The relationship between reward context and inhibitory control, does it depend on BMI, maladaptive eating, and negative affect?

Background Recent studies suggest that higher Body Mass Index (BMI) is associated with reduced inhibitory control in contexts of palatable food. However, due to limitations of previous studies, it remained the question whether this reduction is specific to food contexts, and whether it generalizes to other contexts of reward, such as money. This main question was addressed in the current study. In addition, we explored the effect of maladaptive eating and stress regarding inhibitory control across the contexts that differed in terms of reward. Methods In total, 46 participants between 19 and 50 years old (39% males and 61% females) with an average BMI of 23.5 (SD = 3.9) participated. Participants filled out questionnaires and performed a go/no-go task (indexing inhibitory control) with three conditions (neutral, food, and money condition). Results Relatively high (above median) BMI was associated with challenged inhibitory control in the food relative to the neutral context, but not in the money relative to neutral context. Explorative analyses suggested that maladaptive eating and stress were associated with reduced inhibitory control in the food context. Only rumination was associated with reduced inhibitory control in the money context. Conclusions The effects of BMI, maladaptive eating behavior, and stress on inhibitory control were specific to the food context, and did not generalize to a non-intrinsic reward condition, operationalized with money pictures. Our results imply that (research on) interventions directed at improving inhibitory control in relation to overweight and obesity, should consider food-reward context.

Altered Neural Processing of Reward and Punishment in Women With Methamphetamine Use Disorder

It has been suggested that the altered function of reward and punishment is an important vulnerability factor leading to the development of drug use disorders. Previous studies have identified evidence of neurophysiological dysfunction in the reward process of individuals with substance use disorders. To date, only a few event-related potential (ERP) studies have examined the neural basis of reward and punishment processing in women with methamphetamine (MA) use disorders. The current ERP research aims to investigate the neurophysiological mechanisms of reward and punishment in women with MA use disorder using a monetary incentive delay task. Nineteen women with MA use disorder (MA group) and 20 healthy controls (HC group) were recruited in this study. The behavioral data showed that the reaction time (RT) was faster and the response accuracy (ACC) was higher for the potential reward and punishment conditions compared to neutral conditions. During the monetary incentive anticipation stage, the Cue-P3, and stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN) were larger in the MA group than in the HC group. The SPN under the potential reward condition was larger than that under the neutral condition in the MA group but not in the HC group. During the monetary incentive consummation stage, the feedback-related negativity and feedback P3 (FB-P3) following positive feedback were significantly larger than negative feedback in the potential reward condition for the HC group, but not for the MA group. However, the FB-P3 following negative feedback was significantly larger than positive feedback in the potential punishment condition for the MA group, but not the HC group. The results suggest that women with MUD have stronger expectations of generic reward and stronger response of generic harm avoidance, which could be targeted in designing interventions for women with MA use disorder.

Differences in Reward Sensitivity between High and Low Problematic Smartphone Use Adolescents: An ERP Study

Background: Problematic smartphone use is highly prevalent in adolescent populations compared to other age groups (e.g., adults and young children). Previous studies suggested that higher levels of reward sensitivity were associated with problematic smartphone use. Therefore, the current study investigated the neural processing of monetary and social reward and punishment feedbacks between high and low problematic smartphone use adolescents. Methods: 46 adolescents participated in the current study and they were categorized into two groups based on their level of problematic smartphone use: those who obtained low scores on the measure of problematic smartphone use were categorized as Low Problematic Smartphone Use (LPSU), and those who obtained high scores on the measure of problematic smartphone use were categorized as High Problematic Smartphone Use (HPSU). Electrocortical activities were recorded during the processing of monetary and social reward and punishment feedback. Results: (1) LPSUs evoked larger P3 in the social punishment condition than in the monetary punishment condition. HPSUs evoked larger P3 in the social reward condition than in the monetary condition. (2) The feedback-related negativity (FRN) amplitudes in the reward condition were significantly larger than those in the punishment condition. (3) HPSUs induced larger reward positivity in social feedback conditions than in monetary feedback conditions, while there were no significant differences between the two types of conditions in the LPSUs. Discussion: The results provide neural underpinning evidence that high sensitivity to social rewards may be related to problematic smartphone use in adolescence.

Our Vulnerable Dark Side—Two Laboratory Approaches

The Dark Triad of personality has been associated with aggression against others as a reaction to perceived provocations. However, previous work has also shown that such responsive aggression even occurs if it means harming oneself. The first of two laboratory studies aimed to investigate whether this relation between the Dark Triad and self-harming behavior also occurs in situations where no others are affected but self-harm is likely. The second laboratory study considered two different settings in a within-participants design in order to analyze the stability of self-harming behavior and to what extent the Dark Triad constructs influence this behavior. The sample for study 1 consisted of 151 students (45.7% female) with a mean age of 21.40 years (SD = 2.19); the sample for study 2 consisted of 251 students (76.0% female) with a mean age of 22.21 years (SD = 3.90). Aside from the Dark Triad’s common core, depending on how self-harm was triggered (ego-threat (mainly narcissism), being alone with one’s own thoughts (mainly psychopathy), or reward condition (mainly Machiavellianism)), the Dark Triad traits differed in their responsiveness but were stable over the last two conditions, thereby suggesting a vulnerable side of the Dark Triad.

