The role of prefrontal cortex sub-circuits in impulse control and preference consistency: Behavioural analyses in patients with focal prefrontal cortex lesions.

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jan Peters
• Subject Area: Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience
• Term: from 2012 to 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 226381160

People typically prefer large rewards over small rewards and immediate rewards over delayed rewards. Yet, in most scenarios rewards differ on more than one dimension (i.e. in inter-temporal choice, people are choosing between smaller-but-sooner and larger-but-later reward). These situations require a trade-off between waiting time and reward magnitude, and people typically discount the value of a future reward following an approximately hyperbolic function of the delay (delay or temporal discounting). Such decisions are highly relevant because many impulse control disorders (e.g. addiction, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) are associated with impulsive responses in these tasks. Functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation studies have suggested that a fronto-parietal control network is involved in implementing impulse control in such scenarios (i.e. supporting choices of options with larger long-term payoff, while resisting the temptation to opt for immediate gratification). Ventro-medial prefrontal cortex damage reduces impulse control in such scenarios, and may additionally increase preference inconsistency. In contrast, direct evidence for an involvement of the lateral prefrontal cortex via human lesion studies is currently lacking. The present project aims to directly assess impulse control and preference consistency (both within- and between testing sessions) in a sample of patients with focal prefrontal cortex lesions. This combined approach will allow the comparison of lateral and ventro-medial prefrontal cortex contributions to distinct components of value-based decision-making and impulse control.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professor Dr. Mark d' Esposito