The impact of anger on intertemporal decision-making in individuals with internet addiction: an fNIRS study.

Intertemporal decision-making is the choice between an immediate smaller reward (SS) and a delayed larger reward (LL). Intertemporal decision-making depends on the interaction of the cognitive and emotional systems, and the latter is particularly vital. According to the Appraisal Tendency Frame (ATF) theory, anger influences intertemporal decision-making by increasing an individual's sense of certainty and control. This study examined whether anger affects intertemporal decision-making in individuals with internet addiction (IA) in this manner and investigated its neural mechanisms. Nineteen individuals with IA and 20 healthy controls were recruited. All subjects performed the Monetary choice task under anger and neutral emotions while functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) equipment simultaneously recorded the hemodynamics in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Individuals with IA showed a more considerable delay discount and lower brain activations in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L-dlPFC) compared to HC. Moreover, individuals with IA made more LL choices in the angry condition than in the neutral emotion, yet there was no difference in HC. The brain activation in L-dlPFC of individuals with IA tends to increase in the angry condition compared to the neutral condition. These findings revealed that impairment of intertemporal decision-making in individuals with individuals with IA might be related to the dysfunction of OFC and L-dlPFC. Our work also provided initial footing for the applicability of the appraisal tendency frame theory to individuals with IA, and L-dlPFC might play a role in the effects of anger on intertemporal decision-making.

The perceived controllability of negatively-valenced episodic future thinking modulates delay discounting.

Intertemporal decision-making is important for both economy and physical health. Nevertheless, in daily life, individuals tend to prefer immediate and smaller rewards to delayed and larger rewards, which is known as delay discounting (DD). Episodic future thinking (EFT) has been proven to influence DD. However, there is still no inconsistent conclusion on the effect of negative EFT on DD. Considering the perceived controllability of negative EFT may address the issue (Controllability refers to the extent to which progress and result of an event could be controlled by ourselves). In the current study, we manipulated EFT conditions (baseline, neutral EFT, negative-controllable EFT and negative-uncontrollable EFT), delayed time (i.e. 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year and 3 years) and reward magnitude (small, large). We mainly found that when experiencing negative-uncontrollable EFT compared to negative-controllable EFT in the delayed time of 6 months with large rewards, individuals chose more delayed rewards, suggesting that negative-uncontrollable EFT effectively reduced DD under conditions of both large-magnitude reward and longer delayed time. The current study provides new insight for healthy groups on optimising EFT. In that case, individuals are able to gain long-term benefits in financial management and healthcare.

Intertemporal Decision-making and Risk Decision-making Among Habitual Nappers Under Nap Sleep Restriction: A Study from ERP and Time-frequency.

Sleep restriction affects people's decision-making behavior. Nap restriction is a vital subtopic within sleep restriction research. In this study, we used EEG to investigate the impact of nap sleep restriction on intertemporal decision-making (Study 1) and decision-making across risky outcomes (Study 2) from ERP and time-frequency perspectives. Study 1 found that habitual nappers restricting their naps felt more inclined to choose immediate, small rewards over delayed, large rewards in an intertemporal decision-making task. P200s, P300s, and LPP in our nap-restriction group were significantly higher than those in the normal nap group. Time-frequency results showed that the delta band (1 ~ 4 Hz) power of the restricted nap group was significantly higher than that of the normal nap group. In Study 2, the nap-restriction group was more likely to choose risky options. P200s, N2s, and P300s in the nap deprivation group were significantly higher than in the normal nap group. Time-frequency results also found that the beta band (11 ~ 15 Hz) power of the restricted nap group was significantly lower than that of the normal nap group. The habitual nappers became more impulsive after nap restriction and evinced altered perceptions of time. The time cost of the LL (larger-later) option was perceived to be too high when making intertemporal decisions, and their expectation of reward heightened when making risky decisions-believing that they had a higher probability of receiving a reward. This study provided electrophysiological evidence for the dynamic processing of intertemporal decision-making, risky decision-making, and the characteristics of nerve concussions for habitual nappers.

