Cited by 101Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorDecision-Making and Behavioral Economics

Short-Term Temporal Discounting of Reward Value in Human Ventral Striatum

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Gregorios-Pippas, Lucy, Tobler, Philippe N., Schultz, Wolfram·2009·Journal of Neurophysiology

Abstract

Delayed rewards lose their value for economic decisions and constitute weaker reinforcers for learning. Temporal discounting of reward value already occurs within a few seconds in animals, which allows investigations of the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms. However, it is difficult to relate these mechanisms to human discounting behavior, which is usually studied over days and months and may engage different brain processes. Our study aimed to bridge the gap by using very short delays and measuring human functional magnetic resonance responses in one of the key reward centers of the brain, the ventral striatum. We used psychometric methods to assess subjective timing and valuation of monetary rewards with delays of 4.0–13.5 s. We demonstrated hyperbolic and exponential decreases of striatal responses to reward predicting stimuli within this time range, irrespective of changes in reward rate. Lower reward magnitudes induced steeper behavioral and striatal discounting. By contrast, striatal responses following the delivery of reward reflected the uncertainty in subjective timing associated with delayed rewards rather than value discounting. These data suggest that delays of a few seconds affect the neural processing of predicted reward value in the ventral striatum and engage the temporal sensitivity of reward responses. Comparisons with electrophysiological animal data suggest that ventral striatal reward discounting may involve dopaminergic and orbitofrontal inputs.

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Crossref · 10.1152/jn.90730.2008

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  • Delay discounting depends on ventral striatum function.

    “Interestingly, delay discounting seems to depend on the function of the ventral striatum (104) and of the PFC, including OFC (105) and its connections to the NAc (106), and is sensitive to DA manipulations (107).”

    From Obesity and addiction: Neurobiological overlaps (2013) · cites this paper as [104]

  • Delay discounting seems to depend on the function of ventral striatum and of the PFC, including OFC, and is sensitive to DA manipulations.

    “Delay discounting seems to depend on the function of ventral striatum (Gregorios-Pippas et al 2009) and of the PFC, including OFC (Bjork et al 2009), and is sensitive to DA manipulations (Pine et al 2010).”

    From Food and Drug Reward: Overlapping Circuits in Human Obesity and Addiction (2011) · cites this paper as Gregorios-Pippas et al 2009

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Authors
Gregorios-Pippas, L., Tobler, P. N., & Schultz, W.
Affiliations
University of Cambridge (GB)
Venue
Journal of Neurophysiology
Published
2009-03
Volume
101
Issue
3
Pages
1507-1523
ISSN
  • 0022-3077 (ISSN-L)
  • 1522-1598
OpenAlex
W2118422131
Cited by
101
References
76
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 11
FWCI
5.81
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Neurophysiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
Funders
Wellcome Trust (095495)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
Keywords
delay discounting, ventral striatum, delayed rewards, reward valuation, hyperbolic discounting, exponential discounting, monetary rewards, reward prediction, dopaminergic input, orbitofrontal cortex
MeSH terms
Adult, Basal Ganglia, Choice Behavior, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Motivation, Oxygen, Predictive Value of Tests, Psychometrics, Reaction Time, Regression Analysis, Reinforcement Schedule, Reward, Time Factors, Time Perception, Young Adult

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