants respectively) that subjective cost increases as a function of demand. Moreover, we demonstrate that the subjective cost of performing a task requiring cognitive stability (distractor resistance) is higher than that requiring flexible updating, supporting the hypothesis that the subjective effort cost of cognitive stability is higher than that of flexibility.

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 GABA Supplementation Negatively Affects Cognitive Flexibility Independent of Tyrosine

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1807
Author(s):  
Lee Wei Lim ◽  
Luca Aquili
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Dopamine Synthesis ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Performance Improvements ◽  
Two Measures ◽  
Healthy Participants

Increasing evidence, particularly from animal studies, suggests that dopamine and GABA are important modulators of cognitive flexibility. In humans, increasing dopamine synthesis through its precursor tyrosine has been shown to result in performance improvements, but few studies have reported the effects of GABA supplementation in healthy participants. We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized experiment to test the interactive effects of tyrosine and GABA administration on two measures of cognitive flexibility, response inhibition and task switching. A total of 48 healthy volunteers were split into four groups (placebo, tyrosine alone, GABA alone, and tyrosine and GABA combined). They completed cognitive flexibility tasks at baseline and after drug administration. We found that tyrosine alone had no impact on the measures of cognitive flexibility, whereas GABA alone and in combination with tyrosine worsened task switching. Our results provide preliminary evidence that putative increases in GABA and dopamine synthesis do not interact to affect cognitive flexibility performance.

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

Brain tyrosine level controls striatal dopamine synthesis in haloperidol-treated rats

1977 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Scally ◽  
I. Ulus ◽  
R. J. Wurtman
Keyword(s):  
Striatal Dopamine ◽  
Dopamine Synthesis

Perceived Difficulty and Motivated Cognitive Effort in a Computer-Simulated Forest Firefighting Task

1994 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary M. Omodei ◽  
Alexander J. Wearing
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Expectancy Value ◽  
Psychological Phenomena ◽  
Significant Relationships ◽  
Perceived Difficulty ◽  
Research Designs

Two studies ( ns 28 and 55) were conducted to investigate the extent to which proposed relationships between perceived difficulty and motivated cognitive effort generalise to realistic, complex, ill-defined, ongoing situations. A computerised microworld generator, Fire Chief, was used to create an appropriate cognitive task. Using complementary research designs, no significant relationships were obtained between either perceived difficulty or proximity to preferred difficulty and on-task motivated cognitive effort assessed by self-referent importance, intended effort, and subjectively felt arousal. The implications of these findings for expectancy-value approaches to motivation are discussed. Attention is drawn to the extent to which the two studies illustrate the use of the Fire Chief microworld generator for the investigation of psychological phenomena.

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