The hidden-zero effect in male individuals with opioid use disorder.

Background: Explicitly expressing the hidden opportunity cost in intertemporal choice significantly reduces healthy participants' delay discounting - a phenomenon named the "hidden-zero effect," which is undetermined in individuals with substance use disorder (SUD).Objectives: This study aimed to determine whether the hidden-zero effect occurs among individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) and the degree to which this effect differs between the OUD group and healthy controls.Methods: In two different experiments, Exp#1) 29 male individuals with OUD (13.5 ± 6.0 months abstinence) and 29 male controls performed an intertemporal choice task (ICT); Exp#2) 28 male individuals with OUD (17.5 ± 5.6 months abstinence) and 27 male controls performed a delay discounting task (DDT). The OUD group was recruited from a mandatory treatment, and controls from WeChat. There were two choice conditions in both two tasks: the hidden-zero (H0) condition (standard), and the explicit-zero (E0) condition (explicitly expressing opportunity cost).Results: Compared with the H0 condition, all participants' delay discounting was significantly decreased in the E0 condition (ps < .05, ηp2 = 0.254, 0.110). There was no significant difference in the changed degree between these two groups in either experiment (ps > .05). The delay discounting of the OUD group was significantly higher than that of controls only in Experiment 2 (p < .001, ηp2 = 0.376).Conclusion: This study extended the population in which the hidden-zero effect occurs to individuals with OUD. With respect to delay discounting, the hidden-zero effect benefit did not differ in OUD and control participants.

The effect of episodic foresight on intertemporal decision-making: the role of future self-continuity and perceived control.

To investigate the mechanism of episodic foresight of different valences on intertemporal decision-making, this study examined the mediating role of future self-continuity in the influence of episodic foresight on intertemporal decision-making and the moderating role of perceived control in two experiments. The results found that (1) future self-continuity mediated the effect of episodic foresight on individuals' intertemporal decision-making; and (2) perceived control moderated the indirect effect of episodic foresight on intertemporal decision-making through future self-continuity. Under low perceived control, individuals with positive episodic foresight had stronger future self-continuity and preferred future options, while individuals with negative episodic foresight had lower future self-continuity. In contrast, under high perceived control, individuals with different episodic foresight potencies did not show significant differences in their future self-continuity levels, but all showed higher levels and tended to choose the delayed option when faced with an intertemporal choice. From the perspective of the self-cognition, this study provided new insights into the relationship between episodic foresight and intertemporal decision-making and the psychological mechanisms of intertemporal decision-making.

Impaired delay discounting and time sensitivity in methcathinone use disorder.

Substance use disorder (SUD) is characterized by continued drug use despite adverse consequences. Methcathinone is a new type of psychoactive substance that is associated with high excitement and impulsive behaviors. However, it is unclear if individuals with methcathinone use disorders (MCUD) are with impaired decision-making ability. We analyzed the task performance in 45 male MCUD subjects and 35 male matched healthy controls (HC) with intertemporal decision-making task. Constant sensitivity discounting model was used to estimate potential changes in both discounting rate and time sensitivity. The results showed that MCUD individuals exhibited a higher delay discounting rate (p = 0.003, Cohen's d = 0.683) and reduced sensitivity to time (p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 1.662). The delay discounting rate was correlated to the first age for drug use (r = - 0.41, p = 0.004), and the time sensitivity was negatively correlated with the duration of abstinence (r = - 0.31, p = 0.036). We conclude that MCUD individuals are with impaired decision-making ability and time perception disturbances.

Neural representations of the amount and the delay time of reward in intertemporal decision making.

