The mediating role of LPFC–vmPFC functional connectivity in the relation between regulatory mode and delay discounting

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that regulatory mode orientation can affect many human behaviors, such as risk-taking, counterfactual thinking and economic decision making. However, little is known about how regulatory mode affects delay discounting. To address this question, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) to investigate whether regulatory mode orientations can be represented by functional connectivity and the influence of two regulatory modes (assessment and locomotion) on delay discounting. The behavioral results showed that delay discounting was negatively correlated with assessment scores but positively correlated with locomotion scores. Neuroimaging results indicated that the functional connectivity between lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) was negatively correlated with assessment scores but positively correlated with locomotion scores. Furthermore, mediation analysis showed that the effect of regulatory mode on delay discounting is mediated by LPFC–vmPFC functional connectivity. These results suggested that people’s regulatory mode orientation could predict delay discounting, which is mediated by LPFC–vmPFC functional connectivity. Therefore, the present study extends our perspective on regulatory mode and provides neural mechanism for understanding the link between regulatory mode and delay discounting.