Dataset Information

Risky Decision Making in Neurofibromatosis Type 1: An Exploratory Study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a monogenic disorder affecting cognitive function. About one third of children with NF1 have attentional disorders, and the cognitive phenotype is characterized by impairment in prefrontally-mediated functions. Mouse models of NF1 show irregularities in GABA release and striatal dopamine metabolism. We hypothesized that youth with NF1 would show abnormal behavior and neural activity on a task of risk-taking reliant on prefrontal-striatal circuits. METHODS:Youth with NF1 (N=29) and demographically comparable healthy controls (N=22), ages 8-19, were administered a developmentally sensitive gambling task, in which they chose between low-risk gambles with a high probability of obtaining a small reward, and high-risk gambles with a low probability of obtaining a large reward. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate neural activity associated with risky decision making, as well as age-associated changes in these behavioral and neural processes. RESULTS:Behaviorally, youth with NF1 tended to make fewer risky decisions than controls. Neuroimaging analyses revealed significantly reduced neural activity across multiple brain regions involved in higher-order semantic processing and motivation (i.e., anterior cingulate, paracingulate, supramarginal, and angular gyri) in patients with NF1 relative to controls during the task. We also observed atypical age-associated changes in neural activity in patients with NF1, such that during risk taking, neural activity tended to decrease with age in controls, whereas it tended to increase with age in patients with NF1. CONCLUSIONS:Findings suggest that developmental trajectories of neural activity during risky decision-making may be disrupted in youth with NF1.

SUBMITTER: Jonas RK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5518467 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Risky Decision Making in Neurofibromatosis Type 1: An Exploratory Study.

Jonas Rachel K RK Roh EunJi E Montojo Caroline A CA Pacheco Laura A LA Rosser Tena T Silva Alcino J AJ Bearden Carrie E CE

Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging 20170301 2

<h4>Background</h4>Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a monogenic disorder affecting cognitive function. About one third of children with NF1 have attentional disorders, and the cognitive phenotype is characterized by impairment in prefrontally-mediated functions. Mouse models of NF1 show irregularities in GABA release and striatal dopamine metabolism. We hypothesized that youth with NF1 would show abnormal behavior and neural activity on a task of risk-taking reliant on prefrontal-striatal circu ...[more]

PMID: 28736755

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Project description:Pubertal development is a potential trigger for increases in risk-taking behaviours during adolescence. Here, we sought to investigate the relationship between puberty and neural activation during risky decision-making in males using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Forty-seven males aged 12.5-14.5 years completed an fMRI risk-taking task (BART) and reported their tendencies for risky decision-making using a self-report questionnaire. Puberty was assessed through self-reported pubertal status and salivary testosterone levels. Testosterone concentration, but not physical pubertal status, was positively correlated with self-reported risk-taking behaviour, while neither was correlated with BART performance. Across the whole sample, participants had greater activation of the bilateral nucleus accumbens and right caudate on trials when they made a successful risky decision compared to trials when they made a safe choice or when their risky decision was unsuccessful. There was a negative correlation between pubertal stage and brain activation during unsuccessful risky decision-making trials compared within unsuccessful control trials. Males at a lower stage of pubertal development showed increased activation in the left insula, right cingulate cortex, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), right putamen and right orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) relative to more pubertally mature males during trials when they chose to take a risk and the balloon popped compared to when they watched the computer make an unsuccessful risky decision. Less pubertally mature males also showed greater activation in brain regions including the dmPFC, right temporal and frontal cortices, right OFC, right hippocampus and occipital cortex in unsuccessful risky trials compared to successful risky trials. These results suggest a puberty-related shift in neural activation within key brain regions when processing outcomes of risky decisions, which may reduce their sensitivity to negative feedback, and in turn contribute to increases in adolescent risk-taking behaviours.

Dataset Information

Risky Decision Making in Neurofibromatosis Type 1: An Exploratory Study.

Publications

Risky Decision Making in Neurofibromatosis Type 1: An Exploratory Study.

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