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Poster Session A: Tuesday, August 12, 1:30 – 4:30 pm, de Brug & E‑Hall

Risk-sensitive reinforcement learning processes in the human brain drive impulsive choice

Rhiannon L Cowan¹, Tyler S Davis¹, Bornali Kundu, John D Rolston², Ben Shofty, Shervin Rahimpour, Elliot H Smith¹; ¹University of Utah, ²Harvard University

Presenter: Rhiannon L Cowan

We utilize standard and risk-sensitive reinforcement learning (RL) models to examine behavior and neural encoding of expected value and prediction error in 71 neurosurgical subjects during a risky decision-making task. We observed a behavioral trade-off between task performance and accuracy, specifically underpinned by negative prediction errors. Less impulsive choosers encoded RL model variables across brain regions to a greater extent, with greater encoding in the striatum, nucleus accumbens, and frontal cortices, compared to more impulsive choosers. More impulsive choosers’ decision-making was dictated by negative prediction errors, leading to risk-aversive tendencies and, ultimately, suboptimal decision-making.

Topic Area: Reward, Value & Social Decision Making

Extended Abstract: Full Text PDF