Gambling Task Research Articles

Positive valence system function and anhedonia in middle-aged and older adults at high suicide risk

Positive valence systems are disrupted in late-life depression and in individuals at risk for suicide. The reward positivity (RewP) is an event-related potential measure of positive valence system function that relates to depression and anhedonia in children and young adults. However, it is unclear whether a reliable RewP signal can be elicited in middle-aged and older adults at high risk for suicide and, if so, whether this signal is similarly associated with clinical symptoms. In the current study, a RewP was elicited with a standard gambling task in middle-aged and older adults (N = 31) at discharge from a hospitalization for suicidal thought or behaviors. The resulting electrocortical response differed significantly for monetary wins compared to losses. Internal reliability of the RewP and the feedback negativity (FN) to monetary loss was good to excellent. Internal reliability of difference measures was lower but still largely acceptable, with residualized differences scores demonstrating stronger reliability than subtraction-based scores. A smaller residualized RewP, after accounting for the influence of the FN, was associated with greater severity of lassitude, an index of appetitive anhedonia. These findings set the groundwork for future studies of positive valence system function and depression in middle-aged and older adults at high risk for suicide.

Positive-Negative Affectivity and Decision Making Among Mindfulness Meditators and Non-Meditators

Mindfulness has gained significant attention in recent years due to its potential benefits for
 cognitive and emotional processes. However, how mindfulness interplays with affect to exert its
 effect on decision-making remains relatively less explored. The present study examined and
 compared the performance of both mindfulness meditators and non-meditators on decisionmaking
 tasks under different affective states. A total of 100 participants (50 mindfulness meditators
 and 50 non-meditators) responded to the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and
 performed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Both groups were further divided into positive affect
 and negative affect conditions. The International Affective Picture System (IAPS) was used to
 induce positive and negative affective states among the participants. The baseline affective state
 of the participants was assessed using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS).
 Independent sample t-tests and a univariate ANOVA were computed to analyze the obtained
 data. Results showed that mindfulness meditators scored significantly higher on the total FFMQ
 as well as on its different facets. Furthermore, the results revealed a significant main effect of
 mindfulness and the affect group on IGT performance. The interaction between mindfulness and
 affective conditions was also found to be significant. Mindfulness meditators performed equally
 well on IGT under both positive and negative affect conditions, whereas non-meditators
 performed better only under positive affect conditions. The findings have practical implications,
 as they suggest that mindfulness meditation enhances decision-making by promoting effective
 emotion regulation and suppressing impulsive responses during decision-making in different
 domains of life.

Risk of impulse control disorders in patients with Cushing's disease: do not blame cabergoline but do not give up caution.

To asses risk of new-onset impulse control disorders (ICDs) in patients with Cushing's disease (CD) who initiated cabergoline (CBG) and to determine frequency of ICDs in CBG-treated patients with CD. This naturalistic observational study had prospective and cross-sectional arms which included patients at five referral centers based in Istanbul. Patients who were scheduled for CBG were assigned to prospective arm. These patients underwent neuropsychological tests (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Minnesota Impulsive Disorders Interview, Questionnaire for Impulsive-Compulsive Disorders in Parkinson's Disease-Rating Scale, Go/No-Go Task, Iowa Gambling Task, and Short Penn Continuous Performance Test) for assessment of impulsivity and psychiatric evaluations at baseline, 3, 6, and 12months of CBG treatment. Impulsivity and new-onset ICDs were prospectively assessed. Patients with CD with current CBG treatment for ≥ 3months and matched CBG-naïve patients with CD were included in cross-sectional arm. These patients underwent the same neuropsychological and psychiatric assessments. The impulsivity and frequency of ICDs were compared between CBG-treated and CBG-naïve patients with CD. The follow-up duration of prospective cohort (n = 14) was 7.3 ± 2.3months. One patient developed major depressive episode and another patient developed compulsive gambling after CBG. We observed no significant changes in impulsivity scores during follow-up. In cross-sectional arm, CBG-treated (n = 34) and CBG-naïve patients (n = 34) were similar in impulsivity scores and frequency of ICDs [3 patients (8.8%) vs. 2 patients (5.9%) respectively, p = 1.0]. CBG-treated patients with CD appeared to have a low risk of ICDs, suggesting that CBG still holds promise as a safe agent in CD.

