scholarly journals Context-Dependent Probability Estimation and its Neurocomputational Substrates

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-Hsiang Lin ◽  
Justin L. Gardner ◽  
Shih-Wei Wu
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Context Effects ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Probability Estimation ◽  
List Type ◽  
Probability Estimate ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Bold Imaging ◽  
Probability Estimates ◽  
Subjective Estimates

ABSTRACTMany decisions rely on how we evaluate potential outcomes associated with the options under consideration and estimate their corresponding probabilities of occurrence. Outcome valuation is subjective as it requires consulting internal preferences and is sensitive to context. In contrast, probability estimation requires extracting statistics from the environment and therefore imposes unique challenges to the decision maker. Here we show that probability estimation, like outcome valuation, is subject to context effects that bias probability estimates away from other stimuli present in the same context. However, unlike valuation, these context effects appeared to be scaled by estimated uncertainty, which is largest at intermediate probabilities. BOLD imaging showed that patterns of multivoxel activity in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) predicted individual differences in context effects on probability estimate. These results establish VMPFC as the neurocomputational substrate shared between valuation and probability estimation and highlight the additional involvement of dACC that can be uniquely attributed to probability estimation. As probability estimation is a required component of computational accounts from sensory inference to higher cognition, the context effects found here may affect a wide array of cognitive computations.HighlightsContext impacts subjective estimates on reward probability – Stimuli carrying greater variance are more strongly affected by other stimuli present in the same contextThis phenomenon can be explained by reference-dependent computations that are gated by reward varianceMultivoxel patterns of dACC and VMPFC activity predicts individual differences in context effect on probability estimate

scholarly journals Revisiting potential associations between brain morphology, fear acquisition and extinction through new data and a literature review

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mana R. Ehlers ◽  
Janne Nold ◽  
Manuel Kuhn ◽  
Maren Klingelhöfer-Jens ◽  
Tina B. Lonsdorf
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Cortical Thickness ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Brain Morphology ◽  
Small Samples ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Defensive Responding ◽  
Brain Behavior ◽  
Subcortical Volume

AbstractInter-individual differences in defensive responding are widely established but their morphological correlates in humans have not been investigated exhaustively. Previous studies reported associations with cortical thickness of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, insula and medial orbitofrontal cortex as well as amygdala volume in fear conditioning studies. However, these associations are partly inconsistent and often derived from small samples. The current study aimed to replicate previously reported associations between physiological and subjective measures of fear acquisition and extinction and brain morphology. Structural magnetic resonance imaging was performed on 107 healthy adults who completed a differential cued fear conditioning paradigm with 24 h delayed extinction while skin conductance response (SCR) and fear ratings were recorded. Cortical thickness and subcortical volume were obtained using the software Freesurfer. Results obtained by traditional null hypothesis significance testing and Bayesians statistics do not support structural brain-behavior relationships: Neither differential SCR nor fear ratings during fear acquisition or extinction training could be predicted by cortical thickness or subcortical volume in regions previously reported. In summary, the current pre-registered study does not corroborate associations between brain morphology and inter-individual differences in defensive responding but differences in experimental design and analyses approaches compared to previous work should be acknowledged.

scholarly journals Neural reward related-reactions to monetar gains for self and charity are associated with donating behavior in adolescence

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-163
Author(s):  
Jochem P Spaans ◽  
Sabine Peters ◽  
Eveline A Crone
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Precentral Gyrus ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Subjective Value ◽  
Donation Behavior ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Zero Sum ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scanning

Abstract The aim of the current study was to examine neural signatures of gaining money for self and charity in adolescence. Participants (N = 160, aged 11–21) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging-scanning while performing a zero-sum vicarious reward task in which they could either earn money for themselves at the expense of charity, for a self-chosen charity at the expense of themselves, or for both parties. Afterwards, they could donate money to charity, which we used as a behavioral index of giving. Gaining for self and for both parties resulted in activity in the ventral striatum (specifically in the NAcc), but not gaining for charity. Interestingly, striatal activity when gaining for charity was positively related to individual differences in donation behavior and perspective taking. Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, insula and precentral gyrus were active when gaining only for self, and temporal-parietal junction when gaining only for charity, relative to gaining for both parties (i.e. under equity deviation). Taken together, these findings show that striatal activity during vicarious gaining for charity depends on levels of perspective taking and predicts future acts of giving to charity. These findings provide insight in the individual differences in the subjective value of prosocial outcomes.

