Wang Pinchun, Zhang Han, Deng Kun, Chen Shuning, Im Hohjin, Zhu Wenwei, Yang Shaofeng, Wei Shiyu, Wang He, Wang Qiang
Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China.
School of Artificial Intelligence, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, China.
Cereb Cortex. 2023 Apr 25;33(9):5323-5335. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhac420.
When anticipating future losses, people respond by exhibiting 1 of 2 starkly distinct behavioral decision patterns: the dread of future losses (DFL) and the preference of future losses (vs. immediate losses). Yet, how to accurately discriminate between those who exhibit dread vs. preference and uncover the potential neurobiological substrates underlying these 2 groups remain understudied. To address this, we designed a novel experimental task in which the DFL group was defined as selecting immediate-loss options >50% in the trials with approximate subjective value in immediate and delayed options (n = 16), otherwise coding as the preference of future losses (PFL). At the behavioral level, DFL exhibited higher weight for delayed losses than immediate losses via the logistic regression model. At the neural level, DFL manifested hypoactivations on subjective valuations of delayed losses, atypical brain pattern when choosing immediate-loss options, and decreased functional coupling between the valuation and choice-systems when making decisions related to immediate-loss alternatives compared with PFL. Moreover, both these brain activations subserving distinct decision processes and their interactions predicted individual decisions and behavioral preferences. Furthermore, morphological analysis also revealed decreased right precuneus volume in DFL compared with PFL, and brain activations related to valuation and choice process mediated the associations between this region volume and behavioral performances. Taken together, these findings help to clarify potential cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying the DFL and provide a clear discrimination strategy.
在预期未来损失时，人们会通过展现出两种截然不同的行为决策模式中的一种来做出反应：对未来损失的恐惧（DFL）和对未来损失（相对于即时损失）的偏好。然而，如何准确区分表现出恐惧与偏好的人群，以及揭示这两组人群潜在的神经生物学基础，仍有待深入研究。为了解决这个问题，我们设计了一项新颖的实验任务，其中DFL组被定义为在即时和延迟选项具有近似主观价值的试验中，选择即时损失选项的比例>50%（n = 16），否则编码为对未来损失的偏好（PFL）。在行为层面，通过逻辑回归模型，DFL对延迟损失的权重高于即时损失。在神经层面，与PFL相比，DFL在延迟损失的主观评估上表现出激活不足，在选择即时损失选项时呈现出非典型的脑模式，并且在做出与即时损失替代方案相关的决策时，评估系统与选择系统之间的功能耦合降低。此外，这些服务于不同决策过程的脑激活及其相互作用预测了个体决策和行为偏好。此外，形态学分析还显示，与PFL相比，DFL的右侧楔前叶体积减小，与评估和选择过程相关的脑激活介导了该区域体积与行为表现之间的关联。综上所述，这些发现有助于阐明DFL潜在的认知和神经机制，并提供一种清晰的区分策略。
