METHODS: To investigate the impact of IGD on decision making, a modified version of the 2-armed bandit task was employed. Participants included 41 individuals with IGD and 44 healthy control individuals. The study assessed the strategies used by participants in the task, particularly focusing on the exploitation-exploration strategy. Additionally, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine brain activation patterns during decision-making and estimation phases.
RESULTS: The study found that individuals with IGD demonstrated greater reliance on exploitative strategies in decision making due to their elevated value-seeking tendencies and decreased cognitive control. Individuals with IGD also displayed heightened activation in the presupplementary motor area and the ventral striatum compared with the healthy control group in both decision-making and estimation phases. Meanwhile, the prefrontal cortex showed more inhibition in individuals with IGD than in the healthy control group during exploitative strategies. This inhibition decreased as cognitive control diminished.
CONCLUSIONS: The imbalance in the development of the dual system in individuals with IGD may lead to an overreliance on exploitative strategies. This imbalance, marked by increased reward seeking and reduced cognitive control, contributes to difficulties in decision making and value-related behavioral processes in individuals with IGD.
方法:为了调查IGD对决策的影响,采用了双臂强盗任务的修改版本。参与者包括41名IGD个体和44名健康对照(HC)个体。这项研究评估了参与者在任务中使用的策略,特别是注重开发-勘探战略。此外,功能磁共振成像(fMRI)用于检查决策和估计阶段的大脑激活模式。
结果:研究发现,IGD患者在决策中表现出对剥削策略的更高依赖,因为他们的价值追求倾向升高,认知控制下降。在决策和估计阶段,与HC组相比,IGD个体在补充前运动区(preSMA)和腹侧纹状体(VS)中也显示出增强的激活。同时,在开发策略期间,IGD个体的前额叶皮质(PFC)表现出比HC组更多的抑制作用.发现这种抑制作用随着认知控制的减少而减少。
结论:该研究得出结论,IGD患者双元系统发展的不平衡可能导致对剥削策略的过度依赖。这种不平衡,以增加寻求奖励和减少认知控制为标志,导致IGD个体的决策困难和与价值相关的行为过程。