The effects of stress on neural processing of reward and risk

压力是日常生活的一部分;在一项全国性的研究中，40%的受访者报告说当天经历了压力。我们从许多研究中知道，压力会影响健康，记忆和幸福。但这会影响我们做决定的方式吗？如果是的话，这意味着什么我们变得越来越厌恶风险了吗？我们是否会比其他情况更容易受到潜在不利因素的影响，而更少受到潜在有利因素的影响？决策涉及一套复杂而灵活的大脑机制，它计算选项的潜在价值，并根据结果的不确定性水平调整该价值。在这个提议中，我们研究了急性压力对决策基本要素的影响：预测和代表价值的神经信号，整合期权的积极和消极方面，并根据预测的波动性和期权的不确定性评估风险。我们测试两个主要假设。第一种是压力通过腹侧纹状体的多巴胺能效应使奖励刺激更具吸引力和突出性。第二，压力通过大脑皮层影响风险处理，但其影响因性别和年龄而异。我们的一些最重要的决定必须在压力环境下做出;因此，我们必须了解压力如何改变我们评估决策选择方式的基本机制。 公共卫生相关性：重要的决定，例如有关个人财务和医疗保健的决定，通常会带来巨大的压力，尤其是在老年人中。这项提案中的研究将提供有关压力如何影响这些决定以及人们如何规避风险的重要信息。即使在最好的情况下，做出最佳决策也是一项挑战;这些发现应该为理解如何在压力下改善决策提供关键信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Stress is part of daily life; in a national study 40% of respondents reported experiencing stress that day. We know from many studies that stress can affect health, memory, and well-being. But does it affect how we make decisions? And if so, what are the implications-do we become more or less risk averse? Are we more influenced by the potential downsides and less by potential upsides to an option than we would be otherwise? Making decisions involves a complex yet flexible set of brain mechanisms that compute the potential value of options and adjust that value based on the level of uncertainty about the outcome. In this proposal, we examine the effects of acute stress on the basic elements of decision making: the neural signals that predict and represent value, integrate the positive and negative aspects of options, and assess risk based on predicted volatility and uncertainty of options. We test two main hypotheses. The first is that stress makes rewarding stimuli even more attractive and salient, via dopaminergic effects in the ventral striatum. The second is that stress affects risk processing via the insula, but that it has different effects depending on one's sex and age. Some of our most important decisions must be made under stressful circumstances; thus it is paramount that we understand the basic mechanisms of how stress changes the way we evaluate decision options. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Important decisions, such as those regarding personal finances and health care, often involve substantial stress, especially among older adults. The studies in this proposal will provide important information about how stress affects those decisions and how risk averse people are. Making optimal decisions is challenging even under the best of circumstances; these findings should provide critical information for understanding how to improve decision making under stress.