Abstract
The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a measure of decision-making, in which alternative metrics have greater construct validity than conventional metrics. No large scale study has examined the neural correlates in healthy adults. We administered the IGT and structural MRI to 124 healthy participants. We analyzed the conventional IGT metric of advantageous minus disadvantageous choices (i.e., decks C + D minus decks A + B), and three alternative metrics based on choices from decks D and A alone, and all selections from each deck. Using regression and voxel-based morphometry, we examined regional gray matter volumes as predictors of IGT performance. No neural correlates of the conventional metric emerged, and the neural correlates of individual deck selections were disparate from one another. Alternative metrics showed expected neural correlates of decision-making in prefrontal cortex, insula, thalamus, and other regions. IGT alternative metrics have neural correlates consistent with decision-making theory as those difference scores reduce heterogeneity in cognitive processes. The CD-AB metric construct failure may reflect an artificial amalgamation of processes. The D-A metric appears to more successfully combine multiple levels of representation (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, sub-cortical, cerebellar).
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 585-594 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2012 |
Keywords
- Adult
- Brain mapping/methods
- Decision making
- Humans
- Neuropsychological task/statistics & numerical data
- Prefrontal cortex/neuropsychology
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Neuroscience
- Clinical Psychology
- Clinical Neurology
- Psychiatry and Mental health