Reactive Risk-Taking: Anxiety Regulation Via Approach Motivation Increases Risk-Taking Behavior

Neural rhythms of narcissism: Facets of narcissism are associated with different neural sources in resting-state EEG

Trait narcissism is characterized by significant heterogeneity across individuals. Despite advances in the conceptualization of narcissism, including the increasing recognition that narcissism is a multidimensional construct, the sources of this heterogeneity remain poorly understood. Here, we used a neural trait approach to help better understand "how," and shed light on "why," individuals vary in facets of trait narcissism. Participants (N = 58) first completed personality measures, including the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), and then in a second session sat passively while resting-state electroencephalography (rs-EEG) was recorded. We then regressed source-localized rs-EEG activity on the distinct facets of narcissism: Grandiose Exhibitionism (GE), Entitlement/Exploitativeness (EE), and Leadership/Authority (LA). Results revealed that each facet was associated with different (though sometimes overlapping) neural sources. Specifically, GE was associated with reduced activation in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC). EE was associated with reduced activation in the DMPFC and right lateral PFC. LA was associated with increased activation in the left anterior temporal cortex. These findings support the idea that trait narcissism is a multidimensional construct undergirded by individual differences in neural regions related to social cognition (the DMPFC), self-regulation (right lateral PFC), and self-referential processing (left anterior temporal cortex).

Religiosity, Financial Risk Taking, and Reward Processing: An Experimental Study

The present study investigated the extent to which financial risk-taking (FRT) perspectives and religiosity influenced an individual's performance on financial decision-making tasks under risk and/or uncertainty. It further investigated the potential to measure this interaction using electro-encephalogram (EEG) assessments through reward-related event-related potentials (P3 and FRN). EEG data were collected from 37 participants undergoing four decision-making tasks comprising the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), Iowa Gambling Test (IGT), Mixed-Gamble Loss-Aversion Task (MGLAT), and MGLA-Success Task (MGLAST). The present study found that BART performance may be affected by an interaction of FRT perspectives and religiosity. The physiological effects of task feedback were also distinguished between religious and non-religious individuals objectively with EEG data. Overall, while religiosity and FRT may not significantly influence IGT and MGLA performance, and interact with BART in a complex way, physiological reaction towards feedback after BART performance appears to be strongly affected by religiosity and FRT perspectives.

Adaptations of the balloon analog risk task for neuroimaging settings: a systematic review

Introduction

The Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART), a computerized behavioral paradigm, is one of the most common tools used to assess the risk-taking propensity of an individual. Since its initial behavioral version, the BART has been adapted to neuroimaging technique to explore brain networks of risk-taking behavior. However, while there are a variety of paradigms adapted to neuroimaging to date, no consensus has been reached on the best paradigm with the appropriate parameters to study the brain during risk-taking assessed by the BART. In this review of the literature, we aimed to identify the most appropriate BART parameters to adapt the initial paradigm to neuroimaging and increase the reliability of this tool.

Methods

A systematic review focused on the BART versions adapted to neuroimaging was performed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines.

Results

A total of 105 articles with 6,879 subjects identified from the PubMed database met the inclusion criteria. The BART was adapted in four neuroimaging techniques, mostly in functional magnetic resonance imaging or electroencephalography settings.

Discussion

First, to adapt the BART to neuroimaging, a delay was included between each trial, the total number of inflations was reduced between 12 and 30 pumps, and the number of trials was increased between 80 and 100 balloons, enabling us to respect the recording constraints of neuroimaging. Second, explicit feedback about the balloon burst limited the decisions under ambiguity associated with the first trials. Third, employing an outcome index that provides more informative measures than the standard average pump score, along with a model incorporating an exponential monotonic increase in explosion probability and a maximum explosion probability between 50 and 75%, can yield a reliable estimation of risk profile. Additionally, enhancing participant motivation can be achieved by increasing the reward in line with the risk level and implementing payment based on their performance in the BART. Although there is no universal adaptation of the BART to neuroimaging, and depending on the objectives of a study, an adjustment of parameters optimizes its evaluation and clinical utility in assessing risk-taking.

Anxiety disrupts performance monitoring: integrating behavioral, event-related potential, EEG microstate, and sLORETA evidence

Anxiety impacts performance monitoring, though theory and past research are split on how and for whom. However, past research has often examined either trait anxiety in isolation or task-dependent state anxiety and has indexed event-related potential components, such as the error-related negativity or post-error positivity (Pe), calculated at a single node during a limited window of time. We introduced 2 key novelties to this electroencephalography research to examine the link between anxiety and performance monitoring: (i) we manipulated antecedent, task-independent, state anxiety to better establish the causal effect; (ii) we conducted moderation analyses to determine how state and trait anxiety interact to impact performance monitoring processes. Additionally, we extended upon previous work by using a microstate analysis approach to isolate and sequence the neural networks and rapid mental processes in response to error commission. Results showed that state anxiety disrupts response accuracy in the Stroop task and error-related neural processes, primarily during a Pe-related microstate. Source localization shows that this disruption involves reduced activation in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and compensatory activation in the right lateral prefrontal cortex, particularly among people high in trait anxiety. We conclude that antecedent anxiety is largely disruptive to performance monitoring.