The role of simulation in intertemporal choices

O’Connell, Garret; Christakou, Anastasia; Chakrabarti, Bhismadev

doi:10.3389/fnins.2015.00094

Cited by 18 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 105 publications

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“…Deficits in this ability are core symptoms of several psychiatric disorders, including addiction and obesity [ 3 , 4 ]. Previous research on the neural basis of delaying gratification mainly focused on how prefrontal networks may reduce affective impulses by modulating value signals in neural reward circuits ([ 5 – 7 ]; but see [ 8 , 9 ]). However, such impulse control is difficult and prone to fail [ 10 ], indicating the need for alternative ways of promoting the choice of delayed reward.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The right temporoparietal junction enables delay of gratification by allowing decision makers to focus on future events

et al. 2020

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Studies of neural processes underlying delay of gratification usually focus on prefrontal networks related to curbing affective impulses. Here, we provide evidence for an alternative mechanism that facilitates delaying gratification by mental orientation towards the future. Combining continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) with functional neuroimaging, we tested how the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) facilitates processing of future events and thereby promotes delay of gratification. Participants performed an intertemporal decision task and a mental time-travel task in the MRI scanner before and after receiving cTBS over the rTPJ or the vertex (control site). rTPJ cTBS led to both stronger temporal discounting for longer delays and reduced processing of future relative to past events in the mental time-travel task. This finding suggests that the rTPJ contributes to the ability to delay gratification by facilitating mental representation of outcomes in the future. On the neural level, rTPJ cTBS led to a reduction in the extent to which connectivity of rTPJ with striatum reflected the value of delayed rewards, indicating a role of rTPJ-striatum connectivity in constructing neural representations of future rewards. Together, our findings provide evidence that the rTPJ is an integral part of a brain network that promotes delay of gratification by facilitating mental orientation to future rewards.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The right temporoparietal junction enables delay of gratification by allowing decision makers to focus on future events

et al. 2020

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“…Affective empathy is associated largely with the bottom-up route, and processes such as spontaneous facial mimicry (sometimes referred to as 'motor resonance') can play an important role in this component of empathy (Chartrand & van Baaren, 2009;Niedenthal, 2007;Preston & de Waal, 2001). In contrast, cognitive empathy involves more top-down, inferential processes, such as that of inhibiting one's own perspective and taking the perspective of the other (O'Connell, Christakou, & Chakrabarti, 2015). This route requires sufficient cognitive resources to hold two representations simultaneously and to inhibit one's default egocentric perspective in order to focus upon the other's perspective (Chakrabarti & Baron-Cohen, 2006;Coplan & Goldie, 2012).…”

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confidence: 99%

How Cognitive and Affective Empathy Relate to Emotion Regulation: Divergent Patterns from Trait and Task-Based Measures

Thompson

Reekum

Chakrabarti

2019

Preprint

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Evidence suggests that empathy and emotion regulation may be related, but few studies have directly investigated this relationship. Here we report two experiments which examined: 1) how different components of empathy (cognitive & affective) relate to the habitual use of cognitive reappraisal to regulate emotions (N=220), and 2) how these components of empathy relate to implicit reappraisal in a context-framing task (N=92). In study 1, a positive correlation between cognitive empathy and reappraisal use was observed. Affective empathy showed no relationship with reappraisal use. In study 2, participants completed an implicit reappraisal task in which previously viewed negative images were paired with either a neutralising (intended to reduce negative emotionality) or descriptive (which simply described the image) framing sentence. Participants then reported how unpleasant/pleasant each image made them feel. In contrast to study 1, a positive correlation between affective empathy and the implicit reappraisal task metric (rating of neutralising-descriptive framing conditions) was observed. There was no relationship between cognitive empathy and implicit reappraisal. These findings suggest that both components of empathy are related to reappraisal, but in different ways: Cognitive empathy is related to more deliberate use of reappraisal, while affective empathy is associated with more implicit reappraisal processes.

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“…In the case of intertemporal choice, the model can be used to project oneself into the future, to estimate where one will be and how they will feel, to better gauge how future reward can be utilized 23 30 31 . In this way, model-based reinforcement learning provides the necessary ingredients for simulating the long-term utility of never-before experienced options, and has been suggested by several authors as a formal framework for understanding intertemporal choice 23 32 33 (see also refs 34 and 35 ).…”

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confidence: 99%

Simulating future value in intertemporal choice

Solway

Lohrenz

Montague

2017

Sci Rep

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The laboratory study of how humans and other animals trade-off value and time has a long and storied history, and is the subject of a vast literature. However, despite a long history of study, there is no agreed upon mechanistic explanation of how intertemporal choice preferences arise. Several theorists have recently proposed model-based reinforcement learning as a candidate framework. This framework describes a suite of algorithms by which a model of the environment, in the form of a state transition function and reward function, can be converted on-line into a decision. The state transition function allows the model-based system to make decisions based on projected future states, while the reward function assigns value to each state, together capturing the necessary components for successful intertemporal choice. Empirical work has also pointed to a possible relationship between increased prospection and reduced discounting. In the current paper, we look for direct evidence of a relationship between temporal discounting and model-based control in a large new data set (n = 168). However, testing the relationship under several different modeling formulations revealed no indication that the two quantities are related.

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The role of simulation in intertemporal choices

Cited by 18 publications

References 105 publications

The right temporoparietal junction enables delay of gratification by allowing decision makers to focus on future events

The right temporoparietal junction enables delay of gratification by allowing decision makers to focus on future events

How Cognitive and Affective Empathy Relate to Emotion Regulation: Divergent Patterns from Trait and Task-Based Measures

Simulating future value in intertemporal choice

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