Numerous studies have examined the neural substrates of intertemporal decision-making, but few have systematically investigated separate neural representations of the two attributes of future rewards (i.e., the amount of the reward and the delay time). More importantly, no study has used the novel analytical method of representational connectivity analysis (RCA) to map the two dimensions' functional brain networks at the level of multivariate neural representations. This study independently manipulated the amount and delay time of rewards during an intertemporal decision task. Both univariate and multivariate pattern analyses showed that brain activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) and lateral frontal pole cortex (LFPC) was modulated by the amount of rewards, whereas brain activity in the DMPFC and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) was modulated by the length of delay. Moreover, representational similarity analysis (RSA) revealed that even for the regions of the DMPFC that overlapped between the two dimensions, they manifested distinct neural activity patterns. In terms of individual differences, those with large delay discounting rates (k) showed greater DMPFC and LFPC activity as the amount of rewards increased but showed lower DMPFC and DLPFC activity as the delay time increased. Lastly, RCA suggested that the topological metrics (i.e., global and local efficiency) of the functional connectome subserving the delay time dimension inversely predicted individual discounting rate. These findings provide novel insights into neural representations of the two attributes in intertemporal decisions, and offer a new approach to construct task-based functional brain networks whose topological properties are related to impulsivity.

Transforming brain signals related to value evaluation and self-control into behavioral choices.

The processes involved in value evaluation and self-control are critical when making behavioral choices. However, the evidence linking these two types of processes to behavioral choices in intertemporal decision-making remains elusive. As the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), striatum, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) have been associated with these two processes, we focused on these three regions. We employed functional magnetic resonance imaging during a delayed discounting task (DDT) using a relatively large sample size, three independent samples. We evaluated how much information about a specific choice could be decoded from local patterns in each brain area using multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA). To investigate the relationship between the dlPFC and vmPFC/striatum regions, we performed a psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis. In Experiment I, we found that the vmPFC and dlPFC, but not the striatum, could determine choices in healthy participants. Furthermore, we found that the dlPFC showed significant functional connectivity with the vmPFC, but not the striatum, when making decisions. These results could be replicated in Experiment II with an independent sample of healthy participants. In Experiment III, the choice-decoding accuracy in the vmPFC and dlPFC was lower in patients with addiction (smokers and participants with Internet gaming disorder) than in healthy participants, and decoding accuracy in the dlPFC was related to impulsivity in addicts. Taken together, our findings may provide neural evidence supporting the hypothesis that value evaluation and self-control processes both guide the intertemporal choices, and might provide potential neural targets for the diagnosis and treatment of impulsivity-related brain disorders.

Effects of episodic future thinking in health behaviors for weight loss: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Obesity and related diseases have become one of the leading causes of death worldwide, which has been linked to biopsychosocial effects such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, various cancers, depression, and weight stigma. Episodic future thinking (EFT) has been found to support the development of changes in health behaviors. However, the effectiveness of EFT in enhancing weight loss behavior and health outcomes is not well supported. OBJECTIVE: To establish implementation options for the EFT intervention, and critically synthesize the data that assesses the impact of EFT on weight loss behavior and health outcomes. METHODS: Searches were performed across 5 Chinese and 9 English databases systematically from inception to March 2023. Randomized controlled trials, written in English or Chinese were included. Two independent reviewers evaluated all relevant studies, who also assessed the risk of bias, and extracted the data. Meta-analyses were conducted using Review Manager 5.4.1. The quantity of evidence's certainty was assessed using the Risk bias assessment tool RoB2 (revised version 2019). This study was registered in PROSPERO. RESULTS: A total of 1740 participants were included, and 18 studies were eligible for inclusion. Meta-analysis reported a statistically significant effect size favoring EFT on delay discounting (AUC) (MD = 0.1, 95 % CI: [0.02, 0.17], P = 0.01; I2 = 73 %), delay discounting (K) (MD = -0.85, 95 % CI: [-1.44, -0.26], P = 0.005; I2 = 77 %), energy intake (MD = -107.59, 95 % CI: [-192.21, -22.97], P = 0.01; I2 = 57 %), grocery purchased (SMD: -0.91, 95 % CI:[-1.48, -0.34], P = 0.002; I2 = 63 %), and BMI (MD = -2.73, 95 % CI: [-5.13, -0.32], P = 0.03; I2 = 0 %, two studies). CONCLUSIONS: EFT was found to have favorable effects on delay discounting, energy intake, grocery purchased, and BMI of individuals. The presence of high heterogeneity is evident in most of the outcomes. The modalities of EFT intervention are still in the exploratory phase, there is no consensus on the valence, context type, longest delay time, and practice strategy, and it needs to be further explored for different populations. It is anticipated that additional well-designed studies will continue developing high-quality evidence in this field.

