Common Neural Correlates of Intertemporal Choices and Intelligence in Adolescents

Abstract

Converging behavioral evidence indicates that temporal discounting, measured by intertemporal choice tasks, is inversely related to intelligence. At the neural level, the parieto-frontal network is pivotal for complex, higher-order cognitive processes. Relatedly, underrecruitment of the pFC during a working memory task has been found to be associated with steeper temporal discounting. Furthermore, this network has also been shown to be related to the consistency of intertemporal choices. Here we report an fMRI study that directly investigated the association of neural correlates of intertemporal choice behavior with intelligence in an adolescent sample (n = 206; age 13.7-15.5 years). After identifying brain regions where the BOLD response during intertemporal choice was correlated with individual differences in intelligence, we further tested whether BOLD responses in these areas would mediate the associations between intelligence, the discounting rate, and choice consistency. We found positive correlations between BOLD response in a value-independent decision network (i.e., dorsolateral pFC, precuneus, and occipital areas) and intelligence. Furthermore, BOLD response in a value-dependent decision network (i.e., perigenual ACC, inferior frontal gyrus, ventromedial pFC, ventral striatum) was positively correlated with intelligence. The mediation analysis revealed that BOLD responses in the value-independent network mediated the association between intelligence and choice consistency, whereas BOLD responses in the value-dependent network mediated the association between intelligence and the discounting rate. In summary, our findings provide evidence for common neural correlates of intertemporal choice and intelligence, possibly linked by valuation as well as executive functions.

Reliability in adolescent fMRI within two years – a comparison of three tasks

“…22 ; n = 206, Ripke et al . 56 , cognitive control task, n = 184, Mennigen et al . 17 , Rodehacke et al .…”

“…For this paradigm, ROIs of the fusiform gyrus, the superior parietal lobe as well as the ACC were created by using the overlap of functional activation of the intertemporal decision phase 22, 56 and anatomical regions using the WFU-PickAtlas with the AAL atlas. The overlap with anatomical regions was necessary to create distinct ROIs because the activation spanned one very large cluster across the whole brain.…”

Strengthened Default Mode Network Activation During Delay Discounting in Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa After Partial Weight Restoration: A Longitudinal fMRI Study

“…First-level statistical analysis was based on least-squares estimation using a GLM, as in previous studies that employed the task [23,40,49,50,53]. The main model consisted of the two regressors of primary interest-(1) onsets of delayed rewards, (2) subjective value of the delayed reward as a parametric modulator of regressor 1.…”

Risk seeking for losses modulates the functional connectivity of the default mode and left frontoparietal networks in young males

“…broad range of maladaptive behaviors, principally in young individuals (Story, Vlaev, Seymour, Darzi, & Conversely, high risk aversion (taken as the other extreme of the risk spectrum), as well as high loss aversion (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979), might indicate a negative learning bias that increases the risk of depression and anx iety disorders (Smoski et al, 2008). On the neural level, task-based fMRI experiments and le sion studies have shown the brain circuitry underlying some of the behaviors mentioned above: Frontostriatal regions (i.e., medial prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum) are implicated in valuation processes and reinforcement learning (Bartra, McGuire, & Kable, 2013;Peters & Buchel, 2011;Ripke et al, 2012;Rushworth, Noonan, Boorman, Walton, & Behrens, 2011), whereas the so-called cognitive control net work (i.e., posterior parietal cortex, lateral prefrontal cortex, anterior insula, and anterior cingulate cortex) was associated with the decision phase during intertemporal and probabilistic choices (Marco-Pallarés, Mohammadi, Samii, & Münte, 2010;McClure, Laibson, Loewenstein, & Cohen, 2004;Ripke et al, 2015;Ripke et al, 2012;Weber & Huettel, 2008). Additionally, developmental neuroimaging studies have postulated that stronger activation of regions involved in reward processing (e.g.…”