Parenting in the early years and self-harm in adolescence: The role of control and reward systems in childhood

BackgroundResearch suggests that early parenting may contribute to the development of self-harm but this has not been examined longitudinally. In this study, we explored the relationship between early parenting and self-harm in adolescence and considered whether (1) emotion regulation and (2) decision-making in childhood mediate the relationship between early parenting and self-harm. MethodUsing longitudinal data from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), we tested mediation models exploring the relationship between early parenting and self-harm in adolescence via emotion regulation and decision-making. Parenting was assessed at age 3 with measures of conflict, closeness and discipline. The trajectories of independence & self-regulation and emotional dysregulation were modelled from ages 3 to 7 years through latent growth curve analysis, with individual predicted slope and intercept values used in the mediation models. Decision-making (deliberation time, total time, delay aversion, quality of decision making, risk adjustment, risk-taking) was assessed using the Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT) at age 11. ResultsIn our sample (n = 11,145), we found no evidence of a direct association between early parenting and self-harm in adolescence. However, there were indirect effects of parenting (conflict and closeness) on self-harm via the slope of emotional dysregulation. Furthermore, delay aversion was positively associated with self-harm in adolescence. LimitationsIt must be acknowledged that we cannot determine causality and that self-report measures of parenting are vulnerable to several biases. ConclusionThe findings support early identification and interventions for children exhibiting chronic emotional dysregulation and decision-making characterised by a bias for smaller, immediate over larger, delayed rewards.

RISK-TAKING AND DECISION-MAKING UNDER UNCERTAINTY IN THE COVID-19 VACCINE. DOES THE SOMATIC MARKER HYPOTHESIS EXPLAIN VACCINE HESITANCY?

The study aims to compare the decision-making processes of individuals with and without the Covid-19 vaccine under uncertainty.The study included 70 participants vaccinated against Covid-19 and 70 not-vaccinated against Covid-19, matched by age, gender, and education level. Sociodemographic Data Form, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Barratt Impulsivity Scale Short Form (BIS-11-SF), The Scale of Vaccine Hesitancy (SVH), and Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) were administered to the participants.A statistically significant difference was found between the vaccinated and non-vaccinated groups regarding SVH sub-dimensions and the total score (p<0.001). A statistically significant difference was observed between the groups in the IGT-5 sub- dimension (p <0.05). Although there was no statistically significant difference in IGT-total and other sub-dimensions, it was recognized that not-vaccinated participants made more choices for risky decks. A statistically significant negative correlation was found between IGT-5 and the benefit and protective value of the vaccine, solutions for non-vaccination, and SVH-total score. Besides, there was a statistically significant negative correlation between the IGT-Total score and the sub-dimension of solutions for non-vaccination.The non-vaccinated group made more choices from the disadvantageous and risky decks in the long run during the decision-making task under uncertainty; they were prone to take more risks. That is why the impact of implicit and emotional processes should be considered in the risk assessment against vaccine hesitancy.

An exploratory follow-up study of cannabis use and decision-making under various risk conditions within adolescence.

