Poster No:
1231
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Natalie Melville1,2, Flora Li3, Sheryl Ball1,4,5, Jungmeen Kim-Spoon5, Pearl Chiu1,5, Brooks Casas1,5,4
Institutions:
1Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion, Roanoke, VA, 2Translational Biology Medicine & Health, Virginia Tech, Roanoke, VA, 3Economics Experimental Lab, Nanjing Audit University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 4Department of Economics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 5Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
First Author:
Natalie Melville
Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion|Translational Biology Medicine & Health, Virginia Tech
Roanoke, VA|Roanoke, VA
Co-Author(s):
Flora Li, PhD
Economics Experimental Lab, Nanjing Audit University
Nanjing, Jiangsu
Sheryl Ball
Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion|Department of Economics, Virginia Tech|Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech
Roanoke, VA|Blacksburg, VA|Blacksburg, VA
Pearl Chiu
Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion|Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech
Roanoke, VA|Blacksburg, VA
Brooks Casas
Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion|Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech|Department of Economics, Virginia Tech
Roanoke, VA|Blacksburg, VA|Blacksburg, VA
Introduction:
Adolescence is a developmental period marked by increasing independence and exploration of novel situations with uncertain outcomes. Previous research suggests that adolescents' willingness to engage in health risk behaviors (HRBs) is related to tolerance of ambiguity (Blankenstein, et al. 2016; Tymula, et al. 2012; Van Den Bos, et al. 2017), in which the probability of an outcome is unknown, while other research finds HRBs correlated to tolerance for risk (Rao, et al. 2011; Steinberg 2008), in which the probability of an outcome is known. This study aims to identify individual biases in using known and unknown probability information during decision-making in ambiguous contexts and examines their impact on neural activity.
Methods:
One hundred and fifty-one adolescents, with an initial mean age of 13.5 (s.d. = 0.54), participated in yearly assessments across five waves. Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while making choices between two options with varying levels of risk and ambiguity. A behavioral model estimated two behavioral parameters associated with ambiguity: the first capturing optimism or pessimism linked to unknown likelihoods, and the second quantifying the influence of the known probability information on unknown likelihoods. Individual levels of neural activity in the mid-posterior insula (PI) and the dorsal anterior insula (dAI) were extracted during decision-making as well as the neural activity modulated by the known likelihood information. The resulting neural activity was related to ambiguity parameters using mixed effect regressions. Similarly, neural activity was predicted by visit to identify the relationship between visit and insula activation by region.
Results:
Adolescents initially exhibited optimism toward the ambiguous portion of the gamble (β = 0.7, p < 0.001) and became more neutral as they aged (β = -0.03, p < 0.001). Neuroimaging revealed that more optimistic individuals exhibited diminished activity in the PI during decisions under ambiguity (β = -0.24, p = 0.02). Additionally, PI activity increased with age when viewing ambiguous gambles (β = 0.047, p = 0.01).
Known outcome probabilities were found to influence preference for ambiguity (β = -0.48, p < 0.001). More specifically, adolescents exhibited an aversion to ambiguity when the known information indicated a high probability of receiving a large outcome. In contrast, when the probability of receiving a large outcome was low, adolescents exhibited a preference for ambiguity. This relationship between known probability information and ambiguity diminished across time (β = 0.04, p < 0.001). Neurally, the known probability of a high outcome was positively related to dAI during choice. This relationship was (i) diminished among adolescents showing the strongest probability-related ambiguity bias (β = 0.475, p = 0.01) and (ii) increased across development (β = 0.076, p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
While prior work has focused on ambiguity tolerance independent of known probability information, this study highlights that known probability information also significantly influences choice behavior under ambiguity. Specifically, early in adolescence, known probability information strongly biases preferences for ambiguity, and this bias diminishes into late adolescence. The separable ambiguity parameters, dependent and independent of known probability information, were associated with spatially distinct activity across anterior to posterior insula, and these neural correlates changed across time consistent with the observed behavioral patterns.
Higher Cognitive Functions:
Decision Making 2
Lifespan Development:
Early life, Adolescence, Aging 1
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Activation (eg. BOLD task-fMRI)
Bayesian Modeling
Keywords:
Cognition
Computational Neuroscience
Modeling
Other - ambiguity; decision-making; adolescence
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Provide references using author date format
Blankenstein, N. E., et al. (2016). "Dealing With Uncertainty: Testing Risk- and Ambiguity-Attitude Across Adolescence." Developmental Neuropsychology 41(1-2): 77-92.
Rao, U., et al. (2011). "Relationship Between Adolescent Risk Preferences on a Laboratory Task and Behavioral Measures of Risk-Taking." Journal of Adolescent Health 48(2): 151-158.
Steinberg, L. (2008). "A Social Neuroscience Perspective on Adolescent Risk-Taking." Dev Rev 28(1): 78-106.
Tymula, A., et al. (2012). "Adolescents risk-taking behavior is driven by tolerance to ambiguity." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109(42): 17135-17140.
van den Bos, W., et al. (2017). "Adolescents display distinctive tolerance to ambiguity and to uncertainty during risky decision making." Sci Rep 7: 40962.