Gambling Task Performance Research Articles

The role of Iowa gambling task performance in response to citalopram treatment for cocaine use disorder

ABSTRACT Background: Cocaine use disorder (CUD) is associated with executive functioning impairments linked to serotonergic function. Previous studies reported efficacy with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor citalopram in reducing cocaine use. Objectives: The current study explored moderation and mediation of citalopram effects on cocaine use by performance across executive function domains. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized Bayesian adaptive trial investigating citalopram efficacy in CUD treatment-seeking adults. At baseline and mid-treatment, participants completed assessments of decision-making (Iowa Gambling Task; IGT), attention, response inhibition, and cognitive flexibility. Outcomes were longest duration of abstinence (LDA; count of consecutive cocaine-negative urine tests) and Treatment Effectiveness Score (TES; count of cocaine-negative urine tests from study midpoint to endpoint). Bayesian models estimated independent moderation and mediation effects of cognitive ability on the association between treatment (citalopram 40 mg vs. placebo) and LDA/TES. Results: Of the four assessments, only the IGT demonstrated concurrent moderation and mediation in the sample (N = 80; 82% males). Treatment effects on LDA (IRR = 1.02) and TES (IRR = 1.03) were strongest in participants with higher baseline IGT scores, which indicate less risky decision-making (posterior probabilities >93%). Models supported a positive indirect effect of treatment on TES (IRR = 1.12, posterior probability = 81.6%), with 52.3% of the total effect mediated by changes in IGT scores from baseline to mid-treatment. Conclusion: We found evidence for IGT as a moderator and mediator of citalopram’s effects on cocaine use. Decision-making ability may play a role in predicting who responds to citalopram and how.

Iowa Gambling Task performance in individuals with schizophrenia: the role of general versus specific cognitive abilities

ObjectiveWe aimed to explore how specific cognitive processes, such as attention and executive functions, account for variance in decision-making measured by Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) performance among individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.MethodsAdults (N = 65, Mage = 25.4) with schizophrenia spectrum disorders participating in a clinical trial (registered at clinicaltrials.gov NCT03048695) completed the IGT, neuropsychological tests of attention, response inhibition, mental flexibility, working memory, and planning, as well as subtests from the Wechsler tests of intelligence to estimate IQ. Associations between performance on specific tasks, a composite score of executive function and attention, and IGT performance measured in two ways, one using the total net score, decks (C+D) – (A+B) and the other as preference for decks with more frequent gains than losses, decks (B+D) – (A+C), were analyzed with correlational and hierarchical regression analysis controlling for estimated IQ and psychotic symptoms, measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale.ResultsIn the regression analyses, the strongest predictor of IGT performance measured as the total net score was estimated IQ (b = 1.43, p <.001). Neither specific cognitive tasks nor the composite score of executive functioning significantly contributed to explaining variance in IGT total net score beyond IQ and symptoms of psychosis. However, IQ and symptoms of psychosis did not predict tendency towards selecting decks with different gain-to-loss frequency, whereas poorer composite executive functioning predicted a pattern of selecting decks A and C with more frequent losses, (b = 8.30, p <.05).DiscussionThe results suggest that both IQ and executive functions contribute to IGT performance, but in distinct ways. Whereas lower IQ may contribute to overall more disadvantageous decision-making, poorer executive functioning may contribute to a more risk-aversive decision-making style. A clinical implication may be that individuals with schizophrenia and lower IQ or poorer executive functioning will have a higher need for support and interventions targeting decision-making.

Dark Triad Traits and Workplace Performance on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT)

Background Psychologists have recently turned their focus to the “dark side” of workplace behavior, particularly negative traits that impact professional environments. Methods In this exploratory study, we examined the Dark Triad traits—Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy—among 3,112 bank employees. Additionally, we analyzed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) performance in a subset of 1,613 participants to explore correlations between Dark Triad traits and decision-making. We also investigated differences based on sex and job position. Results Our findings reveal that men scored higher on Dark Triad traits than women, reinforcing well-established findings. Furthermore, sales managers and premium client managers displayed the highest levels of Machiavellian strategies, though overall, bank employees showed significantly lower Machiavellianism scores compared to published Russian norms. While IGT performance showed no sex differences, it varied between managers and non-managers. A significant negative correlation emerged between Machiavellianism and psychopathy and good deck choices on the IGT, with a linear regression indicating that lower Dark Triad scores predicted better decision-making. Conclusion Further research is needed to explore the relationship between affective decision-making and dark personality traits.

