High Self-Control Reduces Risk Preference: The Role of Connectivity Between Right Orbitofrontal Cortex and Right Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Frontiers in Neuroscience

卷:13

Rong Zhang¹  Shunmin Zhang¹  Ting Xu¹  Zhiyi Chen¹  Tingyong Feng²  Tao Suo⁴  Mengmeng Wang⁴ 

[1] Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China;

[2] Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China;

[3] School of Education, Institute of Cognition, Brain, and Health, Henan University, Kaifeng, China;

[4] School of Education, Institute of Psychology and Behavior, Henan University, Kaifeng, China;

关键词: self-control;    risk preference;    voxel-based morphometry;    resting-state functional connectivity;    mediation;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnins.2019.00194

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Risk preference, the preference for risky choices over safe alternatives, has a great impact on many fields, such as physical health, sexual safety and financial decision making. Ample behavioral research has attested that inadequate self-control can give rise to high risk preference. However, little is known about the neural substrates underlying the effect of self-control on risk preference. To address this issue, we combined voxel-based morphometry (VBM) with resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) analyses to explore the neural basis underlying the effect of self-control on risk preference across two independent samples. In sample 1 (99 participants; 47 males; 20.37 ± 1.63 years), the behavioral results indicated that the scores of self-control were significantly and negatively correlated with risk preference (indexed by gambling rate). The VBM analyses demonstrated that the higher risk preference was correlated with smaller gray matter volumes in right orbitofrontal cortex (rOFC) and right posterior parietal cortex. In the independent sample 2 (80 participants; 33 males; 20.33 ± 1.83 years), the RSFC analyses ascertained that the functional connectivity of rOFC and right anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) was positively associated with risk preference. Furthermore, the mediation analysis identified that self-control mediated the impact of functional connectivity of rOFC-rACC on risk preference. These findings suggest the functional coupling between the rOFC and rACC might account for the association between self-control and risk preference. The present study extends our understanding on the relationship between self-control and risk preference, and reveals possible neural underpinnings underlying this association.

【 授权许可】

Unknown