Studies examining the associations between decision-making (DM) and cannabis use (CU) often use cross-sectional, adult samples, and composite scores or single tasks to assess DM. The present study explored differential associations between tasks assessing DM under various risk conditions (i.e., ambiguous vs. explicit; gain vs. loss) and CU frequency, CU-related problems, and CU disorder (CUD) onset across a 2-year period within adolescence. Adolescents (n = 401, 90% Hispanic) aged 14-17 at baseline participated in five biannual assessments. CU frequency, CU-related problems, and CUD were assessed using the Drug Use History Questionnaire, Marijuana Problems Scale, and Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, respectively. DM was assessed using the Iowa gambling task (IGT), Game of Dice Task (GDT), and Cups Task. We used latent growth curve modeling to examine bidirectional associations between DM and escalation in CU frequency and CU-related problems, and discrete time survival analyses to determine whether baseline performance across DM tasks predicted CUD onset. Baseline performance on the GDT predicted greater escalation in CU (β = .200, p = .008) and CU-related problems (β = .388, p = .035). No other significant associations were found. DM under explicit risk may be a more salient risk factor for escalating CU and CU-related problems than DM under ambiguous risk. Deficits in executive functioning could partially explain the results. Findings suggest that neurocognitive development should inform prevention and intervention efforts focused on reducing CU. Given the exploratory nature of the present study, replication of findings is needed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Reduced loss aversion in value-based decision-making and edge-centric functional connectivity in patients with internet gaming disorder.

Impaired value-based decision-making is a feature of substance and behavioral addictions. Loss aversion is a core of value-based decision-making and its alteration plays an important role in addiction. However, few studies explored it in internet gaming disorder patients (IGD). In this study, IGD patients (PIGD) and healthy controls (Con-PIGD) performed the Iowa gambling task (IGT), under functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We investigated group differences in loss aversion, brain functional networks of node-centric functional connectivity (nFC) and the overlapping community features of edge-centric functional connectivity (eFC) in IGT. PIGD performed worse with lower average net score in IGT. The computational model results showed that PIGD significantly reduced loss aversion. There was no group difference in nFC. However, there were significant group differences in the overlapping community features of eFC1. Furthermore, in Con-PIGD, loss aversion was positively correlated with the edge community profile similarity of the edge2 between left IFG and right hippocampus at right caudate. This relationship was suppressed by response consistency3 in PIGD. In addition, reduced loss aversion was negatively correlated with the promoted bottom-to-up neuromodulation from the right hippocampus to the left IFG in PIGD. The reduced loss aversion in value-based decision making and their related edge-centric functional connectivity support that the IGD showed the same value-based decision-making deficit as the substance use and other behavioral addictive disorders. These findings may have important significance for understanding the definition and mechanism of IGD in the future.

Decision-making and ageing: everyday life situations under risk and under ambiguity.

Cognitive modifications during ageing can affect decision-making competence (DMC). As this ability is central to the preservation of autonomy, our study aims to investigate how it changes in elderly adults and to determine whether such changes are linked to the deterioration of executive functions and working memory. To this end, 50 young adults and 50 elderly adults were assessed with executive, working memory, and DMC tasks. The latter comprised the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and a scenario task based on situations inspired by everyday life, under conditions of both risk and ambiguity. The results revealed lower performances in old than in young adults for the updating, inhibition, and working memory tasks. The IGT failed to distinguish between the two age groups. However, the scenario task did permit such a distinction, with young adults seeking more risky and ambiguous choices than elderly adults. Moreover, updating and inhibition capacities appeared to influence DMC.

The effects of depressed mood and 0.05 % blood alcohol concentration on risky driving in males

Males are more likely than females to use alcohol as a maladaptive coping mechanism to alleviate symptoms of depressed mood. The effects of a combination of subclinical depressed mood and doses of alcohol below the per se legal threshold of 0.08 % blood alcohol concentration (BAC) on risky driving are unclear, however. This manuscript presents a quasi-experimental, between-subjects study testing the influence of combined subclinical depressed mood and 0.05 % BAC on risky driving in a simulator and the mediation of decision-making. Following assessment of depressed mood (Beck Depression Inventory-II), a double-blinded protocol was used to randomise participants and administer either an alcohol (0.05 % BAC) or a placebo (0.00 % BAC) beverage. The Iowa Gambling Task tested decision-making and participants indicated whether they would decide to drive in the simulator. Driving simulation measured risky driving in real-time. Participants were healthy male drivers (n = 57; age M = 38.2, SD = 7.5). Using ANOVA, there were non-significant group differences in risky driving. Logistic regression revealed non-significant effects between groups in predicting the decision to drive. Mediation regression was used to explore the underlying mechanisms of decision-making on the prediction of risky driving under depressed mood. However, decision-making under risk was only identified as a significant predictor of mean merge acceleration on the highway. In addition to the limited sample size, outcomes were likely impacted by the mediation of emotion regulation. As this research area remains promising, recommendations are highlighted. One of them includes the use of a measure of depressed mood that is more sensitive to externalising behavioural symptoms in males.