Supplemental Material for Reward Segmentation During Feedback Improves Gambling Task Performance

Supplemental Material for Reward Segmentation During Feedback Improves Gambling Task Performance

Reward segmentation during feedback improves gambling task performance.

Reward segmentation during feedback improves gambling task performance.

A-22 Beyond Sports and Concussions: The Link between Shifting and Higher-Order Executive Functioning in Young Women

Abstract Purpose Our aim was to investigate the role of lifestyle factors, physical activity, sport, and concussion history, as well as Miyake and colleague’s (2000) three lower-order factors of executive function (shifting, updating, and inhibition) on higher-order decision making and self-reported executive functioning in young women. Methods 180 Canadian female university students (ages 18–25) completed 9 computerized executive function tasks assessing shifting, updating, and inhibition, as well as decision making (Iowa Gambling Task). Participants also completed the Executive Function Index (subjective executive functioning) and reported their age, concussion history, weekly physical activity, and level of sports participation. Linear regression analysis was used to assess the effects of the predictor variables on the Executive Function Index scores and Iowa Gambling Task scores. Results Only shifting significantly predicted both subjective executive functioning scores (b=2.65, p<.05) and Iowa Gambling Task performance (b=269.02, p<.01). Weekly physical activity was significantly associated with subjective executive functioning (b=.10, p<.01), but not Iowa Gambling Task performance. Age, concussion history, sport participation, inhibition, and updating were not significant for either regression. Conclusions These findings suggest that shifting may be a critical component of both higher-order decision making and subjective executive functioning, while physical activity may be important for subjective executive functioning. The lack of predictive value for lifestyle factors such as concussion history and sports participation suggests that there are other factors influencing executive functioning performance in healthy young women. Future studies should explore other factors, such as hormonal variability, that may be impact subjective executive functioning and decision making in young women.

High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Improves Decision-Making Ability: A Study Based on EEG

High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) has been shown to modulate decision-making; however, the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear. To further explore the neurophysiological processes of decision-making modulated by HD-tDCS, health participants underwent ten anodal (n = 16)/sham (n = 17) HD-tDCS sessions targeting the left DLPFC. Iowa gambling task was performed simultaneously with electroencephalography (EEG) before and after HD-tDCS. Iowa gambling task performance, the P300 amplitude, and the power of theta oscillation as an index of decision-making were compared. Behavioral changes were found that showed anodal HD-tDCS could improve the decision-making function, in which participants could make more advantageous choices. The electrophysiological results showed that the P300 amplitude significantly increased in CZ, CPZ electrode placement site and theta oscillation power significantly activated in FCZ, CZ electrode placement site after anodal HD-tDCS. Significant positive correlations were observed between the changes in the percent use of negative feedback and the changes in theta oscillation power before and after anodal HD-tDCS. This study showed that HD-tDCS is a promising technology in improving decision-making and theta oscillation induced by may be a predictor of improved decision-making.

Capturing daily-life executive impairments in adults: Does the choice of neuropsychological tests matter?

