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. 2006 Nov;62(2):272-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2006.05.006. Epub 2006 Jul 31.

The effect of graded monetary reward on cognitive event-related potentials and behavior in young healthy adults

Rita Z Goldstein  1 , Lisa A Cottone, Zhiru Jia, Thomas Maloney, Nora D Volkow, Nancy K Squires
Affiliations

The effect of graded monetary reward on cognitive event-related potentials and behavior in young healthy adults

Rita Z Goldstein et al. Int J Psychophysiol. 2006 Nov.

Abstract

Temporal correlates of the brain circuit underlying reward processing in healthy adults remain unclear. The current study investigated the P3 and contingent negative variation (CNV) as putative reward-related temporal markers. The effect of sustained monetary reward on these event-related potentials and on behavior was assessed using a warned reaction-time paradigm in 16 young healthy subjects. Monetary reward (0, 1 and 45 cents) varied across blocks of trials. While the CNV was unaffected by money, P3 amplitude was significantly larger for 45 than the 1 and 0 cent conditions. This effect corresponded to the monotonically positive subjective ratings of interest and excitement on the task (45>1>0). These findings suggest a difference between the P3 and CNV; the P3 is sensitive to the sustained effect of relative reward value, while the CNV does not vary with reward magnitude.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Experimental paradigm for the monetary incentive task. Overall design and experimental conditions are depicted at the top; at each condition onset (conditions were separated by 30 sec), a 5 sec screen (not depicted) displayed the monetary reward (0¢, 1¢, 45¢). Together with the feedback delivered at the end of each trial, this 5 sec screen (similar in appearance to the feedback screen) guaranteed the subjects were continuously aware of the reward contingencies.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(top) Grand average waveforms (N = 16) for three levels of monetary reward (0-cent, 1-cent, 45-cent) at the CZ electrode site; (bottom) 64-channel brain maps showing scalp topography of the P3-W at 440 ms.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Average subjective ratings (N=16) on the Interest scale and the Excitement scale for three monetary reward conditions (0-cent, 1-cent, 45-cent). Error bars represent standard error of the mean.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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