The Relationship Between Suicidal Behavior, Neurocognitive Functions, and Insight in Patients with Schizophrenia.

In schizophrenia, the relationship between suicide and cognition is unclear. We aimed to assess cognitive functions and insight in schizophrenia patients with and without suicide attempts. In our study consisting of 77 patients, 36 of the patients had attempted suicide at least once in their lives and the remaining 41 had never attempted suicide. Sociodemographic data scale, Beck Cognitive Insight Scale, and Cambridge Neurophysiological Assessment Battery were applied. In this study, patients with schizophrenia who attempted suicide had higher Beck Cognitive Insight Scale self-reflectiveness scores (P = .004), lower Beck Cognitive Insight Scale self-certainty scores (P = .040), and higher Beck Cognitive Insight Scale total score (P = .004). Delay aversion (P = .003) and risk-taking scores (P = .044) of Cambridge Neurophysiological Assessment Battery Cambridge gambling task were higher in patients who attempted suicide. In logistic regression analysis, as independent factors, the number of hospitalizations increased the risk of suicide 1.5 times per hospitalization (P = .021), Cambridge gambling task delay aversion increased the risk of suicide 8.4 times per score (P = .044), and the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale self-certainty score was shown as the factor that decreased the risk of suicide by 0.78 times (P = .024). The causes of suicide attempts in schizophrenia still preserve its uncertainty. Our results proposed a statistically significant relationship between cognitive insight and increased suicide attempts. This study also sustains that cognitive impulsivity is associated with suicidal behavior in patients with schizophrenia.

Tools for the Assessment of Risk-Taking Behavior in Older Adults with Mild Dementia: A Cross-Sectional Clinical Study.

Diseases such as Alzheimer's cause an alteration of cognitive functions, which can lead to increased daily risk-taking in older adults living at home. The assessment of decision-making abilities is primarily based on clinicians' global analysis. Usual neuropsychological tests such as the MoCA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment) cover most of the cognitive domains and include mental flexibility tasks. Specific behavioral tasks for risk-taking, such as the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) or the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), have been developed to assess risk-taking behavior, particularly in the field of addictology. Our cross-sectional study aims to determine whether the MoCA global cognitive assessment could be used as a substitute for behavioral tasks in the assessment of risky behavior. In the current study, 24 patients (age: 82.1 ± 5.9) diagnosed with mild dementia completed the cognitive assessment (MoCA and executive function assessment) and two behavioral risk-taking tasks (BART, simplified version of the IGT). Results revealed no relationship between scores obtained in the MoCA and behavioral decision-making tasks. However, the two tasks assessing risk-taking behavior resulted in concordant risk profiles. In addition, patients with a high risk-taking behavior profile on the BART had better Trail Making Test (TMT) scores and thus retained mental flexibility. These findings suggest that MoCA scores are not representative of risk-taking behavioral inclinations. Thus, additional clinical tests should be used to assess risk-taking behavior in geriatric settings. Executive function measures, such as the TMT, and behavioral laboratory measures, such as the BART, are recommended for this purpose.