Objective Standardized executive functioning (EF) measures do not reliably capture EF-related difficulties reported in daily life. We aim to determine if an ecologically relevant neuropsychological battery is more strongly associated with self-reported everyday EF impairments than classically used tests. Method Fifty-nine adults aged 18–49 self-rated their EF abilities using the Barkley Deficits in EF Scale (BDEFS) and were randomly assigned to complete either a test battery composed of EF measures with hypothesized ecological relevance (Six Elements, Zoo Map, Hayling Sentence Completion, Iowa Gambling, and Auditory Startle Tasks) or one composed of traditional EF tasks (Card Sorting, Trail Making, Color-Word Interference, and Verbal Fluency). Associations were examined using linear regression. Results There were no strong associations between BDEFS subscales and performance on either test battery. Only the regression model predicting Emotional Regulation from ecological tasks was significant. Iowa Gambling Task performance and corrugator muscle contraction in the Auditory Startle Task individually contributed significantly to the model, with small and moderate effect sizes respectively. Conclusion Results align with evidence that self-reported EF difficulties are not adequately captured by formal neuropsychological measures, even for performance-based measures which directly tap everyday constructs. Findings are interpreted cautiously in the context of a small, high-functioning sample.

Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation (iTBS) as an Optimal Treatment for Schizophrenia Risk Decision: an ERSP Study.

Objective: People with schizophrenia have serious impairments in social function, especially in decision-making ability. Transcranial magnetic stimulation modified intermittent theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (iTBS) has been shown to regulate the functional connection of brain networks. Our study explored the therapeutic effect of iTBS on decision-making disorders in schizophrenia.Methods: Participants were pseudorandomized and assigned to iTBS (n = 16) or sham (n = 16) group. iTBS group was administered 1,800 pulses on the target of the left dorsol lateral prefrontal cortex (L-DLPFC) per day for 14 consecutive days. We compared Iowa gambling task performance and associated event-related spectral perturbation results (ERSP) among two groups.Results: The results show that participants' performance in the high-lose in the iTBS group had stronger stimulation of theta spectral power than those in the sham group. Specifically, we found that under high-risk conditions, compared with the control group, the iTBS group showed significant activation of the theta spectrum power in the FPZ, FZ, FCZ, and CZ regions after treatment.Conclusions: Our results provide evidence that long-term iTBS stimulation effectively improves the decision-making ability of schizophrenia. After receiving negative feedback, patients can turn to safety options. These findings support that iTBS may be a potential treatment for clinical decision-making disorders.

Autonomic responses to choice outcomes: Links to task performance and reinforcement-learning parameters

Previous work has shown that autonomic responses to choice feedback can predict subsequent decision-making. In this study, we tested whether skin conductance responses (SCRs) and heart rate (HR) decelerations following the presentation of choice outcomes predict Iowa Gambling Task performance in nonclinical participants (n = 64). We also examined how these signals related to parameters of a reinforcement-learning (RL) model. Feedback SCRs and HR decelerations were greater following outcomes that included losses and choices from the bad decks defined by their negative expected value. In addition, SCRs predicted task performance. A hierarchical Bayesian RL model indicated that greater feedback SCR for the bad decks compared to good decks was associated with stronger loss aversion and a lower learning rate, both of which predicted higher performance. These results suggest that feedback-related SCRs are linked to individual differences in outcome evaluation and learning processes that guide reinforcement-learning.

Kaygı, Belirsizliğe Tahammülsüzlük ve Karar Verme Arasındaki İlişkilerin İncelenmesi

The aim of this research is to investigate the relationships among trait anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, and decision-making behavior. In this research, a descriptive research design was used. The research was conducted with the participation of volunteer university students who were enrolled in the undergraduate programs at Ege University Faculty of Education. Convenient sampling method was used and the data obtained from 105 participants (43 male and 62 female) were analyzed. Data collection instruments in the research were a Demographic Information Form, Trait Anxiety Inventory, Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (long form), and Iowa Gambling Task. Correlational analysis was used to analyze the research data. As a result of the analysis, there was no statistically significant relationship between university students’ trait anxiety level and Iowa Gambling Task performance. Also, there was no statistically significant relationship between the students’ intolerance of uncertainty level and Iowa Gambling Task performance. However, it was concluded that there was a significant positive correlation between trait anxiety level and intolerance of uncertainty level of the students. The research findings were discussed in the light of the literature and some recommendations were made for future studies.

