The effects of physical activity on impulsive choice: Influence of sensitivity to reinforcement amount and delay

Abstract

Impulsive choice is a diagnostic feature and/or complicating factor for several psychological disorders and may be examined in the laboratory using delay-discounting procedures. Recent investigators have proposed using quantitative measures of analysis to examine the behavioral processes contributing to impulsive choice. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of physical activity (i.e., wheel running) on impulsive choice in a single-response, discrete-trial procedure using two quantitative methods of analysis. To this end, rats were assigned to physical activity or sedentary groups and trained to respond in a delay-discounting procedure. In this procedure, one lever always produced one food pellet immediately, whereas a second lever produced three food pellets after a 0, 10, 20, 40, or 80-second delay. Estimates of sensitivity to reinforcement amount and sensitivity to reinforcement delay were determined using (1) a simple linear analysis and (2) an analysis of logarithmically transformed response ratios. Both analyses revealed that physical activity decreased sensitivity to reinforcement amount and sensitivity to reinforcement delay. These findings indicate that (1) physical activity has significant but functionally opposing effects on the behavioral processes that contribute to impulsive choice and (2) both quantitative methods of analysis are appropriate for use in single-response, discrete-trial procedures.

Rejecting impulsivity as a psychological construct: A theoretical, empirical, and sociocultural argument.

“…This challenge should be seen as a call rather than a confrontation for change. We ourselves have on numerous occasions in the distant and recent past used impulsivity in our writing as well as frameworks such as impulsive action and impulsive choice (e.g., Johnson & Bickel, 2002; Johnson et al, 2007; Johnson et al, 2010; Strickland, Bolin, Romanelli, Rush, & Stoops, 2017; Strickland et al, 2016). We also do not wish to belittle the individual contributions that impulsivity researchers have provided to understanding and treating psychological health.…”

“…Moreover, similar functions have been observed across a wide variety of animal species (Addessi, Paglieri, & Focaroli, 2011; Dandy & Gatch, 2009; Green, Myerson, & Calvert, 2010; Stevens, Hallinan, & Hauser, 2005; see review by Vanderveldt, Oliveira, & Green, 2016). Other work has further isolated the role of delay in intertemporal choices by evaluating other behavioral mechanisms involved, such as magnitude discriminations (e.g., Pitts, Cummings, Cummings, Woodcock, & Hughes, 2016; Pitts & Febbo, 2004; Strickland, Feinstein, Lacy, & Smith, 2016) and probability (e.g., Green & Myerson, 2004).…”

Association of exercise with smoking-related symptomatology, smoking behavior and impulsivity in men and women

“…However, much less is known about how exercise may influence impulsivity and in turn, effect smoking cessation and relapse. One preclinical study by Strickland et al (2016b) found that in rats, physical activity decreased sensitivity to reinforcement amount and sensitivity to reinforcement delay, two behavioral processes that contribute to delay discounting (i.e., a decline in the present value of a reward with delay to its receipt) (Strickland et al, 2016b). A second clinical study by Sofis et al (2017) found limited support showing that exercise reduced delay discounting in humans (Sofis et al, 2017).…”

Maintained Physical Activity Induced Changes in Delay Discounting

“…First, physical activity improves executive function domains including working memory (Kramer et al, 1999), which is intricately linked to delay discounting (Bickel, Yi, et al, 2011;Shamosh et al, 2008;Wesley & Bickel, 2014). Relatedly, a recent investigation by Strickland, Feinstein, Lacy, and Smith (2016) found that physical activity reduced delay discounting in rats. Second, physical activity is an effective supplemental treatment for behavioral problems such as substance abuse (Wang, Wang, Wang, Li, & Zhou, 2014;Weinstock, Barry, & Petry, 2008), obesity (World Health Organization, 2014), and ADHD (Wigal, Emmerson, Gehricke, & Galassetti, 2013).…”