Evidence Accumulation and Neural Correlates of Uncertainty in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

BackgroundDecision making is frequently associated with risk taking under uncertainty. Elevated intolerance of uncertainty is suggested to be a critical feature of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, impairments of latent constructs of uncertainty processing and its neural correlates remain unclear in OCD. MethodsIn 83 participants (24 OCD patients treated with capsulotomy, 28 OCD control participants, and 31 healthy control participants), we performed magnetic resonance imaging using a card gambling task in which participants made decisions whether to bet or not that the next card would be larger than the current one. A hierarchical drift diffusion model was used to dissociate speed and amount of evidence accumulated before a decisional threshold (i.e., betting or no betting) was reached. ResultsHigh uncertainty was characterized by a smaller amount of evidence accumulation (lower thresholds), thus dissociating uncertainty from conflict tasks and highlighting the specificity of this task to test value-based uncertainty. OCD patients exhibited greater caution with poor performance and greater evidence accumulation overall along with slower speed of accumulation, particularly under low uncertainty. Bilateral dorsal anterior cingulate and anterior insula distinguished high- and low-uncertainty decision processes in healthy control participants but not in the OCD groups, indicating impairments in anticipation of differences in outcome variance and salience network activity. There were no behavioral or imaging differences relating to capsulotomy despite improvements in OCD symptoms. ConclusionsOur findings highlight greater impairments particularly in more certain trials in the OCD groups along with impaired neural differentiation of high and low uncertainty and suggest uncertainty processing as a trait cognitive endophenotype rather than a state-specific factor.

The effect of sex hormones on decision-making in healthy young women

Risky decision-making is associated with several mental health disorders and deleterious health behaviours. As men are known to engage in riskier behaviours, the effects of testosterone on decision-making have been extensively studied. However, few studies have been conducted in women and by extension, examined female sex hormones (progesterone and estradiol). This study aimed to understand the role of sex hormones (progesterone, estradiol, and testosterone) on decision-making. Forty healthy young women provided saliva samples to assess their sex hormones before completing the Iowa Gambling Task. The goal of this decision-making task was to maximize monetary profits by drawing cards from four decks: two with large gains and larger losses (risky decks) and two with small gains and smaller losses (safe decks). For the purposes of data analysis, card draws were separated into five blocks of 20 draws each, allowing us to quantify the learning rate of the advantageous safe decks. Multilevel linear models revealed two inverse interactions: time*testosterone and time*progesterone. Specifically, lower levels of progesterone and higher levels of testosterone were independently associated with riskier decision-making. In both cases, this effect led to slower learning of the advantageous safer decks. These data suggest that the effects of testosterone on risk-taking are not unique to men. Moreover, the results suggest that progesterone also influence risk-taking. This raises important questions regarding risk-taking tendencies in women throughout the menstrual cycle (which induces endogenous hormonal variations) and in women using hormonal contraceptives (which dampen the menstrual cycle).

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.

Motor impulsivity but not risk-related impulsive choice is associated to drug intake and drug-primed relapse.

Motor impulsivity and risk-related impulsive choice have been proposed as vulnerability factors for drug abuse, due to their high prevalence in drug abusers. However, how these two facets of impulsivity are associated to drug abuse remains unclear. Here, we investigated the predictive value of both motor impulsivity and risk-related impulsive choice on characteristics of drug abuse including initiation and maintenance of drug use, motivation for the drug, extinction of drug-seeking behavior following drug discontinuation and, finally, propensity to relapse. We used the Roman High- (RHA) and Low- Avoidance (RLA) rat lines, which display innate phenotypical differences in motor impulsivity, risk-related impulsive choice, and propensity to self-administer drugs. Individual levels of motor impulsivity and risk-related impulsive choice were measured using the rat Gambling task. Then, rats were allowed to self-administer cocaine (0.3 mg/kg/infusion; 14 days) to evaluate acquisition and maintenance of cocaine self-administration, after which motivation for cocaine was assessed using a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement. Subsequently, rats were tested for their resistance to extinction, followed by cue-induced and drug-primed reinstatement sessions to evaluate relapse. Finally, we evaluated the effect of the dopamine stabilizer aripiprazole on reinstatement of drug-seeking behaviors. We found that motor impulsivity and risk-related impulsive choice were positively correlated at baseline. Furthermore, innate high levels of motor impulsivity were associated with higher drug use and increased vulnerability to cocaine-primed reinstatement of drug-seeking. However, no relationships were observed between motor impulsivity and the motivation for the drug, extinction or cue-induced reinstatement of drug-seeking. High levels of risk-related impulsive choice were not associated to any aspects of drug abuse measured in our study. Additionally, aripiprazole similarly blocked cocaine-primed reinstatement of drug-seeking in both high- and low-impulsive animals, suggesting that aripiprazole acts as a D2/3R antagonist to prevent relapse independently of the levels of impulsivity and propensity to self-administer drugs. Altogether, our study highlights motor impulsivity as an important predictive factor for drug abuse and drug-primed relapse. On the other hand, the involvement of risk-related impulsive choice as a risk factor for drug abuse appears to be limited.