Ventral tegmental area dysfunction affects decision-making in patients with myotonic dystrophy type-1

The clinical manifestations of Myotonic Dystrophy type-1 (DM1) are associated with a complex mixture of multisystem features including cognitive dysfunctions that strongly impact on patients' social and occupational functioning. Decision making, a function controlled by dopaminergic circuitry, is critical for succeeding in one's social and professional life. We tested here the hypothesis that altered connectivity of the ventral tegmental area (VTA), one of the major sources of diffuse dopaminergic projections in the brain, might account for some higher-level dysfunctions observed in patients with DM1. In this case–control study, we recruited 31 patients with DM1 and 26 healthy controls who underwent the IOWA Gambling task and resting-state functional MRI (RS-fMRI) at 3T. Functional connectivity of the VTA was assessed using RS-fMRI. VTA connectivity was compared between 25 DM1 patients and all the controls, and the presence of associations between VTA connectivity and IOWA Gambling task performance was also investigated. DM1 patients performed significantly worse than controls at the IOWA Gambling task. A significant increase of functional connectivity was observed between VTA and the left supramarginal and superior temporal gyri in DM1 patients. Patients' IOWA Gambling task net-scores were strictly associated with VTA-driven functional connectivity in the bilateral supplementary motor area and right precentral gyrus. This study demonstrates a prominent deficit of decision-making in patients with DM1. It might be related to increased connectivity between VTA and brain areas critically involved in the reward/punishment system and social cognition. These findings indicate that dopaminergic function is a potential target for pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions in DM1.

Humor Improves Women's but Impairs Men's Iowa Gambling Task Performance.

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a popular method for examining real-life decision-making. Research has shown gender related differences in performance, in that men consistently outperform women. It has been suggested that these performance differences are related to decreased emotional control in women compared to men. Given the likely role of emotion in these gender differences, in the present study, we examine the effect of a humor induction on IGT performance and whether the effect of humor is moderated by gender. IGT performance and parameters from the Expectancy Valence Model (EVM) were measured in 68 university students (34 men; mean age 22.02, SD = 4.3 and 34 women; mean age 22.3, SD = 4.1) during a 100 trial-IGT task. Participants were exposed to a brief video before each of the IGT decisions available; one half of the samples (17 men and 17 women) was exposed to 100 humor videos, while the other half was exposed to 100 non-humor videos during the task. We observed a significant interaction between gender and humor, such that under humor, women’s performance during the last block (trials 80–100) improved (compared to women under non-humor), whereas men’s performance during the last block was worse (compared to men under non-humor). Consistent with previous work, under non-humor, men outperformed women in the last block. Lastly, our EVM results show that humor impacts the learning mechanisms of decision-making differently in men and women. Humor impaired men’s ability to acquire knowledge about the payoff structure of the decks, and as a consequence, they were stuck in suboptimal performance. On the other hand, humor facilitated women’s ability to explore and to learn from experience, improving performance. These findings deepen our understanding of the mechanisms underlying IGT decision-making and differential effects of humor in men and women.

Sweating the small stuff: A meta-analysis of skin conductance on the Iowa gambling task

To systematically examine the role of anticipatory skin conductance responses (aSCRs) in predicting Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) performance. Secondly, to assess the quality of aSCR evidence for the Somatic Marker Hypothesis (SMH) during the IGT. Finally, to evaluate the reliability of current psychophysiological measurements on the IGT. Electronic databases, journals and reference lists were examined for inclusion. Data were extracted by two reviewers and validated by another reviewer, using a standardised extraction sheet along with a quality assessment. Two meta-analyses of aSCR measures were conducted to test the relationship between overall aSCR and IGT performance, and differences in aSCR between advantageous and disadvantageous decks. Twenty studies were included in this review. Quality assessment revealed that five studies did not measure anticipatory responses, and few stated they followed standard IGT and/or psychophysiological procedures. The first meta-analysis of 15 studies revealed a significant, small-to-medium relationship between aSCR and IGT performance (r= .22). The second meta-analysis of eight studies revealed a significant, small difference in aSCR between the advantageous and disadvantageous decks (r= .10); however, publication bias is likely to be an issue. Meta-analyses revealed aSCR evidence supporting the SMH. However, inconsistencies in the IGT and psychophysiological methods, along with publication bias, cast doubt on these effects. It is recommended that future tests of the SMH use a range of psychophysiological measures, a standardised IGT protocol, and discriminate between advantageous and disadvantageous decks.

