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Risk and reward seeking behaviour in episodic cluster headache - a psychometric and behavioural study
Roemer B Brandt1,2, Willemijn C Naber3, Julian Ghobrial3
1Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden, The Netherlands. r.b.brandt@lumc.nl.
Summary
People with episodic cluster headache (CH) exhibit higher risk-seeking behavior, while those with chronic CH show reduced risk-taking. This suggests an inherent risk-reward seeking tendency in CH, which may be dampened in its chronic form.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Psychology
Background:
- Cluster headache (CH) is an intensely painful neurological condition.
- Anecdotal evidence suggests individuals with CH may exhibit heightened risk-reward seeking tendencies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantitatively assess and compare risk-reward seeking behavior in individuals with episodic cluster headache (ECH), chronic cluster headache (CCH), migraine (M), and headache controls (HC).
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) across two rounds.
- Administered eight psychometric questionnaires, including the Zuckerman Sensation Seeking Scale.
- Recruited 35 participants for each of the four groups (ECH, CCH, M, HC).
Main Results:
- Episodic cluster headache (ECH) participants scored significantly higher on the Zuckerman sensation seeking scale, indicating greater risk-seeking.
- Chronic cluster headache (CCH) participants demonstrated lower risk-seeking behavior in the second BART round compared to ECH and controls.
- CCH group showed fewer mean pumps and popped balloons on the BART, suggesting reduced risk-taking.
Conclusions:
- Risk-reward seeking behavior is elevated in episodic cluster headache (ECH) as per self-report questionnaires.
- Risk-reward seeking behavior is diminished in chronic cluster headache (CCH) as per behavioral task performance (BART).
- Hypothesizes an intrinsic increase in risk-reward seeking in cluster headache (CH), potentially dampened in the chronic presentation.
