A delay-specific neural indicator corresponds to delay-discounting behavior for both gain and loss

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Decision Science

Background:

• Delay-discounting, the decrease in subjective value for delayed rewards, is crucial in decision-making.
• Feedback-related negativity (FRN) is an electrophysiological measure linked to reward processing.
• Previous research indicated FRN is affected by delayed gains, but its direct correlation with delay-discounting remained unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the direct relationship between a delay-specific indicator (ΔFRNdelay) and delay-discounting rates.
• To examine this relationship in both gain and loss domains during a decision-making task.

Main Methods:

• Introduced ΔFRNdelay, the difference in FRN with and without delays.
• Utilized a doors task to measure FRN and a delay-discounting task to assess discounting rates.
• Analyzed the correlation between ΔFRNdelay and discounting rates for gains and losses.

Main Results:

• Delay significantly enhanced FRN for losses, but not for gains.
• The ΔFRNdelay indicator showed a significant correlation with delay-discounting rates in both gain and loss domains.
• This suggests FRN is sensitive to the impact of delay on loss processing.

Conclusions:

• This study is the first to propose that FRN is sensitive to delay effects in loss processing.
• The novel ΔFRNdelay indicator directly corresponds to changes in subjective value, as measured by delay-discounting.
• Findings advance understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying delay-discounting and reward processing.