eprintid: 10052596
rev_number: 35
eprint_status: archive
userid: 608
dir: disk0/10/05/25/96
datestamp: 2018-07-20 14:47:44
lastmod: 2021-09-25 23:12:54
status_changed: 2018-07-20 15:05:58
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Hauser, TU
creators_name: Moutoussis, M
creators_name: Purg, N
creators_name: Dayan, P
creators_name: Dolan, RJ
title: Beta-blocker propranolol modulates decision urgency during sequential information gathering
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B02
divisions: C07
divisions: D07
divisions: F83
divisions: C08
note: 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.
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 STATEMENTKnowing 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.
date: 2018-07-13
date_type: published
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0192-18.2018
oa_status: green
full_text_type: other
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
article_type_text: Journal Article
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 1568154
doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0192-18.2018
pii: JNEUROSCI.0192-18.2018
lyricists_name: Dayan, Peter
lyricists_name: Dolan, Raymond
lyricists_name: Hauser, Tobias
lyricists_name: Moutoussis, Michael
lyricists_id: PDAYA65
lyricists_id: RJDOL46
lyricists_id: THAUS10
lyricists_id: MMOUT81
actors_name: Stacey, Thomas
actors_id: TSSTA20
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Journal of Neuroscience
event_location: United States
issn: 1529-2401
citation:        Hauser, TU;    Moutoussis, M;    Purg, N;    Dayan, P;    Dolan, RJ;      (2018)    Beta-blocker propranolol modulates decision urgency during sequential information gathering.                   Journal of Neuroscience        10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0192-18.2018 <https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0192-18.2018>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10052596/1/Hauser%20_NaDa_IST_v20_cleanVersion.pdf