Precrastination and Time Perspective: Evidence from Intertemporal Decision-Making.

Although procrastination has been extensively studied, precrastination remains an unsolved puzzle. Precrastination is the tendency to start tasks as soon as possible, even at the cost of extra effort. Using the near bucket paradigm with 81 undergraduate students, this study examined the relationship between precrastination and time perspective, proactive personality, and subjects' differential performance in intertemporal decision-making. The results confirmed the cognitive-load-reduction (CLEAR) hypothesis. Precrastination was found to be positively predicted by the future time dimension of time perspective and negatively predicted by proactive personality. In addition, there is a significant positive correlation between precrastination and delay discounting of intertemporal decision-making, which exists only for the loss situation.

View of Times and Temporal Focus under the Pace of Life on the Impact of Intertemporal Decision Making.

Previous studies have explored the effects of time poverty and money worship on intertemporal decision making based on a resource scarcity perspective. However, how the pace of life affects intertemporal decision making has not been examined. Furthermore, manipulating time perceptions can influence intertemporal decision-making preferences. Based on the perspective of time perception differences, it remains unknown how views of time or temporal focus affect the intertemporal decision making of individuals with different pace of life. To address these issues, study 1 adopted a correlational study to initially explore the relationship between the pace of life and intertemporal decision making. Studies 2 and 3 used manipulation experiments to examine the effects of the pace of life and view of time and temporal focus and pace of life on intertemporal decision making. The results suggest that the faster the life pace, the more recent rewards are preferred. Views of time and temporal focus manipulations can influence the intertemporal decision making of faster-paced individuals, making them prefer smaller-sooner (SS) payoffs under a linear view of time or future temporal focus and larger-later (LL) payoffs under a circular view of time or past temporal focus. However, the manipulation does not affect the intertemporal decision of slower-paced individuals. Our study examined the effect of the pace of life on intertemporal decision making based on a resource scarcity perspective, and found boundary conditions for the influence of the view of time and temporal focus on intertemporal decision making based on the perspective of differences in people's perception of time.

Intertemporal decision-making as a mediator between personality traits and self-management in type 2 diabetes: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: The aims to investigate the mediating effect of intertemporal decision-making on the association between personality traits and self-management among individuals with in Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM). Method: Patients with T2DM in the early stages of hospitalization at two tertiary hospitals in Shenyang and Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, May 2022 to January 2023. Questionnaires, including General Demographic, Self-Management, Big Five Personality, and Intertemporal Decision-Making, were administered. Pearson correlation analysis examined relationships between personality traits, intertemporal decision-making, and self-management. Hierarchical regression analysis identified self-management predictors. Mediation analysis used the PROCESS SPSS Macro version 3.3 model 4 to investigate intertemporal decision-making as mediator between personality traits and self-management. Results: Pearson correlation analysis revealed significant associations between self-management scores, personality traits, and intertemporal decision-making. Hierarchical regression revealed that Neuroticism and Conscientiousness accounted for 20.8% of the variance in self-management, while intertemporal decision-making explained 4.5% of the variance. Finally, using the Bootstrap method, the mediation analysis showed that intertemporal decision-making partially mediated the effect of personality traits on self-management. Conclusion: This study emphasizes the importance of intertemporal decision-making in improving self-management behaviors among patients with T2DM. Interventions targeted at modifying intertemporal decision-making preferences could be effective in enhancing self-management behaviors, leading to better health outcomes.

Neural mechanisms of intertemporal and risky decision-making in individuals with internet use disorder: A perspective from directed functional connectivity.

