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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.03.18.435969

An fMRI-based brain marker predicts individual differences in delay discounting

Koban, L.·Lee, S.·Schelski, D. S.·Simon, M.-C.·Lerman, C.·Weber, B.·Kable, J. W.·Plassmann, H.
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Abstract

Individual differences in impatience--how much we discount future compared to immediate rewards--are associated with general life outcomes and related to substance use, psychiatric diseases, and obesity. Here, we use machine-learning on fMRI activity during an intertemporal choice task to develop a brain marker of individual differences in delay discounting. Study 1 (N=110) was used as a training and cross-validation set, resulting in significant prediction accuracy (r = 0.49) and suggesting an interplay between brain regions associated with affect, value, and cognitive control. The validity of the brain marker was replicated in an independent data set (Study 2, N=145, r = 0.45). In both studies, responses of the marker significantly differed between overweight and lean individuals. This pattern is a first step towards a generalizable neuromarker of delay discounting and a potentially transdiagnostic phenotype, which can be used as a brain-based target measure in future studies.

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Koban, L., Lee, S., Schelski, D. S., Simon, M.-C., Lerman, C., Weber, B., Kable, J. W., Plassmann, H.. 2021-03-19. An fMRI-based brain marker predicts individual differences in delay discounting. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.18.435969

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