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Beta-Blocker Propranolol Modulates Decision Urgency During Sequential Information Gathering

Arbitrating between timely choice and extended information gathering is critical for effective decision making. Aberrant information gathering behavior is thought to be a feature of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder, but we know little about the underlying...

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Autores principales: Hauser, Tobias U., Moutoussis, Michael, Purg, Nina, Dayan, Peter, Dolan, Raymond J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Society for Neuroscience 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6083454/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30006361
http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0192-18.2018
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author Hauser, Tobias U.
Moutoussis, Michael
Purg, Nina
Dayan, Peter
Dolan, Raymond J.
author_facet Hauser, Tobias U.
Moutoussis, Michael
Purg, Nina
Dayan, Peter
Dolan, Raymond J.
author_sort Hauser, Tobias U.
collection PubMed
description Arbitrating between timely choice and extended information gathering is critical for effective decision making. Aberrant information gathering behavior is thought to be a feature of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder, but we know little about the underlying neurocognitive control mechanisms. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled drug study involving 60 healthy human subjects (30 female), we examined the effects of noradrenaline and dopamine antagonism on information gathering during performance of an information sampling task. We show that modulating noradrenaline function with 40 mg of the β-blocker propranolol leads to decreased information gathering behavior. Modulating dopamine function via a single dose of 400 mg of amisulpride revealed some effects that were intermediate between those of propranolol and placebo. Using a Bayesian computational model, we show that sampling behavior is best explained by inclusion of a nonlinear urgency signal that promotes commitment to an early decision. Noradrenaline blockade promotes the expression of this decision-related urgency signal during information gathering. We discuss the findings with respect to psychopathological conditions that are linked to aberrant information gathering. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Knowing when to stop gathering information and commit to a choice option is nontrivial. This is an important element in arbitrating between information gain and energy conservation. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled drug study, we investigated the role of catecholamines noradrenaline and dopamine on sequential information gathering. We found that blockade of noradrenaline led to a decrease in information gathering. Dopamine blockade showed an intermediate, but nonsignificant, effect. Using a Bayesian computational model, we show that this noradrenaline effect is driven by increased decision urgency, a signal that reflects an escalating subjective cost of sampling. The observation that noradrenaline modulates decision urgency suggests new avenues for treating patients that show information gathering deficits.
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spelling pubmed-60834542018-08-14 Beta-Blocker Propranolol Modulates Decision Urgency During Sequential Information Gathering Hauser, Tobias U. Moutoussis, Michael Purg, Nina Dayan, Peter Dolan, Raymond J. J Neurosci Research Articles Arbitrating between timely choice and extended information gathering is critical for effective decision making. Aberrant information gathering behavior is thought to be a feature of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder, but we know little about the underlying neurocognitive control mechanisms. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled drug study involving 60 healthy human subjects (30 female), we examined the effects of noradrenaline and dopamine antagonism on information gathering during performance of an information sampling task. We show that modulating noradrenaline function with 40 mg of the β-blocker propranolol leads to decreased information gathering behavior. Modulating dopamine function via a single dose of 400 mg of amisulpride revealed some effects that were intermediate between those of propranolol and placebo. Using a Bayesian computational model, we show that sampling behavior is best explained by inclusion of a nonlinear urgency signal that promotes commitment to an early decision. Noradrenaline blockade promotes the expression of this decision-related urgency signal during information gathering. We discuss the findings with respect to psychopathological conditions that are linked to aberrant information gathering. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Knowing when to stop gathering information and commit to a choice option is nontrivial. This is an important element in arbitrating between information gain and energy conservation. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled drug study, we investigated the role of catecholamines noradrenaline and dopamine on sequential information gathering. We found that blockade of noradrenaline led to a decrease in information gathering. Dopamine blockade showed an intermediate, but nonsignificant, effect. Using a Bayesian computational model, we show that this noradrenaline effect is driven by increased decision urgency, a signal that reflects an escalating subjective cost of sampling. The observation that noradrenaline modulates decision urgency suggests new avenues for treating patients that show information gathering deficits. Society for Neuroscience 2018-08-08 /pmc/articles/PMC6083454/ /pubmed/30006361 http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0192-18.2018 Text en Copyright © 2018 Hauser et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly attributed.
spellingShingle Research Articles
Hauser, Tobias U.
Moutoussis, Michael
Purg, Nina
Dayan, Peter
Dolan, Raymond J.
Beta-Blocker Propranolol Modulates Decision Urgency During Sequential Information Gathering
title Beta-Blocker Propranolol Modulates Decision Urgency During Sequential Information Gathering
title_full Beta-Blocker Propranolol Modulates Decision Urgency During Sequential Information Gathering
title_fullStr Beta-Blocker Propranolol Modulates Decision Urgency During Sequential Information Gathering
title_full_unstemmed Beta-Blocker Propranolol Modulates Decision Urgency During Sequential Information Gathering
title_short Beta-Blocker Propranolol Modulates Decision Urgency During Sequential Information Gathering
title_sort beta-blocker propranolol modulates decision urgency during sequential information gathering
topic Research Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6083454/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30006361
http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0192-18.2018
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