Dataset Information

Reduced behavioral and neural activation in stimulant users to different error rates during decision making.

ABSTRACT: Behavioral processes and neural systems dysfunctions that put individuals at risk for drug use in general, and stimulant use in particular, are poorly understood. Here, the hypothesis is examined that stimulant-using subjects adjust their decision making less as a function of errors as evidenced by attenuated behavioral and neural substrate activation patterns.Twelve young adults who had used stimulants were compared with 12 education-matched, stimulant-naive comparison subjects. Subjects completed the two-choice prediction task with three fixed error-rate conditions (20%, 50%, or 80% errors) during functional magnetic resonance imaging.Stimulant users relative to comparison subjects showed less strategy adjustment to different error rates, for example, they were less likely to stay with winning responses (win-stay) and to shift away from losing responses (lose-shift). These subjects also showed different activation patterns as a function of error rate in left insular and bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex but not anterior cingulate. The degree to which individuals adjusted switching rate, or win-stay/lose-shift consistent responses, as a function of errors was correlated with the difference in insular cortex activation differences between high and low error rates.The behavior of stimulant users is less adaptive to the frequency of errors made and fewer brain processing resources are deployed during decision making to anticipate erroneous performance. These findings could be markers for the predisposition of drug taking; however, their relevance for development of drug dependence requires further study.

SUBMITTER: Paulus MP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4286246 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Reduced behavioral and neural activation in stimulant users to different error rates during decision making.

Paulus Martin P MP Lovero Kathryn L KL Wittmann Marc M Leland David S DS

Biological psychiatry 20071022 11

<h4>Background</h4>Behavioral processes and neural systems dysfunctions that put individuals at risk for drug use in general, and stimulant use in particular, are poorly understood. Here, the hypothesis is examined that stimulant-using subjects adjust their decision making less as a function of errors as evidenced by attenuated behavioral and neural substrate activation patterns.<h4>Methods</h4>Twelve young adults who had used stimulants were compared with 12 education-matched, stimulant-naive c ...[more]

PMID: 17949691

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Project description:Aims: Chronic cannabis users show impairments on laboratory measures of decision making which reflect risk factors for initiation and continued use of cannabis. However, the differential sensitivity of these tasks to cannabis use has not been established. Moreover, studies to date have often lacked assessment of psychiatric histories and use of other illicit substances, both of which may influence decision making outcomes. The current study aimed to address these limitations by (1) including multiple types of decision making tasks, (2) implementing the Probabilistic Reversal Learning Task, a measure of decision making under uncertainty, for the first time in cannabis users, (3) including young adult cannabis users with no other psychiatric disorders, and (4) conducting urinalysis to exclude users of other illicit drugs. Methods: Thirty-three current cannabis users without comorbid psychiatric disorders and 35 cannabis non-users completed behavioral measures of decision-making (Iowa Gambling Task), reward discounting (Delay Discounting Task), choice-outcome learning (the Probabilistic Reversal Learning Task) and a questionnaire assessment of impulsivity (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale). Results: Relative to non-users, cannabis users demonstrated greater preference for immediate vs. delayed rewards on the Delay Discounting Task, made fewer advantageous decisions on the Iowa Gambling Task, and endorsed greater impulsivity on the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale scales. Cannabis users and non-users showed comparable performance on the Probabilistic Reversal Learning Task. Frequency of past-month cannabis use and total years of use did not predict decision making or impulsivity. Conclusions: Young adult cannabis users demonstrated higher discounting rates and impairments in learning cost-benefit contingencies, while reversal learning was unaffected. Self-reported impulsivity was elevated as well. None of these measures correlated with current or lifetime estimates of cannabis use, arguing against a dose-relationship. Interventions that target improvement in affected components of decision making may be helpful in reducing cannabis use and relapse.

Dataset Information

Reduced behavioral and neural activation in stimulant users to different error rates during decision making.

Publications

Reduced behavioral and neural activation in stimulant users to different error rates during decision making.

Similar Datasets

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