Ventral Striatal Activation During Reward Anticipation of Different Reward Probabilities in Adolescents and Adults

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

Judith Buse¹  Nora C. Vetter¹  Maria Bretzke¹  Veit Roessner¹  Nicole Wolff¹  Michael M. Plichta²  Hannes Wahl³ 

[1] Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany;Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany;Institute of Neuroradiology, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany;

关键词: adolescence;    development;    fMRI;    reward probabilities;    reward;    ventral striatum;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnhum.2021.649724

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Adolescence has been linked to an enhanced tolerance of uncertainty and risky behavior and is possibly connected to an increased response toward rewards. However, previous research has produced inconsistent findings. To investigate whether these findings are due to different reward probabilities used in the experimental design, we extended a monetary incentive delay (MID) task by including three different reward probabilities. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, 25 healthy adolescents and 22 adults were studied during anticipation of rewards in the VS. Differently colored cue stimuli indicated either a monetary or verbal trial and symbolized different reward probabilities, to which the participants were blinded. Results demonstrated faster reaction times for lower reward probabilities (33%) in both age groups. Adolescents were slower through all conditions and had less activation on a neural level. Imaging results showed a three-way interaction between age group x condition x reward probability with differences in percent signal change between adolescents and adults for the high reward probabilities (66%, 88%) while adolescents demonstrated differences for the lowest (33%). Therefore, previous inconsistent findings could be due to different reward probabilities, which makes examining these crucial for a better understanding of adolescent and adult behavior.

【 授权许可】

Unknown