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Nucleus accumbens activation is linked to salience in social decision making

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Abstract

Aberrant salience may explain hasty decision making and psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia. In healthy individuals, final decisions in probabilistic reasoning tasks are related to Nucleus accumbens (Nacc) activation. However, research investigating the Nacc in social decision making is missing. Our study aimed at investigating the role of the Nacc for social decision making and its link to (aberrant) salience attribution. 47 healthy individuals completed a novel social jumping-to-conclusion (JTC) fMRI-paradigm, showing morphed faces simultaneously expressing fear and happiness. Participants decided on the ‘current’ emotion after each picture, and on the ‘general’ emotion of series of faces. Nacc activation was stronger during final decisions than in previous trials without a decision, particularly in fear rather than happiness series. A JTC-bias was associated with higher Nacc activation for last fearful, but not last happy faces. Apparently, mechanisms underlying probabilistic reasoning are also relevant for social decision making. The pattern of Nacc activation suggests salience, not reward, drives the final decision. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that aberrant salience might also explain social-cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.

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Acknowledgements

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors, but was supported by the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. We thank Vera Eymann, Manuel Vietze and Sabine Weinschütz for their help with data acquisition.

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The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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  1. Stephanie N. L. Schmidt & Daniela Mier

    Present address: Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany

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  1. Department of Clinical Psychology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/University of Heidelberg, J5, 68159, Mannheim, Germany

    Stephanie N. L. Schmidt, Sabrina C. Fenske, Peter Kirsch & Daniela Mier

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Schmidt, S.N.L., Fenske, S.C., Kirsch, P. et al. Nucleus accumbens activation is linked to salience in social decision making. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 269, 701–712 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-018-0947-6

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