Distinct influence of inter- versus intra-trial feedback on the brain response to subsequent feedback: Evidence from event-related potentials

Substantial evidence indicates that feedback processing not only varies with the valence of feedback, but is also highly dependent on contextual factors. Even so, the influence of prior outcome history on current outcome evaluation is far from clear. To investigate this issue, we conducted two event-related potential (ERP) experiments using a modified gambling task whereby each trial was associated with two consequences. In experiment 1, two instances of feedback indicated participant performance on two dimensions of a single decision, within a trial. In experiment 2, participants made two decisions in each trial, and then received two instances of feedback. We examined the feedback-related negativity (FRN) as an index of feedback processing. When both instances of feedback were relevant to the same trial (intra-trial), the FRN to the second was affected by the valence of the immediately previous feedback: The FRN was amplified to losses following wins. This was observed in both experiment 1 and experiment 2. When two instances of feedback were relevant to two different trials (inter-trial), the effect of immediately previous feedback on the FRN was inconsistent. In experiment 1 there was no effect of feedback from the previous trial on the FRN. However, in Experiment 2 there was an effect of inter-trial feedback on the FRN that was opposite to the effect of intra-trial feedback: The FRN was amplified when losses followed losses. Taken together, the findings suggest that the neural systems involved in reward processing dynamically and continuously integrate preceding feedback for the evaluation of present feedback.

Decision-making impairment under ambiguity but not under risk may underlie medication overuse in patients with chronic migraine.

To explore whether patients with chronic migraine and medication overuse headache (CM + MOH) present with decision-making deficit. Factors underlying MOH in patients with CM remain unclear. Whether the process of decision-making plays a role in MOH is still controversial. Decision-making varies in the degree of uncertainty: under ambiguity where the probability of outcome is unknown, and under risk where probabilities are known. Decisions under ambiguity and risk were assessed with the Iowa Gambling Task and the Cambridge Gambling Task, respectively, whereas executive function was assessed by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. A total of 75 participants: 25 patients with CM + MOH, 25 with CM, and 25 age- and sex-similar healthy controls (HCs), completed this cross-sectional study. There was no significant difference in headache profiles except for more frequent analgesic use (mean ± SD: 23.5 ± 7.6 vs. 6.8 ± 3.4 days; p < 0.001) and higher Severity of Dependence Scores (median [25th-75th percentile]: 8 [5-11] vs. 1 [0-4]; p < 0.001) in patients with CM + MOH compared to CM. Total net score (mean ± SD) on the Iowa Gambling Task in patients with CM + MOH, CM, and HCs were - 8.1 ± 28.7, 10.9 ± 29.6, and 14.2 ± 28.8, respectively. There was a significant difference between the three groups (F(2, 72) = 4.28, p = 0.017), with patients with CM + MOH making significantly more disadvantageous decisions than patients with CM (p = 0.024) and HCs (p = 0.008), while the CM and HC groups did not differ (p = 0.690). By contrast, there was no significant difference between the groups in the Cambridge Gambling Task and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Furthermore, performance on the Iowa Gambling Task was inversely correlated with analgesic consumption (r = -0.41, p = 0.003), suggesting that decision-making under ambiguity may be related to MOH. Our data suggest that patients with CM + MOH had impaired decisions under ambiguous, but not risky situations. This dissociation indicates disrupted emotional feedback processing rather than executive dysfunction, which may underlie the pathogenesis of MOH.