The Angry Brain: Neural Correlates of Anger, Angry Rumination, and Aggressive Personality

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 734-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas F. Denson ◽  
William C. Pedersen ◽  
Jaclyn Ronquillo ◽  
Anirvan S. Nandy
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Neural Pathways ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Angry Rumination ◽  
Aggressive Personality

Very little is known about the neural circuitry guiding anger, angry rumination, and aggressive personality. In the present fMRI experiment, participants were insulted and induced to ruminate. Activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex was positively related to self-reported feelings of anger and individual differences in general aggression. Activity in the medial prefrontal cortex was related to self-reported rumination and individual differences in displaced aggression. Increased activation in the hippocampus, insula, and cingulate cortex following the provocation predicted subsequent self-reported rumination. These findings increase our understanding of the neural processes associated with the risk for aggressive behavior by specifying neural regions that mediate the subjective experience of anger and angry rumination as well as the neural pathways linked to different types of aggressive behavior.

scholarly journals Revisiting potential associations between brain morphology, fear acquisition and extinction through new data and a literature review

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mana R Ehlers ◽  
Janne Nold ◽  
Manuel Kuhn ◽  
Maren Klingelhöfer-Jens ◽  
Tina B Lonsdorf
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Cortical Thickness ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Brain Morphology ◽  
Small Samples ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Defensive Responding ◽  
Brain Behavior ◽  
Subcortical Volume

Inter-individual differences in defensive responding are widely established but their morphological correlates in humans have not been investigated exhaustively. Previous studies reported associations with cortical thickness of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, insula and medial orbitofrontal cortex as well as amygdala volume in fear conditioning studies. However, these associations are partly inconsistent and often derived from small samples. The current study aimed to replicate previously reported associations between physiological and subjective measures of fear acquisition and extinction and brain morphology. Structural magnetic resonance imaging was performed on 107 healthy adults who completed a differential cued fear conditioning paradigm with 24h delayed extinction while skin conductance response (SCR) and fear ratings were recorded. Cortical thickness and subcortical volume were obtained using the software Freesurfer. Results obtained by traditional null hypothesis significance testing and Bayesians statistics do not support structural brain-behavior relationships: Neither differential SCR nor fear ratings during fear acquisition or extinction training could be predicted by cortical thickness or subcortical volume in regions previously reported. In summary, the current pre-registered study does not corroborate associations between brain morphology and inter-individual differences in defensive responding but differences in experimental design and analyses approaches compared to previous work should be acknowledged.

scholarly journals Ketogenic diet reduces alcohol withdrawal symptoms in humans and alcohol intake in rodents

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (15) ◽  
pp. eabf6780
Author(s):  
Corinde E. Wiers ◽  
Leandro F. Vendruscolo ◽  
Jan-Willem van der Veen ◽  
Peter Manza ◽  
Ehsan Shokri-Kojori ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ketogenic Diet ◽  
Alcohol Withdrawal ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Alcohol Intake ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Alcohol Cues ◽  
History Of ◽  
To Receive

Individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) show elevated brain metabolism of acetate at the expense of glucose. We hypothesized that a shift in energy substrates during withdrawal may contribute to withdrawal severity and neurotoxicity in AUD and that a ketogenic diet (KD) may mitigate these effects. We found that inpatients with AUD randomized to receive KD (n = 19) required fewer benzodiazepines during the first week of detoxification, in comparison to those receiving a standard American (SA) diet (n = 14). Over a 3-week treatment, KD compared to SA showed lower “wanting” and increased dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) reactivity to alcohol cues and altered dACC bioenergetics (i.e., elevated ketones and glutamate and lower neuroinflammatory markers). In a rat model of alcohol dependence, a history of KD reduced alcohol consumption. We provide clinical and preclinical evidence for beneficial effects of KD on managing alcohol withdrawal and on reducing alcohol drinking.

scholarly journals Brain reactivity during aggressive response in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder treated with a selective progesterone receptor modulator

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisavet Kaltsouni ◽  
Patrick M. Fisher ◽  
Manon Dubol ◽  
Steinar Hustad ◽  
Rupert Lanzenberger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Progesterone Receptor ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder ◽  
Aggressive Response ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Reproductive Age ◽  
Gonadal Hormone ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Response Condition ◽  
Receptor Modulator

AbstractPremenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a psychiatric condition characterized by late luteal phase affective, cognitive, and physical impairment. The disorder causes significant suffering in about 5% of women in their reproductive age. Altered sensitivity of cognitive-affective brain circuits to progesterone and its downstream metabolite allopregnanolone is suggested to underlie PMDD symptomatology. Core mood symptoms include irritability and anger, with aggression being the behavioral outcome of these symptoms. The present study sought to investigate the neural correlates of reactive aggression during the premenstrual phase in women with PMDD, randomized to a selective progesterone receptor modulator (SPRM) or placebo. Self-reports on the Daily Record of Severity of Problems were used to assess PMDD symptoms and gonadal hormone levels were measured by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 30 women with PMDD, while performing the point subtraction aggression paradigm. Overall, a high SPRM treatment response rate was attained (93%), in comparison with placebo (53.3%). Women with PMDD randomized to SPRM treatment had enhanced brain reactivity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex during the aggressive response condition. The fronto-cingulate reactivity during aggressive responses depended on treatment, with a negative relationship between brain reactivity and task-related aggressiveness found in the placebo but not the SPRM group. The findings contribute to define the role of progesterone in PMDD symptomatology, suggesting a beneficial effect of progesterone receptor antagonism, and consequent anovulation, on top-down emotion regulation, i.e., greater fronto-cingulate activity in response to provocation stimuli.

