Neural Modulation in Approach-Avoidance Conflicts in Externalizing Psychopathology

Externalizing psychopathology (EXT) is characterized by poor decision-making in situations that involve simultaneous cues for approach and avoidance behavior (i.e. approach-avoidance conflicts). Previous studies of EXT have examined these deficits primarily using tasks involving decisions between positive reward and negative punishment, suggesting that EXT is characterized by a general bias towards high salience (e.g. temporally proximal or reward) cues relative to low salience (e.g. temporally distal or loss) cues. However, in order to better characterize decision-making in approach-avoidance conflicts, the present study utilized a novel task to examine neural activation in contexts involving both positive reward and negative punishment as well as positive punishment and negative reward by manipulating physical proximity of affective cues. Neuroimaging results indicated that EXT was associated with deficits related to cue prioritization based on salience, suggesting that failure to differentiate relevant from less relevant information contributes to poor decision-making among individuals with EXT.