Neural correlates of increased risk-taking propensity in sleep-deprived people along with a changing risk level

Abstract

Risky decision-making under a changing risk level is a complex process involving contextual information. The neural mechanism underlying how sleep deprivation (SD) influences risky decision-making behaviors with a changing risk level has yet to be elucidated. In this study, we used the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) during functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural correlates of SD-induced changes on decision-making behaviors at different risk levels. Thirty-seven healthy male adults were recruited in this within-subjects, repeat-measure, counterbalanced study. These individuals were examined during a state of rested wakefulness state and after nearly 36 h of total SD. The results showed that SD increased the activation of risk modulation in the left inferior frontal gyrus and were positively correlated with risk-taking propensity after SD. Activation in the ventral striatum and thalamus during cash out was increased, and activation in the middle temporal gyrus after explosion (loss of money) was decreased in sleep-deprived subjects, providing additional evidence for greater risk-taking propensity after SD. These results extend our understanding of the neural mechanism underlying alteration of the risk-taking propensity in sleep-deprived individuals.

Making group inferences using sparse representation of resting-state functional mRI data with application to sleep deprivation

“…For each bootstrapping run, a common dictionary containing k atoms with the corresponding spatial maps was learned to represent the concatenated fMRI signals from the selected samples. In addition, the eta 2 was applied to estimate the similarity of two spatial maps [Lei et al, ]. where a i and b i are the values in position i of matrix a and matrix b , m i is the mean of a i and b i , and is the grand mean value across all positions in the two matrices.…”

“…This study recruited 37 right‐handed healthy adult males (mean ± STD age, 23.1 ± 1.9 years). The data were previously used to probe the neural correlates of increased risk‐taking propensity in sleep‐deprived people [Lei et al, ]. All participants had habitually good sleeping habits (asleep no later than 12:00 pm and awake at no later than 8:00 am) and slept at least 6.5 h (average: 7.5 ± 0.7 h) each night for the last month.…”

“…For each bootstrapping run, a common dictionary containing k atoms with the corresponding spatial maps was learned to represent the concatenated fMRI signals from the selected samples. In addition, the eta 2 was applied to estimate the similarity of two spatial maps [Lei et al, 2016].…”

Altered Postcentral Connectivity after Sleep Deprivation Correlates to Impaired Risk Perception: A Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

“…Lack of sleep may have a negative impact on risky decision-making. However, results on how SD affects risky decision-making remain inconsistent [ 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Some studies have shown that after SD, participants are more risk-seeking, while other studies have reached the opposite conclusion [ 20 , 21 ].…”

Risk‐taking in the human brain: An activation likelihood estimation meta‐analysis of the balloon analog risk task (BART)

“…The larger number of pumps participants made for each balloon, the greater risk level participants are willing to take. Due to its high ecological validity, the BART was widely used to explore the real‐life risky behavior (Aklin et al, 2005 ; Lejuez et al, 2002 ; Lejuez, Aklin, Jones, et al, 2003 ; Lejuez, Aklin, Zvolensky, et al, 2003 ; Lejuez et al, 2007 ; MacPherson et al, 2010 ), personalities (Mishra & Novakowski, 2016 ; Parkinson et al, 2012 ), psychophysiological processes and disorders (Lei et al, 2017 ). A recent review found that, compared with the Iowa gambling task (IGT), delay discounting task, and other decision tasks, the BART is the most sensitive task to detect alcohol users' risk‐taking behavior (Harmon et al, 2021 ).…”