The role of ventromedial prefrontal cortex in reward valuation and future thinking during intertemporal choice

eLife

Francesca Bianconi¹  Violetta Knyagnytska²  Carl Craver³  Leonard Green⁴  Joel Myerson⁴  Jenkin Mok⁵  Donna Kwan⁵  Shayna Rosenbaum⁶  Elisa Ciaramelli⁷  Flavia De Luca⁷ 

[1] Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Università di Bologna, Cesena, Italy;Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Università di Bologna, Cesena, Italy;Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Canada;Department of Philosophy, Washington University, St. Louis, United States;Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, United States;Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Canada;Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Canada;Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Canada;Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy;Centro studi e ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Università di Bologna, Cesena, Italy;

关键词: delay discounting;    episodic future thinking;    ventromedial prefrontal cortex;    decision making;    reward;    Human;   

DOI  :  10.7554/eLife.67387

来源: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd

【 摘 要 】

Intertemporal choices require trade-offs between short-term and long-term outcomes. Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) damage causes steep discounting of future rewards (delay discounting [DD]) and impoverished episodic future thinking (EFT). The role of vmPFC in reward valuation, EFT, and their interaction during intertemporal choice is still unclear. Here, 12 patients with lesions to vmPFC and 41 healthy controls chose between smaller-immediate and larger-delayed hypothetical monetary rewards while we manipulated reward magnitude and the availability of EFT cues. In the EFT condition, participants imagined personal events to occur at the delays associated with the larger-delayed rewards. We found that DD was steeper in vmPFC patients compared to controls, and not modulated by reward magnitude. However, EFT cues downregulated DD in vmPFC patients as well as controls. These findings indicate that vmPFC integrity is critical for the valuation of (future) rewards, but not to instill EFT in intertemporal choice.

【 授权许可】

CC BY