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Neural correlates of increased risk-taking propensity in sleep-deprived people along with a changing risk level

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Abstract

Risky decision-making under a changing risk level is a complex process involving contextual information. The neural mechanism underlying how sleep deprivation (SD) influences risky decision-making behaviors with a changing risk level has yet to be elucidated. In this study, we used the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) during functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural correlates of SD-induced changes on decision-making behaviors at different risk levels. Thirty-seven healthy male adults were recruited in this within-subjects, repeat-measure, counterbalanced study. These individuals were examined during a state of rested wakefulness state and after nearly 36 h of total SD. The results showed that SD increased the activation of risk modulation in the left inferior frontal gyrus and were positively correlated with risk-taking propensity after SD. Activation in the ventral striatum and thalamus during cash out was increased, and activation in the middle temporal gyrus after explosion (loss of money) was decreased in sleep-deprived subjects, providing additional evidence for greater risk-taking propensity after SD. These results extend our understanding of the neural mechanism underlying alteration of the risk-taking propensity in sleep-deprived individuals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, 27 Taiping Road, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Yu Lei, Lubin Wang, Pinhong Chen, Yanyan Li, Liu Yang, Shanshan Chen & Zheng Yang

  2. Cognitive and Mental Health Research Center, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Yu Lei, Lubin Wang, Pinhong Chen, Yanyan Li, Liu Yang, Shanshan Chen & Zheng Yang

  3. Brain Science Center, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Yu Lei

  4. Department of Radiology, PLA Army General Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Han, Mingmei Ge & Xinhuai Wu

  5. School of Aerospace Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, People’s Republic of China

    Wendong Hu

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  1. Yu Lei
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  2. Lubin Wang
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  3. Pinhong Chen
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  4. Yanyan Li
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  5. Wei Han
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  7. Liu Yang
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  8. Shanshan Chen
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  9. Wendong Hu
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  10. Xinhuai Wu
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  11. Zheng Yang
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Correspondence to Wendong Hu, Xinhuai Wu or Zheng Yang.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Military Science Foundation of China, Nos. AWS12J003–2 (ZY), 2012ZX09031 (ZY); the National Key Technology R&D Program, No. 2013BAH02B00 (ZY); and the Innovation Foundation of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences in China, No. 2015cxjj09.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Lei, Y., Wang, L., Chen, P. et al. Neural correlates of increased risk-taking propensity in sleep-deprived people along with a changing risk level. Brain Imaging and Behavior 11, 1910–1921 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-016-9658-7

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