Psychopathy and Decision-Making: Antisocial Factor Associated With Risky Decision-Making in Offenders.

Psychopathy is a personality development disorder increasing the risk of antisocial behavior. Studies on the relationship between psychopathy and decision-making have received limited attention and the result of studies is mixed. A present study examines whether or not the different factors of psychopathy are related to decision-making under risk and ambiguity in offenders and how they are related. Also, the study investigates whether general intelligence is associated with decision-making or moderates the relationship between psychopathy and decision-making. The results showed that only antisocial factor of psychopathy significantly correlates with Game of Dice Task (GDT) risky selections, but there no general relation between psychopathy and Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) performance. Lastly, general intelligence neither is related to decision-making under risk and ambiguity nor moderates the relationship between decision-making and psychopathy. The study results show that antisocial factor of psychopathy was associated with decision-making under risk rather than ambiguity. Our results also suggest that the antisocial factor of psychopathy was more related to executive dysfunction in offenders.

Rapid emotional response and disadvantageous Iowa gambling task performance in women with borderline personality disorder

BackgroundAdults with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) manifest poor performance on tasks of decision making which may be congruent with their decisional and interpersonal conflicts in real life. Poor decision making is often assumed to be due to impulsive behaviour or weak inhibitory control despite inconsistent evidences of these relationships, leaving questions about the specific nature of these decisional deficits. Decision making in BPD may be compromised by different domains of impulsivity, affective dysregulatory processes or unknown co-morbid ADHD which is considered a developmental precursor to BPD.FindingsIowa Gambling Task (IGT) decision making, 2 tasks of inhibitory control and a self report of ADHD symptoms consisting of 9 subscales were administered to 41 BPD women and 41 healthy controls. No group differences in inhibitory control were present. Net decision making performance and all ADHD subscale ratings differed significantly among BPD women and healthy controls. BPD women did not meet the threshold indicative of moderate to severe ADHD. Three subscales of attention, behaviour/ disorganized and emotive were significantly associated with poor IGT performance in 26 women with BPD. Of these 3 variables, the emotive subscale, representing a rapid emotional response, was the only significant predictor contributing 49% to the variance in poor DM.ConclusionsThis is the 1st evidence of an emotive type of impulsivity, representing a type of affective instability that is linked to poor IGT DM in BPD. Findings support the Somatic Marker Hypothesis of IGT DM and may reflect the affective dysregulation that characterizes the disorder.

Food addiction and impaired executive functions in women with obesity.

Individuals with obesity (OB) often report suffering from addiction-like symptoms. As in addictions, deficits in executive function domains, such as decision-making and sustained attention, are found in OB. No study to date has examined the associations between food addiction, OB, and neuropsychological performance. Thirty-three adult women with OB and 36 healthy weight controls completed the Yale Food Addiction Scale Version 2.0, a validated instrument used to assess food-related addictive behaviours. Additionally, participants completed computerized versions of the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and Conners' Continuous Performance Test, second edition (CPT-II) to examine decision-making and attentional control, respectively. Food addiction criteria were met in 24.2% of the participants with OB and in 2.8% of the control group. In the OB group, food addiction severity levels were negatively correlated with overall scores on the IGT. Participants with OB meeting criteria for food addiction committed more omissions and perseveration errors on the CPT-II compared with those without food addiction. Our results point to an association between food addiction severity levels and impairments in decision-making and attentional capacity in individuals with OB. Given the heterogeneity found in OB, it stands to reason that this subset of patients with food addiction could potentially benefit from interventions targeting neuropsychological deficits.

