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Neural sensitivity to absolute and relative anticipated reward in adolescents
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Neural sensitivity to absolute and relative anticipated reward in adolescents

Jatin G Vaidya, Brian Knutson, Daniel S O'Leary, Robert I Block and Vincent Magnotta
PloS one, Vol.8(3), pp.e58708-e58708
2013
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058708
PMCID: PMC3609767
PMID: 23544046
url
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0058708View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Adolescence is associated with a dramatic increase in risky and impulsive behaviors that have been attributed to developmental differences in neural processing of rewards. In the present study, we sought to identify age differences in anticipation of absolute and relative rewards. To do so, we modified a commonly used monetary incentive delay (MID) task in order to examine brain activity to relative anticipated reward value (neural sensitivity to the value of a reward as a function of other available rewards). This design also made it possible to examine developmental differences in brain activation to absolute anticipated reward magnitude (the degree to which neural activity increases with increasing reward magnitude). While undergoing fMRI, 18 adolescents and 18 adult participants were presented with cues associated with different reward magnitudes. After the cue, participants responded to a target to win money on that trial. Presentation of cues was blocked such that two reward cues associated with $.20, $1.00, or $5.00 were in play on a given block. Thus, the relative value of the $1.00 reward varied depending on whether it was paired with a smaller or larger reward. Reflecting age differences in neural responses to relative anticipated reward (i.e., reference dependent processing), adults, but not adolescents, demonstrated greater activity to a $1 reward when it was the larger of the two available rewards. Adults also demonstrated a more linear increase in ventral striatal activity as a function of increasing absolute reward magnitude compared to adolescents. Additionally, reduced ventral striatal sensitivity to absolute anticipated reward (i.e., the difference in activity to medium versus small rewards) correlated with higher levels of trait Impulsivity. Thus, ventral striatal activity in anticipation of absolute and relative rewards develops with age. Absolute reward processing is also linked to individual differences in Impulsivity.
 Basal Ganglia - physiopathology Humans Prefrontal Cortex - physiopathology Male Impulsive Behavior - physiopathology Nervous System - physiopathology Anticipation, Psychological Motivation Adolescent Brain Mapping Adult Female Reward Child Task Performance and Analysis

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