Biology subjects

Wagner, B. J.

Publications and source records attributed to Wagner, B. J..

7 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

The role of repetition in context-dependent preference

Humans are prone to decision biases, which make behavior seemingly irrational. An important cause for decision biases is that the context in which decisions are made can later influence which choices humans prefer in new situations. Current computational models often require extensive environmental knowledge to explain these biases. Here, we tested the hypothesis that decision biases are mainly driven by a tendency to repeat context-specific actions. We implemented a series of nine value-based decision experiments on n = 351 male and female participants and reanalyzed six previously published datasets (n=350 participants). We found that higher within-context repetition of an option was associated with biased choices including higher subjective valuation and lower uncertainty for repeated actions. Next, we used a computational model based on two basic principles, learning by reward and decision repetition and tested it on all datasets. Our results show that the combination of these two basic principles is sufficient to explain biased choices. We demonstrate via hierarchical Bayesian model comparison that our model outperforms all alternative models. These results provide novel insights into human choice behavior and offer a solution to difficulties in current explanations and models. Significance StatementHuman decision-making often deviates from rational choice theory. Understanding how decision biases emerge is essential for interpreting real-world human behavior. Our study shows how repeating decisions shapes decision making in novel situations. We adapt a simple computational model that can explain decision biases based on reward learning and decision repetition. By testing the model across 15 datasets, we demonstrate that it outperforms previous models, also offering new insights into how preferences affect subjective valuation and uncertainty. In sum, these findings provide a deeper understanding of how context-dependent preferences for specific decisions emerge and persist.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Context-Dependent Interaction Between Goal-Directed and Habitual Control Under Time Pressure

Habits are an important aspect of human behaviour. Habits are reflexive, inflexible, and fast, in contrast to goal-directed behaviour which is reflective, flexible, and slow. Current theories assume that habits and goal-directed actions are controlled by two separate but interacting systems. However, it is not clear how these two systems interact when actions must be made under time pressure. Here we use a task which induces habitual behaviour in the form of action sequences, while concurrently requiring participants to perform goal-directed actions that are either congruent or incongruent with the habit. This task thus allows for concurrent measurement of both goal-directed and habitual behaviour, thereby permitting a nuanced analysis of the interaction between these two control modes. Using computational modelling, we find that models where the influence of the habit depends on the number of repetitions, explain participant behaviour better than models that assume the habit to be constant. We further show that roughly half of the participants modulate their use of the habit depending on the context, i.e. they selectively inhibit the habits influence when it is incongruent to their explicit goals, but not when both are congruent and the influence of the habit is adaptive. Additional drift-diffusion modelling of choice and reaction time data shows that proactive control is mobilized in the congruent task context whereas reactive control is mobilized in the incongruent task context. The present study thus indicates that habitual control is context-dependent and can be adaptively deployed via proactive and reactive control, rather than being a fixed or isolated mechanism.

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bioRxiv2024

Cognitive Computational Model Reveals Repetition Bias in a Sequential Decision-Making Task

Humans tend to repeat past actions due to rewarding outcomes. Recent computational models propose that the probability of selecting a specific action is also, in part, based on how often this action was selected before, independent of previous outcomes or reward. However, these new models so far lack empirical support. Here, we present evidence of a repetition bias using a novel sequential decision-making task and computational modeling to reveal the influence of choice frequency on human value-based choices. Specifically, we find that value-based decisions can be best explained by concurrent influence of both goal-directed reward seeking and a repetition bias. We also show that participants differ substantially in their repetition bias strength, and relate these measures to task performance. The new task enables a novel way to measure the influence of choice repetition on decision-making. These findings can serve as a basis for further experimental studies on the interplay between rewards and choice history in human decision-making.

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bioRxiv2021

Gambling environment exposure increases temporal discounting but improves model-based control in regular slot-machine gamblers.

Gambling disorder is a behavioral addiction that negatively impacts personal finances, work, relationships and mental health. In this pre-registered study (https://osf.io/5ptz9/?view_only=62956a2afcd1495984db4be18c54b50a) we investigated the impact of real-life gambling environments on two computational markers of addiction, temporal discounting and model-based reinforcement learning. Gambling disorder is associated with increased temporal discounting and reduced model-based learning. Regular gamblers (n = 30, DSM-5 score range 3-9) performed both tasks in a neutral (cafe) and a gambling-related environment (slot-machine venue) in counterbalanced order. Data were modeled using drift diffusion models for temporal discounting and reinforcement learning via hierarchical Bayesian estimation. Replicating previous findings, gamblers discounted rewards more steeply in the gambling-related context. This effect was positively correlated with gambling related cognitive distortions (pre-registered analysis). In contrast to our pre-registered hypothesis, model-based reinforcement learning was improved in the gambling context. Here we show that temporal discounting and model-based reinforcement learning are modulated in opposite ways by real-life gambling cue exposure. Results challenge aspects of habit theories of addiction, and reveal that laboratory-based computational markers of psychopathology are under substantial contextual control.

