Laboratory of Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Schizophr Res. 2012 Apr;136(1-3):122-7. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2012.01.002. Epub 2012 Jan 27.
Risky decision-making is subserved by the frontostriatal system, which includes a network of interconnected brain regions known to be dysfunctional in patients with schizophrenia. This study aimed to investigate whether and to what extent patients with schizophrenia display a different pattern of risk-taking behavior relative to matched healthy controls. The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) and the Risky-Gains Task were used as naturalistic measures of risk-taking behavior in 25 patients with schizophrenia and 25 controls. Results of the BART revealed that patients behaved more conservatively, and this in turn led to suboptimal risky decision-making. Consistently, patients behaved more conservatively in the Risky-Gains Task. Interestingly, however, they adjusted the pattern of risk-taking following a punished trial similar to controls. These findings indicate that patients have impaired reward but preserved punishment processing. This study complements previous studies on decision-making in schizophrenia and suggests specific rather than widespread abnormalities along the frontostriatal system in schizophrenia.
冒险决策由额眶皮质-纹状体系统（frontostriatal system）来执行，该系统包括一组相互连接的脑区，在精神分裂症患者中这些脑区被证实存在功能障碍。本研究旨在调查精神分裂症患者的冒险行为模式是否与匹配的健康对照组存在差异，以及存在哪些差异。采用气球模拟风险任务（BART）和风险收益任务（Risky-Gains Task）作为自然测量的冒险行为，研究了 25 名精神分裂症患者和 25 名对照组的风险行为。BART 的结果表明，患者的行为更为保守，这反过来导致了次优的冒险决策。一致的是，患者在风险收益任务中表现出更为保守的行为。然而，有趣的是，他们在受到惩罚的试验后会像对照组一样调整冒险行为模式。这些发现表明，患者的奖赏处理受损，但惩罚处理得以保留。本研究补充了精神分裂症决策研究的相关文献，提示在精神分裂症中，额眶皮质-纹状体系统存在特定而非广泛的异常。
