Trait Reward Sensitivity Modulates Connectivity with the Temporoparietal Junction and Anterior Insula during Strategic Decision Making

Abstract

Many decisions happen in social contexts such as negotiations, yet little is understood about how people balance fairness versus selfishness. Past investigations found that activation in brain areas involved in executive function and reward processing was associated with people offering less with no threat of rejection from their partner, compared to offering more when there was a threat of rejection. However, it remains unclear how trait reward sensitivity may modulate activation and connectivity patterns in these situations. To address this gap, we used task-based fMRI to examine the relation between reward sensitivity and the neural correlates of bargaining choices. Participants (N = 54) completed the Sensitivity to Punishment (SP)/Sensitivity to Reward (SR) Questionnaire and the Behavioral Inhibition System/Behavioral Activation System scales. Participants performed the Ultimatum and Dictator Games as proposers and exhibited strategic decisions by being fair when there was a threat of rejection, but being selfish when there was not a threat of rejection. We found that strategic decisions evoked activation in the Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG) and the Anterior Insula (AI). Next, we found elevated IFG connectivity with the Temporoparietal junction (TPJ) during strategic decisions. Finally, we explored whether trait reward sensitivity modulated brain responses while making strategic decisions. We found that people who scored lower in reward sensitivity made less strategic choices when they exhibited higher AI-Angular Gyrus connectivity. Taken together, our results demonstrate how trait reward sensitivity modulates neural responses to strategic decisions, potentially underscoring the importance of this factor within social and decision neuroscience.

Reward Circuit Local Field Potential Modulations Precede Risk Taking

“…71 The anterior insula may also be important in social decision making, with fMRI activation in this structure associated with strategic decisions that maximize personal gain and minimize chance of rejection by a partner in social settings. 72 Supporting the findings of these prior studies, we identify neurophysiological signals within the OFC, amygdala, and insula that are associated with decisions that maximize gain and minimize loss, suggesting a role for these regions in reward and punishment based decision making.…”

An fMRI dataset of social and nonsocial reward processing in young adults

“…If a parKcipant missed a trial, the screen indicated they were too slow and logged a missed trial. [8].…”

“…The overarching goal of this project was to characterize the associaKons between neural responses to social and non-social rewards, trait reward sensiKvity, substance use, and other psychosocial variables [5]. To date, we have published/preprinted efforts that show links between substance use and trait reward sensiKvity in tasks focused on social reward [6], social context [7], and social decision making [8]. The current data arKcle adds to these papers/preprints by describing the full scope of the dataset and outlining possibiliKes for reuse.…”