Adiposity covaries with signatures of asymmetric feedback learning during adaptive decisions. Issue 10 (29th June 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Verstynen, Timothy; Dunovan, Kyle; Walsh, Catherine; Kuan, Chieh-Hsin; Manuck, Stephen B; Gianaros, Peter J
• Is Part Of: Social cognitive and affective neuroscience. Volume 15:Issue 10(2020)
• Page Start: 1145
• Page End: 1156
• Publication Date: 2020-06-29
• Subjects: adiposity -- decision-making -- learning -- obesity -- basal ganglia; Neurosciences -- Periodicals; Cognitive neuroscience -- Periodicals; Neuropsychology -- Periodicals; 612.8205
• DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaa088
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1749-5016

Abstract

Abstract: Unhealthy weight gain relates, in part, to how people make decisions based on prior experience. Here we conducted post hoc analysis on an archival data set to evaluate whether individual differences in adiposity, an anthropometric construct encompassing a spectrum of body types, from lean to obese, associate with signatures of asymmetric feedback learning during value-based decision-making. In a sample of neurologically healthy adults ( N = 433), ventral striatal responses to rewards, measured using fMRI, were not directly associated with adiposity, but rather moderated its relationship with feedback-driven learning in the Iowa gambling task, tested outside the scanner. Using a biologically inspired model of basal ganglia-dependent decision processes, we found this moderating effect of reward reactivity to be explained by an asymmetrical use of feedback to drive learning; that is, with more plasticity for gains than for losses, stronger reward reactivity leads to decisions that minimize exploration for maximizing long-term outcomes. Follow-up analysis confirmed that individual differences in adiposity correlated with signatures of asymmetric use of feedback cues during learning, suggesting that reward reactivity may especially relate to adiposity, and possibly obesity risk, when gains impact future decisions more than losses.