Reward processing in gain versus loss context: An ERP study

Previous research has shown that consummatory ERP components are sensitive to contextual valence. The present study investigated the contextual valence effect across anticipatory and consummatory phases by requiring participants to play a simple gambling task during a gain context and a loss context. During the anticipatory phase, the cue-P3 was more positive in the gain context compared to the loss context, whereas the stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN) was comparable across the two contexts. With respect to the consummatory phase, the feedback-related negativity (FRN) in response to the zero-value outcome was more negative in the gain versus loss context, whereas the feedback P3 (fb-P3) in response to the zero-value outcome was insensitive to contextual valence. These findings suggest that contextual valence effect occurs at a relative early stage of both the reward anticipation and consumption. Moreover, across the gain and loss contexts, the SPN was selectively correlated with the FRN, whereas the cue-P3 was selectively associated with the fb-P3, pointing to a close association between the anticipatory and consummatory phases in reward dynamics.