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. 2017 Mar 14:6:222-231.
doi: 10.1016/j.dadm.2017.02.005. eCollection 2017.

Reduced future-oriented decision making in individuals with subjective cognitive decline: A functional MRI study

Xiaochen Hu  1 , Franziska Uhle  2 , Klaus Fliessbach  3 , Michael Wagner  3 , Ying Han  4 , Bernd Weber  5 , Frank Jessen  2
Affiliations

Reduced future-oriented decision making in individuals with subjective cognitive decline: A functional MRI study

Xiaochen Hu et al. Alzheimers Dement (Amst). .

Abstract

Introduction: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) refers to an at-risk state of Alzheimer's disease and subtle cognitive deficits that have been observed in this condition. Currently, it is unknown whether complex cognitive processes relevant to everyday life, such as future-oriented choice behavior, are also altered in SCD.

Methods: Twenty SCD participants and 24 control (CO) participants took part in a functional magnetic resonance imaging task on intertemporal decisions, with and without simultaneous episodic future imagination.

Results: SCD participants showed reduced future-oriented choices. Future imagination increased future-oriented choices and was associated with increased brain activation in medial frontal polar cortex, right insular cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex in CO only, not SCD. In addition, more future-oriented choices were associated with hippocampal activation during choice processing in CO only.

Discussion: Subtle neuronal network disruptions in SCD may underlie their myopic future decisions and lack of modulation of choice behavior by episodic future imagination.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Delay discounting; Episodic future imagination; Intertemporal decision making; Subjective cognitive decline.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The fMRI intertemporal decision task experiment. Each trial starts with an instruction: either a rest period (control condition) or an imagination period (episodic condition), followed by a choice option–viewing period, a jitter period (1–4 seconds), and reappearance of the choice options: where subjects are then asked to press a button to choose their option as soon as possible, and a choice feedback displayed at the end of each trial. During the control condition, subjects are asked to make the intertemporal choice only; during the episodic condition, participants are asked to imagine their personal future events according to the cue word and to elaborate the imagination as detailed as possible, additional to the choice process. Abbreviation: fMRI, functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Behavioral performance of the fMRI delay discounting task. Abbreviations: AUC, area-under-the-curve; CO, control; fMRI, functional magnetic resonance imaging; ln(k), logarithm-transformed discount value k estimated by the hyperbolic function; SCD, subjective cognitive decline. *P < .05.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Brain activations during the instruction-viewing period. (A) Common activations during the episodic future imagination in both CO and SCD groups revealed by conjunction analysis. This network included bilateral prefrontal, temporal, inferior parietal, medial frontal, medial parietal, medial temporal areas (PFWE < .05). (B) Significant brain activations during the instruction-viewing period for the group × condition interaction effect (PFWE < .05). Activations were thresholded at P < .05 (uncorrected) for displaying purposes. Abbreviations: CO, control; SCD, subjective cognitive decline.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Brain activations during the choice option–viewing period. (Upper panel) Significant group × condition interaction effect of the brain activations related to choice process (PFWE < .05). (Lower panel) Significant group × condition interaction effect of the brain activations related to the subjective valuation process. Activations were thresholded at P < .005 (uncorrected) for displaying purposes. Abbreviations: CO, control; SCD, subjective cognitive decline.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Associations between individual discount rates and parameter beta estimates in the left hippocampus. Significant positive association between discount rate (area-under-the-curve [AUC]) and left hippocampus activity under both episodic and control conditions were found in the CO group only (P < .005, uncorrected), but not in the SCD group. Abbreviations: CO, control; SCD, subjective cognitive decline.
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