Striatal bases of temporal discounting in early adolescents

Abstract

Steeper rates of temporal discounting-the degree to which smaller-sooner (SS) rewards are preferred over larger-later (LL) ones-have been associated with impulsive and ill-advised behaviors in adolescence. Yet, the underlying neural systems remain poorly understood. Here we used a well-established temporal discounting paradigm and functional MRI (fMRI) to examine engagement of the striatum-including the caudate, putamen, and ventral striatum (VS)-in early adolescence (13-15 years; N=27). Analyses provided evidence of enhanced activity in the caudate and VS during impulsive choice. Exploratory analyses revealed that trait impulsivity was associated with heightened putamen activity during impulsive choices. A more nuanced pattern was evident in the cortex, with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex mirroring the putamen and posterior parietal cortex showing the reverse association. Taken together, these observations provide an important first glimpse at the distributed neural systems underlying economic choice and trait-like individual differences in impulsivity in the early years of adolescence, setting the stage for prospective-longitudinal and intervention research.

Brain responses during delay discounting in youth at high-risk for substance use disorders

“…DD tasks activate the default mode, frontoparietal, salience, and reward network brain regions in healthy adults (for review see Frost and McNaughton, 2017 ), with similar patterns in typically developing youth ( de Water et al, 2017 , Hamilton et al, 2020 ). The only study to date that examined DD activation in youth FH positive for SUD found no differences compared to FH negative youth ( Rodriguez-Moreno et al, 2021 ).…”

A meta-analysis of neural systems underlying delay discounting: implications for transdiagnostic research

“…Lastly, because we were estimating the location of effects rather than the size of effects, there was no statical penalty for reported null reports. To this end, it is worth nothing that a large number of studies that used the choice contrast (LLR, SSR) reported no significant clusters for this contrast 20,31,43,48,50,56,58,[63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70] , whereas only two studies reported no significant effects of SV 71,72 . This comparison further highlights the importance for identifying and implementing more reliable analytic strategies for future research.…”

The sooner the better: clinical and neural correlates of impulsive choice in Tourette disorder

“…Modulation of pre-SMA activity resulted in the prevention of behavioural expression of impulsive actions without effect on their generation [ 54 ]. Consequently, greater connectivity of pre-SMA with the ventral striatum could result in superior motor control over the reward system, as higher activity of the ventral striatum predicted impulsive choices in HC [ 55 ].…”