Abstract
Reward may modulate the cognitive processes required for goal achievement, while individual differences in personality may affect reward modulation. Our aim was to test how different monetary reward magnitudes modulate brain activation and performance during goal-directed behavior, and whether individual differences in reward sensitivity affect this modulation. For this purpose, we scanned 37 subjects with a parametric design in which we varied the magnitude of monetary rewards (€0, €0.01, €0.5, €1 or €1.5) in a blocked fashion while participants performed an interference counting-Stroop condition. The results showed that the brain activity of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the striatum were modulated by increasing and decreasing reward magnitudes, respectively. Behavioral performance improved as the magnitude of monetary reward increased while comparing the non reward (€0) condition to any other reward condition, or the lower €0.01 to any other reward condition, and this improvement was related with individual differences in reward sensitivity. In conclusion, the locus of influence of monetary incentives overlaps the activity of the regions commonly involved in cognitive control.
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This research has been supported by Grants PSI2012-33054 from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, and by 2011I040 from the Spanish National Drug Strategy to ABL. Rosell-Negre P, Bustamante JC, Fuentes P, Costumero V, Benabarre S and Barrós Loscertales declare that they have no conflict of interest.
All the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Declaration of Helsinki (1975), and the applicable revisions at the time that this research was underway. Informed consent to be included in the study was obtained from all the patients.
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Rosell-Negre, P., Bustamante, J.C., Fuentes-Claramonte, P. et al. Monetary reward magnitude effects on behavior and brain function during goal-directed behavior. Brain Imaging and Behavior 11, 1037–1049 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-016-9577-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-016-9577-7