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Research Articles, Behavioral/Cognitive

Beta-blocker propranolol modulates decision urgency during sequential information gathering

Tobias U. Hauser, Michael Moutoussis, Nina Purg, Peter Dayan and Raymond J. Dolan
Journal of Neuroscience 13 July 2018, 0192-18; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0192-18.2018
Tobias U. Hauser
Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, United Kingdom.Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom.
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Michael Moutoussis
Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, United Kingdom.Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom.
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Nina Purg
Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, United Kingdom.
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Peter Dayan
Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London, London W1T 4JG, United Kingdom.
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Raymond J. Dolan
Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, United Kingdom.Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom.
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Abstract

Arbitrating between timely choice and extended information gathering is critical for effective decision making. Aberrant information gathering behaviour is thought to be a feature of psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder, but we know little about the underlying neurocognitive control mechanisms. In a double-blind placebo-controlled drug study involving 60 healthy human subjects (30 female), we examined the effects of noradrenaline and dopamine antagonism on information gathering during performance of an information sampling task. We show that modulating noradrenaline function with 40 mg of the beta-blocker propranolol leads to decreased information gathering behaviour. Modulating dopamine function via a single dose of 400 mg amisulpride revealed some effects that were intermediate between those of propranolol and placebo. Using a Bayesian computational model, we show sampling behaviour is best explained by inclusion of a nonlinear urgency signal that promotes commitment to an early decision. Noradrenaline blockade promotes the expression of this decision-related urgency signal during information gathering. We discuss the findings with respect to psychopathological conditions that are linked to aberrant information gathering.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT

Knowing when to stop gathering information and commit to a choice option is non-trivial. This is an important element in arbitrating between information gain and energy conservation. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled drug study, we investigated the role of catecholamines noradrenaline and dopamine on sequential information gathering. We found that blockade of noradrenaline led to a decrease in information gathering. Dopamine blockade showed an intermediate, but non-significant, effect. Using a Bayesian computational model, we show that this noradrenaline effect is driven by an increased decision urgency, a signal that reflects an escalating subjective cost of sampling. The observation that noradrenaline modulates decision urgency suggests new avenues for treating patients that show information gathering deficits.

Footnotes

  • The authors declare no competing financial interests.

  • The Wellcome Trust's Cambridge-UCL Mental Health and Neurosciences Network grant (095844/Z/11/Z) supported RJD, TUH and MM. TUH is supported by the Jacobs Foundation. RJD holds a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award (098362/Z/12/Z). MM was also supported by the Biomedical Research Council. PD was supported by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation. The Max Planck UCL Centre is a joint initiative supported by UCL and the Max Planck Society. The Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging is supported by core funding from the Wellcome Trust (091593/Z/10/Z).

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly attributed.

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Beta-blocker propranolol modulates decision urgency during sequential information gathering
Tobias U. Hauser, Michael Moutoussis, Nina Purg, Peter Dayan, Raymond J. Dolan
Journal of Neuroscience 13 July 2018, 0192-18; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0192-18.2018

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Beta-blocker propranolol modulates decision urgency during sequential information gathering
Tobias U. Hauser, Michael Moutoussis, Nina Purg, Peter Dayan, Raymond J. Dolan
Journal of Neuroscience 13 July 2018, 0192-18; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0192-18.2018
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JNeurosci   Print ISSN: 0270-6474   Online ISSN: 1529-2401