Poster No:
392
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
LIN ZUO1
Institutions:
1University of Science and Technology of China, HeFei, AnHui
First Author:
LIN ZUO
University of Science and Technology of China
HeFei, AnHui
Introduction:
Decision-making often involves balancing exploration of uncertain options with exploiting known, rewarding choices. In general, people explore more initially, shifting toward exploitation over time. Anxiety has been shown to impair this adaptive change, potentially hindering optimal decision-making. Anxious individuals tend to have a low tolerance for uncertainty, which may distort their exploration and exploitation strategies. This study investigates how anxiety affects behavioral adaptation in decision-making, focusing on the changes in exploratory behavior over time and the neural processes underlying these effects.
Methods:
We recruited 40 participants: 20 high trait anxious (HTA) and 20 medium-low trait anxious (MLTA), based on their Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T) scores. Participants completed a modified two-armed bandit task, where they estimated the value of options and chose between them based on reward probabilities. Behavioral data were analyzed for exploration-exploitation tendencies and decision accuracy. During the task, fMRI was used to measure brain activity, focusing on the dACC and insula, key regions involved in uncertainty processing and error-based learning. Resting-state fMRI data were also analyzed using Amplitude of Low-Frequency Fluctuations (ALFF) to assess baseline neural activity. A Bayesian reinforcement learning model was employed to quantify uncertainty and decision-making strategies.
Results:
HTA participants exhibited less adaptive exploratory behavior compared to MLTA participants, showing reduced exploration despite high uncertainty early in the task. HTA individuals also performed worse in predicting option values. Neural data revealed greater dACC activation in HTA participants during exploration, suggesting heightened sensitivity to uncertainty. However, they showed reduced insula activation, which is associated with poor error correction and learning. Resting-state analysis further indicated altered spontaneous activity in the dACC and insula in HTA participants, highlighting anxiety-related neural abnormalities that may contribute to decision-making impairments.
Conclusions:
Anxiety disrupts the adaptive shift from exploration to exploitation, leading to impaired decision-making. This study highlights the role of the dACC and insula in these behavioral changes, with abnormal activation in these regions contributing to the maladaptive decision-making observed in anxious individuals. These findings offer new insights into the neural mechanisms underlying anxiety-related decision-making deficits and suggest potential targets for therapeutic interventions to improve decision-making in anxiety disorders.
Disorders of the Nervous System:
Psychiatric (eg. Depression, Anxiety, Schizophrenia) 1
Higher Cognitive Functions:
Decision Making 2
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Activation (eg. BOLD task-fMRI)
Bayesian Modeling
fMRI Connectivity and Network Modeling
Keywords:
Anxiety
Computational Neuroscience
FUNCTIONAL MRI
Learning
Machine Learning
Psychiatric
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
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Please indicate below if your study was a "resting state" or "task-activation” study.
Resting state
Task-activation
Healthy subjects only or patients (note that patient studies may also involve healthy subjects):
Patients
Was this research conducted in the United States?
No
Were any human subjects research approved by the relevant Institutional Review Board or ethics panel?
NOTE: Any human subjects studies without IRB approval will be automatically rejected.
Yes
Were any animal research approved by the relevant IACUC or other animal research panel?
NOTE: Any animal studies without IACUC approval will be automatically rejected.
Not applicable
Please indicate which methods were used in your research:
Functional MRI
Behavior
Computational modeling
For human MRI, what field strength scanner do you use?
3.0T
Provide references using APA citation style.
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