Data_Sheet_1_Reduced Hedonic Valuation of Rewards and Unaffected Cognitive Regulation in Chronic Stress.PDF

Cognition can influence choices by modulation of decision-making processes. This cognitive regulation is defined as processing information, applying knowledge, and changing preferences to consciously modulate decisions. While cognitive regulation of emotions has been extensively studied in psychiatry, few works have detailed cognitive regulation of decision-making. Stress may influence emotional behavior, cognition, and decision-making. In addition, the brain regions responsible for decision-making are sensitive to stress-induced changes. Thus, we hypothesize that chronic stress may disrupt the ability to regulate choices. Herein, we used a functional magnetic resonance imaging task where fourteen control and fifteen chronically stressed students had to cognitively upregulate or downregulate their craving before placing a bid to obtain food. We found that stressed participants placed lower bids to get the reward and chose less frequently higher bid values for food. Nevertheless, we did not find neural and behavioral differences during cognitive regulation of craving. Our outcomes revealed that chronic stress impacts decision-making after cognitive regulation of craving by reducing the valuation of food rewards but not cognitive modulation itself. Importantly, our results need further validation with larger sample sizes.

认知可通过调节决策过程来影响选择。此类认知调节（cognitive regulation）被定义为加工信息、运用知识并改变偏好，以有意识地调控决策行为。尽管情绪的认知调节在精神病学领域已得到广泛研究，但针对决策的认知调节的系统性细致探讨仍较为稀缺。压力可影响情绪行为、认知功能与决策过程，此外，负责决策的脑区对压力诱导的神经变化极为敏感。据此我们提出假设：慢性压力可能会损害个体调控选择的能力。
本研究采用功能磁共振成像（functional magnetic resonance imaging）任务，招募14名健康对照学生与15名慢性应激学生，要求其在出价竞拍获取食物前，对自身的食物渴求进行认知上调或下调调节。研究结果显示，应激组参与者的食物奖励竞价更低，且更少选择较高额度的竞价方案。然而，我们并未在渴求的认知调节过程中观测到神经与行为层面的显著差异。
本研究结果表明，慢性压力会通过降低个体对食物奖励的价值评估，而非破坏认知调节本身的机制，来干扰决策过程。值得注意的是，本研究结论尚需更大样本量的实验进一步验证。