Temporal dynamics and neural mechanisms of preference reversal

描述（由申请人提供）：本项目研究冲动偏好逆转的认知和神经基础。人类决策者有时会放弃长期的结果而没有实现它们。这种倾向是冲动的信号，也是实现学业成功、退休储蓄和戒瘾等目标的障碍。这项工作的重点是区分情况下，高持久性是必要的和情况下，它是有益的，以减少耐心。第一个目标是开发一项行为任务，以测试个人调整其持久性水平（向上或向下）以适应情况要求的能力。结果将用于告知潜在认知机制的模型。第二个目的是研究这些调整的神经基础的持久性。过去的证据表明，腹内侧前额叶皮层与价值表征、冲动性和时间感知的相关功能有关。功能性磁共振成像将用于评估神经参与，而参与者在需要高持久性或需要频繁逆转的条件下执行相同的简单任务。此外，将对额叶脑损伤的神经心理学患者进行行为测试;观察到的缺陷模式将为受影响神经区域的计算功能提供信息。这项研究将提供一个更好的认知和神经机制，通过人们建立一个适当的持久性水平，以实现他们的长期目标的理解。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project examines the cognitive and neural basis of impulsive preference reversal. Human decision-makers sometimes abandon long run outcomes without achieving them. This tendency signals impulsivity, and is an obstacle to the fulfillment of goals involving scholastic success, retirement savings, and recovery from addiction. This work focuses on the distinction between situations where high persistence is warranted and situations where it is beneficial to be less patient. The first aim is to develop a behavioral task to test an individual's ability to adjust his or her level of persistence (upward or downward) to fit the requirements of a situation. Results will be used to inform a model of the underlying cognitive mechanisms. The second aim is to study the neural basis of these adjustments in persistence. Past evidence implicates the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in related functions of value representation, impulsivity, and time perception. Functional magnetic resonance imaging will be used to assess neural engagement while participants perform the same simple task under conditions that either require high persistence or require frequent reversals. In addition, neuropsychological patients with frontal brain lesions will be tested behaviorally; observed patterns of deficit will be informative regarding the computational functions of the affected neural regions. This research will provide a better understanding of the cognitive and neural mechanisms through which people establish an appropriate level of persistence to achieve their long run goals.