TY - JOUR
T1 - Neural valuation of rewards and punishments in posttraumatic stress disorder
T2 - a computational approach
AU - Jia, Ruonan
AU - Ruderman, Lital
AU - Pietrzak, Robert H.
AU - Gordon, Charles
AU - Ehrlich, Daniel
AU - Horvath, Mark
AU - Mirchandani, Serena
AU - DeFontes, Clara
AU - Southwick, Steven
AU - Krystal, John H.
AU - Harpaz-Rotem, Ilan
AU - Levy, Ifat
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).
PY - 2023/12
Y1 - 2023/12
N2 - Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with changes in fear learning and decision-making, suggesting involvement of the brain’s valuation system. Here we investigate the neural mechanisms of subjective valuation of rewards and punishments in combat veterans. In a functional MRI study, male combat veterans with a wide range of posttrauma symptoms (N = 48, Clinician Administered PTSD Scale, CAPS-IV) made a series of choices between sure and uncertain monetary gains and losses. Activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) during valuation of uncertain options was associated with PTSD symptoms, an effect which was consistent for gains and losses, and specifically driven by numbing symptoms. In an exploratory analysis, computational modeling of choice behavior was used to estimate the subjective value of each option. The neural encoding of subjective value varied as a function of symptoms. Most notably, veterans with PTSD exhibited enhanced representations of the saliency of gains and losses in the neural valuation system, especially in ventral striatum. These results suggest a link between the valuation system and the development and maintenance of PTSD, and demonstrate the significance of studying reward and punishment processing within subject.
AB - Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with changes in fear learning and decision-making, suggesting involvement of the brain’s valuation system. Here we investigate the neural mechanisms of subjective valuation of rewards and punishments in combat veterans. In a functional MRI study, male combat veterans with a wide range of posttrauma symptoms (N = 48, Clinician Administered PTSD Scale, CAPS-IV) made a series of choices between sure and uncertain monetary gains and losses. Activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) during valuation of uncertain options was associated with PTSD symptoms, an effect which was consistent for gains and losses, and specifically driven by numbing symptoms. In an exploratory analysis, computational modeling of choice behavior was used to estimate the subjective value of each option. The neural encoding of subjective value varied as a function of symptoms. Most notably, veterans with PTSD exhibited enhanced representations of the saliency of gains and losses in the neural valuation system, especially in ventral striatum. These results suggest a link between the valuation system and the development and maintenance of PTSD, and demonstrate the significance of studying reward and punishment processing within subject.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85151107320&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41398-023-02388-4
DO - 10.1038/s41398-023-02388-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 36977676
AN - SCOPUS:85151107320
SN - 2158-3188
VL - 13
JO - Translational Psychiatry
JF - Translational Psychiatry
IS - 1
M1 - 101
ER -