Background and aims: The intertemporal and risk decision-making impairments are vital cognitive mechanisms in internet use disorder (IUD). However, the underlying neural mechanisms for these two decision-making dysfunctions in individuals with IUD remain unclear. Methods: This study employed Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) to record changes in blood oxygen concentration in the prefrontal cortex of individuals with IUD during intertemporal and risk decision-making tasks. Results: The findings revealed that the intertemporal decision-making deficits in IUD group were primarily associated with reduced activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and FC from the left dlPFC to the right dlPFC. On the other hand, risk decision-making impairments were linked to decreased OFC activation and weakened functional connectivity from the left dlPFC to the right dlPFC and OFC. Discussions and Conslusions: These results suggested that while there were common neural mechanisms underlying intertemporal and risk decision-making impairments in individuals with IUD, specific neural foundations existed for each type of dysfunction.

Prediction of delay discounting in intertemporal decisions by future thinking: Accounting for fluency, contents, and functions of future thoughts.

PURPOSE: To study the variations of delay discounting rates as a function of fluency, contents, and functions of future thoughts in healthy subjects. BACKGROUND: Delay discounting (DD) is a concept that can measure a frequent tendency toward smaller, yet immediate rewards, while a delayed reward is greater in value. DD describes people's choices in intertemporal decisions and is associated with self-control. Future thinking (FT) and having a vivid imagination of the future can reduce individuals' DD rates. However, constructing a specific episodic future representation was merely studied in relation to DD. Although fluency and contents of future thoughts have been reported related to various disorders and behaviors, their association with DD has not been previously addressed. METHODS: The present study applies a verbal fluency task named the personal future task (PFT), the functions of future thinking scale (FoFTS), and the 27-item delay discounting questionnaire (DDQ) in order to assess fluency, contents, and functions of future thoughts, and delay discounting in healthy subjects (N = 114, Female = 64%, Male = 36%, Mage = 34.22, SDage = 7.15). RESULTS: Findings indicate that fluency of future thoughts is associated with DD. Among the contents of FT categories, financial contents (future thoughts about money and real estate matters), and regarding functions of FT, engaging in FT for planning are related to DD. Due to the final model, the above-mentioned correlated variables can be considered as significant predictors of intertemporal choices when controlling for education and gender (R2  = 0.4, Adjusted R2  = 0.33, F = 5.186, p-value = 0.001). CONCLUSION: The frequency of future thoughts one can generate, specifically future thoughts about financial contents, is associated with less short-sighted intertemporal decisions. The former relationship is enhanced for longer delays (e.g., 5-10 years). Besides, individuals who frequently engage in FT for planning (planning out sequences of actions) discount future rewards to a lesser extent.

Common and distinct neural correlates of intertemporal and risky decision-making: Meta-analytical evidence for the dual-system theory.

The relationship between intertemporal and risky decision-making has received considerable attention in decision research. Single-process theories suggest that choices involving delay and risk are simply two manifestations of the same psychological mechanism, which implies similar patterns of neural activation. Conversely, the dual-system theory suggests that delayed and risky choices are two contrasting types of processes, which implies distinct brain networks. How these two types of choices relate to each other remains unclear. The current study addressed this issue by performing a meta-analysis of 28 intertemporal decision-making studies (862 subjects) and 51 risky decision-making studies (1539 subjects). We found no common area activated in the conjunction analysis of the delayed and risky rewards. Based on the contrast analysis, delayed rewards were associated with stronger activation in the left dorsal insula, while risky rewards were associated with activation in the bilateral ventral striatum and the right anterior insula. The results align with the dual-system theory with separate neural networks for delayed and risky rewards.

CEO Overconfidence, Corporate Governance, and R&D Smoothing in Technology-Based Entrepreneurial Firms.