Natural Beauty Moves. Aesthetically Rewarding Nature Motivates to Work on a Mindless Task – a Preregistered Study

In the present research, we propose and test the notion that nature, through its aesthetically rewarding qualities, can increase work motivation. In a preregistered study, we asked participants (N = 219) to watch a slideshow of either aesthetically rewarding (high reward condition) or relatively unrewarding nature scenes/elements (low reward condition), while also varying pre-slideshow workload (high vs. low workload). Following the slideshow, all participants had to perform a mindless routine task, i.e., clicking radio buttons. We found that under a low (vs. high) workload, participants who had watched aesthetically rewarding nature clicked more buttons, and reported to feel more motivated to click buttons compared to participants who had watched unrewarding nature. These findings testify to the motivational potential of aesthetically rewarding nature, and raise the possibility that cognitive nature benefits observed in restoration studies are not solely indicative of resource replenishment, but might also reflect increases in work motivation.

The Detrimental Effects of Punishment and Reward on Cooperation in the Industrial Waste Illegal Dumping Game

Background. Many studies have shown that sanctions promote cooperation in social dilemma situations. However, it has also been suggested that sanctions have a negative effect. The interactions among people and systems need to be considered to examine the consequences of sanctions. Aim. We examined whether rewards and mutual punishment increased non-cooperation. We regarded illegal industrial waste dumping as a social dilemma in which everyone bears the burden of the cost of illegal dumping, legal treatment is cooperative behavior, and illegal dumping is non-cooperative behavior. Method. We used the Industrial Waste Illegal Dumping Game. This game simulates the structure of industrial waste treatment (incomplete surveillance, various industries with different roles and payoffs, cost of cooperation, etc.) in addition to the social dilemma structure. Players take on roles in industrial waste treatment, negotiating and dealing with other players, and treating industrial waste. We set three conditions. In the reward condition, players can earn rewards by rapidly treating industrial waste. In the mutual punishment condition, players can mutually monitor and punish each other. In the control condition, neither reward nor punishment exists. Results. Non-cooperation occurred more frequently in the reward condition than in the control condition. Conversely, there was no difference in non-cooperation between the mutual punishment and control conditions. Players under the reward condition did not gather information proactively, and information on benefits was not shared. Conclusion. This study showed that sanctions caused non-cooperation. Social dynamics should be considered when evaluating the effectiveness of sanctions. Gaming allows us to examine social consequences, including social dynamics, which leads to discoveries not possible through traditional methods.

Opportunities to sit and stand trigger equivalent reward-related brain activity

A recent theory contends that behaviors minimizing energetic cost are rewarding (Cheval et al., 2018). However, direct experimental evidence supporting this theory is lacking. To fill this knowledge gap, we investigated the effect of energy expenditure on reward-related brain activity. Thirty-one participants were equipped with an electroencephalography (EEG) cap and performed a monetary incentive delay task. After attempting to quickly respond to a target, participants were given feedback instructing them to retrieve a token (reward condition) or to wait (no reward condition). In half of the rewarding trials, participants stood up to retrieve a token, thereby increasing energy expenditure. In the other half, participants just had to extend their arm to retrieve a token, thereby minimizing energy expenditure. The contingent negative variation (CNV) event-related potential (ERP) component preceding the motor response was used as an indicator of reward pursuit. The reward positivity (RewP) ERP component time-locked to feedback onset was used to determine reward valuation. Results showed that response time, CNV, and RewP were not influenced by energy expenditure (remaining seated vs. standing up). This null effect of conditions was confirmed using equivalence tests. These results do not support the theory of energetic cost minimization but the equivalent effect of sitting and standing on reward-related brain activity is new knowledge that could contribute to shed light on the neural processes underlying the pandemic of physical inactivity.

DYNAMICS OF BETTING BEHAVIOR UNDER FLAT REWARD CONDITION

One of the missions of the cognitive process of animals, including humans, is to make reasonable judgments and decisions in the presence of uncertainty. The balance between exploration and exploitation investigated in the reinforcement-learning paradigm is one of the key factors in this process. Recently, following the pioneering work in behavioral economics, growing attention has been directed to human behaviors exhibiting deviations from the simple maximization of external reward. Here we study the dynamics of betting behavior in a simple game, where the probability of reward and the magnitude of reward are designed to give a "zero" expected net reward ("flat reward condition"). No matter how the subject behaves, there is on average no change in one's resources, and therefore every possible sequence of action has the same value. Even in such a situation, the subjects are found to behave not in a random manner, but in ways showing characteristic tendencies, reflecting the dynamics of brain's reward system. Our results suggest that brain's reward system is characterized by a rich and complex dynamics only loosely coupled with external reward structure.

The Effects of Direct and Implicit Non-contingent Rewards on Children's Performance of a Fine Motor Skills Task

The effects of non-contingent rewards administered both directly and implicitly for a fine motor skills task were investigated under a time-series design. Data were collected from all members of a typical class, with the teacher acting as experimenter to enhance generalizability. Results indicated that non-contingent rewards possessed neutral consequential effects, thus challenging data from some previous studies which have methodological limitations. The ineffectiveness of non-contingent rewards as reinforcers is discussed, with several suggestions made for future research to investigate the issue of previous reward history and its effect upon the non-contingent reward condition.