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bioRxiv2020

Chronic deep brain stimulation of the human nucleus accumbens region disrupts the stability of inter-temporal preferences.

When choosing between rewards that differ in temporal proximity (inter-temporal choice), human preferences are typically stable, constituting a clinically-relevant transdiagnostic trait. Here we show in patients undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the anterior limb of the internal capsule / nucleus accumbens region for treatment-resistant obsessivecompulsive disorder (OCD), that long-term chronic (but not phasic) DBS disrupts inter-temporal preferences. Hierarchical Bayesian modeling accounting for temporal discounting behavior across multiple time points allowed us to assess both short-term and long-term reliability of inter-temporal choice. In controls, temporal discounting was highly reliable, both long-term (6 months) and short-term (1 week). In contrast, in patients undergoing DBS, short-term reliability was high, but long-term reliability (6 months) was severely disrupted. Control analyses confirmed that this effect was not due to range restriction, the presence of OCD symptoms or group differences in choice stochasticity. Model-agnostic between- and within-subject analyses confirmed this effect. These findings provide initial evidence for long-term modulation of cognitive function via DBS and highlight a potential contribution of the human nucleus accumbens region to inter-temporal preference stability over time. Significance StatementChoosing between rewards that differ in temporal proximity is in part a stable trait with relevance for many mental disorders, and depends on prefrontal regions and regions of the dopamine system. Here we show that chronic deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the human anterior limb of the internal capsule / nucleus accumbens region for treatment-resistant obsessive compulsive disorder disrupts the stability of inter-temporal preferences. These findings show that chronic stimulation of one of the brains central motivational hubs can disrupt preferences thought to depend on this circuit.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2020

Temporal discounting in adolescents and adults with Tourette syndrome

BackgroundTourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder with the clinical hallmarks of motor and phonic tics which are associated with hyperactivity in dopaminergic networks. Dopaminergic hyperactivity in the basal ganglia has previously been linked to increased sensitivity to positive reinforcement and increases in choice impulsivity. ObjectiveWe address whether this extends to changes in temporal discounting, where impulsivity is operationalized as an increased preference to choose smaller-but-sooner over larger-but-later rewards. Results are discussed with respect to neural models of temporal discounting, dopaminergic alterations in Tourette syndrome and the developmental trajectory of temporal discounting. MethodsIn the first study we included nineteen adolescent patients with Tourette syndrome and nineteen age- and education matched controls. In the second study, we compared twenty-five adult patients with Tourette syndrome and twenty-five age- and education-matched controls. ResultsIn the light of the dopaminergic hyperactivity model, we predicted differences in temporal discounting in patients with Tourette syndrome. However, computational modeling of choice behavior using hierarchical Bayesian parameter estimation revealed reduced impulsive choice in adolescent patients, and no group differences in adults. ConclusionWe speculate that adolescents might show reduced discounting due to improved inhibitory functions that also affect choice impulsivity and/or the developmental trajectory of executive control functions. The absence of an effect in adults might be due to differences in the clinical population (e.g. patients who acquired successful tic inhibition during adolescence might have gone into remission). Future studies would benefit from adopting longitudinal approaches to further elucidate the developmental trajectory of these effects.

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bioRxiv2020

Dopaminergic modulation of human inter-temporal choice: a diffusion model analysis using the D2-receptor-antagonist haloperidol.

The neurotransmitter dopamine is implicated in diverse functions, including reward processing, reinforcement learning and cognitive control. The tendency to discount future rewards in value over time has long been discussed in the context of potential dopaminergic modulation. Here we examined the effect of a single dose of the D2 receptor antagonist Haloperidol (2mg) on temporal discounting. Our approach extends previous human pharmacological studies in two ways. First, we applied state-of-the-art computational modeling based on the drift diffusion model to comprehensively examine choice dynamics. Second, we examined dopaminergic modulation of reward magnitude effects on temporal discounting. Drift diffusion modeling revealed reduced temporal discounting and substantially faster non-decision times under Haloperidol. Temporal discounting was substantially increased for low vs. high reward magnitudes, but this magnitude effect was largely unaffected by Haloperidol. These results were corroborated by model-free analyses as well as modeling via more standard approaches using softmax action selection. We previously reported elevated caudate activation under Haloperidol in this sample of participants, supporting the idea that Haloperidol elevated dopamine neurotransmission, e.g. by blocking inhibitory feedback via presynaptic D2 autoreceptors. The present modeling results show that during inter-temporal choice, this leads to attenuated temporal discounting and increased response vigor (shorter non-decision times).

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