The intertemporal stability of research and development (R&D) investment is a key issue in successfully promoting the continuation of innovation activities under high uncertainty in entrepreneurship. R&D smoothing helps firms to navigate the uncertainties of the external environment and maintain the stability of their investments in innovation. Chief executive officers (CEOs) are the most important decision-makers in firms' strategic planning. However, overconfident CEOs may overlook the importance of their firms' strategic actions on innovative activities. Drawing on upper echelons theory, this paper examines how CEO overconfidence affects firms' R&D smoothing. Using a sample of firms listed in China's Growth Enterprises Market between 2013 and 2020, this study finds that CEO overconfidence has a significant negative impact on R&D smoothing. Furthermore, our findings reveal that firms' internal control quality and institutional investor monitoring can mitigate the negative association between CEO overconfidence and R&D smoothing. Our findings provide new insights into the micro-level theoretical explanations for R&D smoothing and offer practical implications for technology-based entrepreneurial firms.

Working Memory Depletion Affects Intertemporal Choice Among Internet Addicts and Healthy Controls.

Addiction to the Internet has emerged as a new kind of addictive behavior. Although previous studies have revealed that impairments in working memory led to suboptimal decision making (e.g., a greater willingness to choose smaller, more immediate rewards), little is known about how working memory affects intertemporal choice in Internet addicts and normal users. Thus, this study's aim was to investigate the effect of working memory task on intertemporal choice in 33 participants addicted to internet and 25 healthy controls. Participants were administered (a) a test for Internet Addiction, (b) a single delay discounting self-report questionnaire (c) a working memory task. Differences between the Internet addicts and the control group were observed in terms of delay discounting rates, reaction times, and in memory accuracy rates. We observed significantly higher delay discounting rates among individuals addicted to the Internet. Moreover, it was documented that reaction times follow the 4-level working memory condition were significantly longer than follow the 2-level condition, in both the Internet addicts and the control group. The current findings suggest that Internet addicts are more likely to make short-sighted decisions than normal Internet users. The higher the level of working memory, the more likely an individual is to choose the present smaller reward, thus making short-sighted decisions, and have longer response times.

Subjective Time in Dementia: A Critical Review.

The capacity for subjective time in humans encompasses the perception of time's unfolding from moment to moment, as well as the ability to traverse larger temporal expanses of past- and future-oriented thought via mental time travel. Disruption in time perception can result in maladaptive outcomes-from the innocuous lapse in timing that leads to a burnt piece of toast, to the grievous miscalculation that produces a traffic accident-while disruption to mental time travel can impact core functions from planning appointments to making long-term decisions. Mounting evidence suggests that disturbances to both time perception and mental time travel are prominent in dementia syndromes. Given that such disruptions can have severe consequences for independent functioning in everyday life, here we aim to provide a comprehensive exposition of subjective timing dysfunction in dementia, with a view to informing the management of such disturbances. We consider the neurocognitive mechanisms underpinning changes to both time perception and mental time travel across different dementia disorders. Moreover, we explicate the functional implications of altered subjective timing by reference to two key and representative adaptive capacities: prospective memory and intertemporal decision-making. Overall, our review sheds light on the transdiagnostic implications of subjective timing disturbances in dementia and highlights the high variability in performance across clinical syndromes and functional domains.

Amount and delay insensitivity during intertemporal choice in three neurodegenerative diseases reflects dorsomedial prefrontal atrophy.

Patients with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias often make poor financial decisions, but it remains unclear whether this reflects specific failures in decision-making or more general deficits in episodic and working memory. We investigated how patients with Alzheimer's disease, behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), and semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) apply information in an intertemporal choice task between smaller intermediate and larger delayed rewards, with minimal memory demands. Multilevel modeling estimated subject-level sensitivities to three attributes of choice (the relative difference in reward magnitude, delay length, and absolute reward magnitudes) as well as baseline impulsivity. While baseline impulsivity in patients with Alzheimer's disease did not differ from controls, patients with bvFTD and svPPA were more impulsive than controls overall. Patients with Alzheimer's disease or bvFTD were less sensitive than controls to all three choice attributes, whereas patients with svPPA were less sensitive than controls to two attributes. Attenuated sensitivity to information presented during the choice was associated across all subjects with dorsomedial prefrontal atrophy for all three choice attributes. Given the minimal memory demands of our task, these findings suggest specific mechanisms underlying decision-making failures beyond episodic and working memory deficits in dementia.