The impact of multiple language exposure on cognition during childhood: evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

Many studies argue that exposure to, and use of, multiple languages in childhood has beneficial effects beyond the linguistic domain, including on executive functions (EFs), although recent evidence remains controversial. EFs encompass abilities necessary for regulating goal-directed behaviours in everyday life and, in children, EFs strongly predict later academic achievement and wellbeing. One theoretical framework distinguishes "hot" EFs, which have a reward or affective component, from "cool" EFs that do not. How exposure to more than one language in early childhood modulates hot and cool EFs in later childhood, alongside other environmental and cognitive factors, remains poorly understood. We analysed data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, a large-scale, nationally representative longitudinal cohort study, which provides information on perinatal and environmental factors (e.g., languages spoken in the home, maternal education) alongside cognitive measures assessed in English. At 3 years, we examined the effect of multiple language exposure on the Bracken school readiness assessment (knowledge of shapes, letters, etc.), and on naming vocabulary. At age 11, we examined the predictors of cool EF, measured with a spatial working memory task; hot EF, measured using a gambling task; and vocabulary, measured using a verbal reasoning task. Data from 16,134 children were analysed. At age 3, a negative effect of multiple language exposure on school readiness and vocabulary was observed, but the difference was smaller with higher maternal education. At age 11, there was also a negative effect on vocabulary, but smaller than that observed at age 3. There were no direct effects of language exposure on either spatial working memory or gambling scores. For hot EF, the multiple language exposure effects were indirect, mediated by early cognition, and the most significant predictor of gambling strategy was sex. For cool EF, school readiness and vocabulary at age 3 were the strongest predictors. Our findings, based on a UK population sample, highlight the importance of considering socioeconomic status and early-life abilities when interpreting the effects of language environments on hot and cool EFs.

Behavioral domains in compulsive rats: implications for understanding compulsive spectrum disorders.

Compulsive behavior has been proposed as a transdiagnostic trait observed in different neuropsychiatric disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, autism, and schizophrenia. Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) strategy could help to disentangle the neuropsychological basis of compulsivity for developing new therapeutic and preventive approaches. In preclinical research, the selection of high-drinker (HD) vs. low-drinker (LD) animals by schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP) is considered a putative model of compulsivity, which includes a well-differentiated behavioral pattern. The purpose of this research was to assess the cognitive control and the negative valence system domains in a phenotype of compulsive HD rats. After the selection of animals as HD or LD, we assessed behavioral inflexibility by probabilistic spatial reversal learning (PSRL), motor and cognitive impulsivity by variable delay-to-signal (VDS), and risky decision-making by rodent gambling task (rGT). HD rats performed fewer reversals and showed less probability of pressing the same lever that was previously reinforced on PSRL, more premature responses after the exposure to longer delays on VDS, and more disadvantageous risky choices on rGT. Moreover, HD animals performed more perseverative responses under the punishment period on rGT. These results highlight that HD compulsive phenotype exhibits behavioral inflexibility, insensitivity to positive feedback, waiting impulsivity, risky decision-making, and frustrative non-reward responsiveness. Moreover, these findings demonstrate the importance of mapping different behavioral domains to prevent, treat, and diagnose compulsive spectrum disorders correctly.

Relationship between Decision-Making and Executive Function in Conditions of Age, Risk, and Decision-Making Styles

A narrative review of the relationship between decision-making and executive function. Iowa Gambling Task and Cognitive Reflection Test, these two Adult DecisionMaking Competence tasks, were used to measure individuals executive function and decision-making abilities. Age, risk level, and other characteristics all impact the link between decision-making and executive function. These factors, which play an essential variable, were discussed in the review. Research for five decision-making styles correlates with the executive function, including rational, intuitive, dependent, avoidant, and spontaneous. They were also discussed and compared with the age factors. Moreover, the dangers like internet disorder and pathological gambling, which come from the deficit of executive function, have been argued.