Neural correlates of reward-related response tendencies in an equiprobable Go/NoGo task

Abstract

Previous research has shown that motivational signals bias action over inaction, which may be due to putative inherent valenceaction mappings, similar to those observed in the emotional domain. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study we sought to investigate the neural underpinnings of such reward-related response tendencies, and in particular, how valence-action compatibility effects arising from predominant response tendencies are reflected at the neural level, and whether overlapping emotional valence amplifies these effects. To this end, we employed an equiprobable (50:50) Go/NoGo task in which reward (reward/no-reward) and response mode (Go/NoGo) were signaled by orthogonal features of number targets that were overlaid on emotional images (positive, neutral, negative). Reward-related targets led to response facilitation (faster Go responses) and impairment in withholding responses (more NoGo commission errors), consistent with a reward-induced action bias. This pattern was paralleled by modulations in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), with increased activity in noreward as compared to reward-related Go trials, and the reversed pattern in NoGo trials. Albeit being processed in ventral visual areas, emotional background did not modulate performance in the present task, suggesting that irrelevant emotional information is globally outweighed by reward. In the current paradigm, which neither favors Go responses generally nor allows for differential preparation in Go versus NoGo trials, reward-related targets promote action over inaction. In turn, additional effort is needed to inhibit responses to these targets as well as to initiate responses to (less salient) no-reward targets, which may be considered as a downside of direct stimulus-reward associations.

An Adaptation of Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer (PIT) Methodology to Examine the Energizing Effects of Reward-Predicting Cues on Behavior in Young Adults

“…Such appetitive classical conditioning is thought to underlie much of everyday human behavior (Bray et al, 2008;Blechert et al, 2016;Cartoni et al, 2016), helping maintain both adaptive and maladaptive behaviors, for example addiction (Hogarth, 2012;Garbusow et al, 2016). A growing number of humansubjects studies have demonstrated the effects of a conditioned cue on attentional bias (Thewissen et al, 2007;Le Pelley et al, 2015Leong et al, 2017), choice (Astur et al, 2015;Vogel et al, 2018;Genauck et al, 2019), response speed (Freeman et al, 2014;Asci et al, 2019) and response frequency Alarcón and Bonardi, 2019). However, the evidence of behavioral invigoration in the presence of conditioned stimuli in humans is less robust compared to a long history in animal experiments.…”

A meta-analytic investigation of the role of reward on inhibitory control

“…Searches were limited to human participants, published in English, and between years 1978 and 2020. The reference list of each identified paper was examined for any eligible articles not identified through our search strategy, and this led to the addition of one further article (Asci et al, 2019).…”

Effective connectivity underlying reward‐based executive control

“…Second, motivated by specific assumptions about neural interactions between motivation and cognitive control and limited by technical constraints of DCM, we only included a small number of brain regions in the DCM analysis thereby neglecting other areas presumably involved in motivated control, for instance, the ventral striatum (Aarts et al, 2011; Asci, Braem, Park, Boehler, & Krebs, 2019; Cools, 2008). Note, however, that effective connectivity does not reflect anatomical connectivity.…”