Episodic Future Thinking Reduces Reward Delay Discounting through an Enhancement of Prefrontal-Mediotemporal Interactions

Humans discount the value of future rewards over time. Here we show using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and neural coupling analyses that episodic future thinking reduces the rate of delay discounting through a modulation of neural decision-making and episodic future thinking networks...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNeuron (Cambridge, Mass.) Vol. 66; no. 1; pp. 138 - 148
Main Authors Peters, Jan, Büchel, Christian
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Elsevier Inc 15.04.2010
Elsevier Limited
Subjects
Adult
Behavior
Brain
Brain Mapping
Cerebral Cortex - physiology
Choice Behavior - physiology
Decision making
Decision Making - physiology
Discount rates
Experiments
Forecasting
Humans
Impulsive Behavior
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Probability Learning
Reward
SYSNEURO
Young Adult
SYSNEURO
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Summary:Humans discount the value of future rewards over time. Here we show using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and neural coupling analyses that episodic future thinking reduces the rate of delay discounting through a modulation of neural decision-making and episodic future thinking networks. In addition to a standard control condition, real subject-specific episodic event cues were presented during a delay discounting task. Spontaneous episodic imagery during cue processing predicted how much subjects changed their preferences toward more future-minded choice behavior. Neural valuation signals in the anterior cingulate cortex and functional coupling of this region with hippocampus and amygdala predicted the degree to which future thinking modulated individual preference functions. A second experiment replicated the behavioral effects and ruled out alternative explanations such as date-based processing and temporal focus. The present data reveal a mechanism through which neural decision-making and prospection networks can interact to generate future-minded choice behavior. ► Episodic imagery reduces impulsivity in intertemporal decision-making ► Adjustments in discounting were predicted by the degree of ACC-hippocampal coupling ► Decision-making and prospection networks interact to enable future-minded choice
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ISSN:0896-6273
1097-4199
1097-4199
DOI:10.1016/j.neuron.2010.03.026