Abstract
Reward processing has been implicated in developmental disorders. However, the classic task to probe reward anticipation, the monetary incentive delay task, has an abstract coding of reward and no storyline and may therefore be less appropriate for use with developmental populations. We modified the task to create a version appropriate for use with children. We investigated whether this child-friendly version could elicit ventral striatal activation during reward anticipation in typically developing children and young adolescents (aged 9.5–14.5). In addition, we tested whether our performance-based measure of reward sensitivity was associated with anticipatory activity in ventral striatum. Reward anticipation was related to activity in bilateral ventral striatum. Moreover, we found an association between individual reward sensitivity and activity in ventral striatum. We conclude that this task assesses ventral striatal activity in a child-friendly paradigm. The combination with a performance-based measure of reward sensitivity potentially makes the task a powerful tool for developmental imaging studies of reward processing.
Highlights
Reward processing, and reward anticipation in particular, have been implicated in child and adolescent disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) [1], oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) [2] and depression [3]
They did not differ in terms of age, gender or IQ from the 13 subjects for whom Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were available for analysis
Our task-based measure of reward sensitivity was associated with striatal activity during reward anticipation
Summary
Reward anticipation in particular, have been implicated in child and adolescent disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) [1], oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) [2] and depression [3]. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have addressed reward anticipation using the monetary incentive delay (MID) paradigm [4]. In this paradigm, a cue is presented at the beginning of each trial, signaling the amount of monetary reward that can be won (or lost) on the upcoming trial. By contrasting trials with different monetary cues, brain activation related to reward anticipation can be assessed [4]. The symbols used in the task are highly abstract and there is no storyline. It has not often been used successfully with younger children and in particular those with developmental disorders
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