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. 2024 Apr 18:2:imag-2-00143.
doi: 10.1162/imag_a_00143. eCollection 2024.

Reduced cortical complexity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex is associated with a greater preference for risky and immediate rewards

Fredrik Bergström  1   2 , Caryn Lerman  3 , Joseph W Kable  4
Affiliations

Reduced cortical complexity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex is associated with a greater preference for risky and immediate rewards

Fredrik Bergström et al. Imaging Neurosci (Camb). .

Abstract

In our everyday lives, we are often faced with situations in which we make choices that involve risky or delayed rewards. However, the extent to which we are willing to accept larger risky (over smaller certain) or larger delayed (over smaller immediate) rewards varies across individuals. Here, we investigated the relationship between cortical complexity in the medial prefrontal cortex and individual differences in risky and intertemporal preferences. We found that reduced cortical complexity in left ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) was associated with a greater preference for risky and immediate rewards. In addition to these common structural associations in left vmPFC, we also found associations between lower cortical complexity and a greater preference for immediate rewards that extended into the left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and right vmPFC. Furthermore, these structural associations occurred in a context where a preference for risky rewards was correlated with a preference for delayed rewards across individuals. These results suggest that risk and intertemporal preferences are distinct but related, and likely influenced by multiple neurocognitive processes, with cortical complexity in vmPFC reflecting one shared aspect possibly related to impulsiveness in terms of risky and impatient economic choice. Future work should elucidate the complex relationships between brain structure and behavioral preferences.

Keywords: brain structure; cortical complexity; intertemporal choice; magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); risky choice; ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Conjunction of risk and intertemporal preferences and cortical complexity. (A) Shows the average TFCE value for vertices in which reduced cortical complexity was associated with a greater preference for risky and immediate rewards. The black lines outline the mPFC mask used to restrict the analyses to our region of interest. All results are threshold-free cluster-enhancement (TFCE) adjusted and FDR (q < .05) corrected and controlled for sex, age, IQ, and log10(α) or log10(k). (B) Scatterplots show relationships between choice preferences and cortical complexity at the peak conjunction coordinate in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) (standardized residuals from regressing out age, sex, IQ, and log10(α) or log10(k)).
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Risk preferences and cortical complexity. (A) Shows associations between cortical complexity and risk preferences. The black lines outline the mPFC mask used to restrict the analyses to our region of interest. All results are threshold-free cluster-enhancement (TFCE) adjusted and FDR (q < .05) corrected and controlled for sex, age, IQ, and log10(α) or log10(k). (B) Scatterplots show the relationships between choice preferences and cortical complexity at the peak coordinate in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) for risk preferences (standardized residuals from regressing out age, sex, IQ, and log10(α) or log10(k)).
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Intertemporal preferences and cortical complexity. (A) Shows associations between cortical complexity and intertemporal choice preferences. The black lines outline the mPFC mask used to restrict the analyses to our region of interest. All results are threshold-free cluster-enhancement (TFCE) adjusted and FDR (q < .05) corrected and controlled for sex, age, IQ, and log10(α) or log10(k). (B) Scatterplots show the relationships between choice preferences and cortical complexity at the peak coordinate in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) for intertemporal preferences (standardized residuals from regressing out age, sex, IQ and log10(α) or log10(k)).
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Region of interest results within mPFC for other MRI measures. (A) Shows the average TFCE value for vertices in which reduced gyrification was associated with a reduced preference for risky and immediate rewards. (B) Shows associations between gyrification, sulci depth, thickness, and grey matter volume (GMV) and risky or intertemporal preferences. The black lines outline the mPFC mask used to restrict the analyses to our region of interest. All results are threshold-free cluster-enhancement (TFCE) adjusted and FDR (q < .05) corrected and controlled for sex, age, and IQ. GMV was also controlled for total intracranial volume.
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