Cited by 300Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorDecision-Making and Behavioral Economics

Immediate Reward Bias in Humans: Fronto-Parietal Networks and a Role for the Catechol-O-Methyltransferase 158Val/ValGenotype

Open access
Boettiger, Charlotte A., Mitchell, Jennifer M., Tavares, Venessa C., Robertson, Margaret, Joslyn, Geoff, D'Esposito, Mark, Fields, Howard L.·2007·The Journal of Neuroscience

Abstract

The tendency to choose lesser immediate benefits over greater long-term benefits characterizes alcoholism and other addictive disorders. However, despite its medical and socioeconomic importance, little is known about its neurobiological mechanisms. Brain regions that are activated when deciding between immediate or delayed rewards have been identified (McClure et al., 2004, 2007), as have areas in which responses to reward stimuli predict a paper-and-pencil measure of temporal discounting (Hariri et al., 2006). These studies assume "hot" and "cool" response selection systems, with the hot system proposed to generate impulsive choices in the presence of a proximate reward. However, to date, brain regions in which the magnitude of activity during decision making reliably predicts intertemporal choice behavior have not been identified. Here we address this question in sober alcoholics and non-substance-abusing control subjects and show that immediate reward bias directly scales with the magnitude of functional magnetic resonance imaging bold oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal during decision making at sites within the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), dorsal prefrontal cortex (dPFC), and rostral parahippocampal gyrus regions. Conversely, the tendency of an individual to wait for a larger, delayed reward correlates directly with BOLD signal in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex. In addition, genotype at the Val158Met polymorphism of the catechol-O-methyltransferase gene predicts both impulsive choice behavior and activity levels in the dPFC and PPC during decision making. These genotype effects remained significant after controlling for alcohol abuse history. These results shed new light on the neurobiological underpinnings of temporal discounting behavior and identify novel behavioral and neural consequences of genetic variation in dopamine metabolism.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1523/jneurosci.2551-07.2007

Cites

80 of 80 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Genetic variation at the Val158Met polymorphism of COMT influences decision-making behavior and brain activity associated with impulsive choice.

    “genetic variation at the Val158Met polymorphism of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene influences decision-making behavior and underlying activity in brain activity associated with impulsive choice (Boettiger et al., 2007).”

    From Impulsivity, frontal lobes and risk for addiction (2009) · cites this paper as Boettiger et al., 2007

  • Neuroimaging studies have found abnormal orbitofrontal cortex function associated with substance abuse.

    “numerous neuroimaging studies have found abnormal OFC function associated with substance abuse (Boettiger et al., 2007; Dom et al., 2005; Ersche et al., 2005; London et al., 2000; Volkow and Fowler, 2000).”

    From Impulsivity, frontal lobes and risk for addiction (2009) · cites this paper as Boettiger et al., 2007

  • Reduced orbitofrontal cortex activity during decision-making among abstinent alcoholics correlates with tendency to choose immediate over delayed rewards.

    “we have found that reduced OFC activity during decision-making among abstinent alcoholics is correlated with their tendency to choose immediate over delayed rewards (Boettiger et al., 2007)”

    From Impulsivity, frontal lobes and risk for addiction (2009) · cites this paper as Boettiger et al., 2007

  • A single study has examined the effects of COMT Val158Met in an adult sample of abstinent alcoholics and healthy participants.

    “while a single study has examined the effects of COMTVal158Met in an adult sample of abstinent alcoholics and healthy participants (Boettiger et al, 2007)”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Boettiger, C. A., Mitchell, J. M., Tavares, V. C., Robertson, M., Joslyn, G., D'Esposito, M., & Fields, H. L.
Affiliations
  • Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center (US)
  • University of California, San Francisco (US)
Venue
The Journal of Neuroscience
Published
2007-12-26
Volume
27
Issue
52
Pages
14383-14391
ISSN
  • 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
  • 1529-2401
OpenAlex
W2032471892
Cited by
300
References
80
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 34
FWCI
8.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
U.S. Department of Defense
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, intertemporal choice, impulsive decision-making, alcoholism, catechol-O-methyltransferase, COMT Val158Met polymorphism, dopamine metabolism, posterior parietal cortex, dorsal prefrontal cortex, lateral orbitofrontal cortex
MeSH terms
Adult, Alcoholism, Brain Mapping, Catechol O-Methyltransferase, Decision Making, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Nerve Net, Oxygen, Parietal Lobe, Polymorphism, Genetic, Reward, Valine, Bias, Prefrontal Cortex

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review