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Updated: Jul 15, 2025

A Conflict Model of Reward-seeking Behavior in Male Rats
Published on: February 20, 2019
Less cortical complexity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex is associated with a greater preference for risky and
Fredrik Bergström1,2, Caryn Lerman3, Joseph W Kable4
1Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal.
Abstract:
In our everyday lives, we are often faced with situations in which we have to make choices that involve risky or delayed rewards. However, the extent to which we are willing to accept larger risky (over smaller certain) or larger delayed (over smaller immediate) rewards vary across individuals. Here we investigated the relationship between cortical surface complexity in medial prefrontal cortex and individual differences in risky and intertemporal preferences. We found that lower cortical complexity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) was associated with a greater preference for risky and immediate rewards. In addition to these common structural associations in mPFC, we also found associations between lower cortical complexity and a greater preference for immediate rewards that extended into left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and right vmPFC. Taken together, the shared association suggests that lower cortical complexity in vmPFC may be a structural marker for individual differences in impulsive behavior.
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