Overlapping and Distinct Neural Systems Code for Subjective Value during Intertemporal and Risky Decision Making

Abstract Affective experience has an important role in decision-making with recent theories suggesting a modulatory role of affect in ongoing subjective value computations. However, it is unclear how varying expectations and uncertainty dynamically influence affective experience and how dynamic representation of affect modulates risky choices. Using hierarchical Bayesian modeling on data from a risky choice task (N = 101), we find that the temporal integration of recently encountered choice parameters (expected value, uncertainty, and prediction errors) shapes affective experience and impacts subsequent choice behavior. Specifically, experienced arousal prior to choice was associated with increased loss aversion, risk aversion, and choice consistency. Taken together, these findings provide clear behavioral evidence for continuous affective modulation of subjective value computations during risky decision-making.

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Risky decision-making in major depression is stable and intact

10.1101/074690 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Dongil Chung ◽

Kelly Kadlec ◽

Jason A. Aimone ◽

Katherine McCurry ◽

Brooks King-Casas ◽

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Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Clinical Symptoms ◽

Risk Preference ◽

Reward Processing ◽

Inverse Temperature ◽

Risky Decision Making ◽

Risky Decision ◽

Major Depressive ◽

Value Differences ◽

Subjective Value

AbstractThe clinical diagnosis and symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) have been closely associated with impairments in reward processing. In particular, various studies have shown blunted neural and behavioral responses to the experience of reward in depression. However, little is known about whether depression affects individuals’ valuation of potential rewards during decision-making, independent from reward experience. To address this question, we used a gambling task and a model-based analytic approach to measure two types of individual sensitivity to reward values in participants with MDD: ‘risk preference,’ indicating how objective values are subjectively perceived and ‘inverse temperature,’ determining the degree to which subjective value differences between options influences participants’ choices. On both of these measures of value sensitivity, participants with MDD were comparable to non-psychiatric controls. Both risk preference and inverse temperature were also stable over four laboratory visits and comparable between the groups at each visit. Moreover, neither value sensitivity measure varied with severity of clinical symptoms in MDD. These data suggest intact and stable value processing in MDD during risky decision-making.

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