Relating neural processing of reward and loss prospect to risky decision-making in individuals with and without gambling disorder

ABSTRACTNeuroimaging studies demonstrate alterations in fronto-striatal neurocircuitry in gambling disorder (GD) during anticipatory processing, which may influence decision-making impairments. However, to date little is known about fronto-striatal anticipatory processing and emotion-based decision-making. While undergoing neuroimaging, 28 GD and 28 healthy control (HC) participants performed the Monetary Incentive Delay Task (MIDT). Pearson correlation coefficients assessed out-of-scanner Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) performance with the neural activity during prospect (A1) processing on the MIDT across combined GD and HC groups. The HC and GD groups showed no significant difference in out-of-scanner IGT performance, although there was a trend for higher IGT scores in the HC group on the last two IGT trial blocks. Whole-brain correlations across combined HC and GD groups showed that MIDT BOLD signal in the ventral striatum/caudate/ventromedial prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate regions during the prospect of winning positively correlated with total IGT scores. The GD group also contained a higher proportion of tobacco smokers, and correlations between neural activations in prospect on the MIDT may relate in part to gambling and/or smoking pathology. In this study, fronto-striatal activity during the prospect of reward and loss on the MIDT was related to decision-making on the IGT, with blunted activation linked to disadvantageous decision-making. The findings from this work are novel in linking brain activity during a prospect-of-reward phase with performance on a decision-making task in individuals with and without GD.

Iowa Gambling Task Performance in Parkinson Disease Patients with Impulse Control Disorders.

A subgroup of patients with Parkinson disease (PD) develops impulse control disorders (ICD) associated with their dopamine replacement therapy. Patients and their families may be reluctant to report ICD symptoms or unaware these symptoms are related to PD medication, which can make detecting an ICD difficult for clinicians. Ideally, a behavioral measure that is sensitive to ICD could be employed to ensure that patients with these behaviors are identified and treated. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), a standardized decision-making task, has proven sensitive in other populations with impulse control problems. We hypothesized that the IGT would differentiate between PD patients with and without ICD. We compared IGT performance and disease variables in 24 PD patients with ICD and 24 PD patients without ICD. Patient groups were matched in terms of age, sex, and duration of PD. There were no significant differences in IGT scores between PD groups. IGT performance declined with increasing age, but the majority of patients performed within normal limits based on published age- and education-corrected normative data. The IGT did not distinguish between PD patients with and without ICD. Increasing age negatively impacted performance in both groups. Other studies have found that IGT performance may decline in normal aging. Our results suggest that the IGT lacks the sensitivity and specificity needed to differentiate between age-related deficits and disruption in frontal-subcortical circuits underlying ICD associated with PD medications. Therefore, the IGT is not an appropriate behavioral measure for ICD in PD patients.

The Somatic Marker Hypothesis and Sexual Decision Making: Understanding the Role of Iowa Gambling Task Performance and Daily Sexual Arousal on the Sexual Behavior of Gay and Bisexual Men

The sexual decision-making literature suggests that sexual arousal and behavior are associated. The somatic marker hypothesis suggests that individual neuropsychological differences in decision making, as measured by the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), may moderate these associations; however, this hypothesis has yet to be tested with event-level sexual behavior data. We hypothesized that (a) daily sexual arousal would be positively associated with likelihood of engaging in sex and condomless anal sex (CAS) and (b) IGT scores would moderate these associations such that the associations would be stronger among those with higher IGT scores. We used daily diary data from 334 highly sexually active gay and bisexual men to examine the main and interaction effects of sexual arousal and IGT scores on sexual engagement and CAS. As hypothesized, daily sexual arousal was positively associated with greater odds of both sexual engagement and CAS with casual male partners. Individual-level IGT performance significantly moderated the day-level association between arousal and sexual engagement, which was stronger for men with higher IGT scores. There was no main effect of IGT scores on either sexual behavior outcome, nor did it moderate the association between arousal and CAS. These findings highlight the influence of sexual arousal on sexual engagement, which differed by IGT scores; the effect of arousal on CAS was much less variable and may not be moderated by neurocognitive factors. This study supports the importance of exploring integrated behavioral/biomedical interventions to improve individual decision making to prevent HIV infection.