Regular substance use relates to cost sensitivity during cost-benefit decision-making in stable and volatile learning...

Area of Science:

• Decision-making science
• Neuroscience of addiction
• Behavioral economics

Background:

• Substance use severity is linked to reward sensitivity and cost insensitivity.
• Limited research exists on how individuals weigh rewards against costs in decision-making.
• The influence of context on reward-cost comparisons in substance use is understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how individuals with elevated substance use compare rewards to costs within choices.
• To examine how different contexts affect reward-cost comparisons in substance use.
• To identify decision-making patterns associated with years of regular substance use.

Main Methods:

• Administered a novel cost-benefit probabilistic learning task to a diverse community sample (N=130) with elevated substance use.
• Analyzed choice behavior in relation to reward magnitude, loss magnitude, and contextual cues.
• Employed computational modeling to assess parameters like loss-weighting.

Main Results:

• Individuals with more years of regular substance use were less likely to repeat advantageous safe choices and more likely to repeat risky choices after losses.
• These individuals showed diminished discrimination between loss magnitudes, persisting with risky choices even as losses increased.
• Computational modeling revealed that extended substance use was associated with under-weighting losses, although this effect was moderated by age.

Conclusions:

• Decreased sensitivity to cost information, particularly losses, may be a hallmark of continued substance use.
• Individuals with prolonged substance use may fail to adapt behavior based on negative financial consequences.
• Understanding these decision-making deficits is crucial for developing targeted interventions for substance use disorders.