Acetaminophen Reduces Social Pain

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 931-937 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Nathan DeWall ◽  
Geoff MacDonald ◽  
Gregory D. Webster ◽  
Carrie L. Masten ◽  
Roy F. Baumeister ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Social Rejection ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Physical Pain ◽  
Social Pain ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Pain, whether caused by physical injury or social rejection, is an inevitable part of life. These two types of pain—physical and social—may rely on some of the same behavioral and neural mechanisms that register pain-related affect. To the extent that these pain processes overlap, acetaminophen, a physical pain suppressant that acts through central (rather than peripheral) neural mechanisms, may also reduce behavioral and neural responses to social rejection. In two experiments, participants took acetaminophen or placebo daily for 3 weeks. Doses of acetaminophen reduced reports of social pain on a daily basis (Experiment 1). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure participants’ brain activity (Experiment 2), and found that acetaminophen reduced neural responses to social rejection in brain regions previously associated with distress caused by social pain and the affective component of physical pain (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula). Thus, acetaminophen reduces behavioral and neural responses associated with the pain of social rejection, demonstrating substantial overlap between social and physical pain.

Effects of the DAT 3’UTR VNTR Genotype on Brain Function in Healthy Subjects and Patients with Schizophrenia

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
D.P. Prata ◽  
A. Mechelli ◽  
C. Fu ◽  
M. Picchioni ◽  
F. Kane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Fluency ◽  
Diagnostic Group ◽  
Cortical Activation ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
List Type ◽  
Type Number ◽  
Cortical Function ◽  
Repeat Allele ◽  
Word Generation ◽  
Brain Responses

Aims:To examine the effect of a polymorphism in the Dopamine Transporter (DAT) gene on brain activation during executive function and, for the first time:1.determine the extent to which this is altered in schizophrenia and2.use a verbal fluency paradigm.This is relevant since:1.DAT plays a key role in the regulation of dopamine, which modulates cortical activation during cognitive tasks and2.a disruption of dopamine function is a fundamental pathophysiological feature of schizophrenia.Method:Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure whole-brain responses during overt verbal fluency in 85 subjects: 44 healthy volunteers and 41 DSM-IV schizophrenia patients. Main effects of genotype and diagnostic group on activation and their interaction were estimated using an ANOVA in SPM5.Results:The 10-repeat allele of the 3'UTR VNTR was associated with greater activation than the 9-repeat allele in the left (Z=4.8; FWEp=0.005) and right (Z=4.2; FWEp=0.057) anterior insula and with decreased activation in the rostral anterior cingulate (Z=4.3 FWEp=0.04) during word generation (versus baseline). These effects were irrespective of diagnostic group but generally more marked in patients. There were also strong trends for groupxgenotype interactions in the left middle frontal gyrus and the left nucleus accumbens. Analysis was controlled for task performance, IQ, antipsychotic medication, psychopathology and demographics.Conclusion:Cortical function during executive tasks is normally modulated by variation in the DAT gene, effect which is dependent on the brain region. DAT's effect may be altered in schizophrenia patients, which may reflect altered central dopamine function.

scholarly journals Dissociable roles of cortical excitation-inhibition balance during patch-leaving versus value-guided decisions

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca F. Kaiser ◽  
Theo O. J. Gruendler ◽  
Oliver Speck ◽  
Lennart Luettgau ◽  
Gerhard Jocham
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Mutual Inhibition ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Cortical Excitation ◽  
The Cost

AbstractIn a dynamic world, it is essential to decide when to leave an exploited resource. Such patch-leaving decisions involve balancing the cost of moving against the gain expected from the alternative patch. This contrasts with value-guided decisions that typically involve maximizing reward by selecting the current best option. Patterns of neuronal activity pertaining to patch-leaving decisions have been reported in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), whereas competition via mutual inhibition in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is thought to underlie value-guided choice. Here, we show that the balance between cortical excitation and inhibition (E/I balance), measured by the ratio of GABA and glutamate concentrations, plays a dissociable role for the two kinds of decisions. Patch-leaving decision behaviour relates to E/I balance in dACC. In contrast, value-guided decision-making relates to E/I balance in vmPFC. These results support mechanistic accounts of value-guided choice and provide evidence for a role of dACC E/I balance in patch-leaving decisions.

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