title: Schizophrenia and risk-taking: impaired reward but preserved punishment processing.
abstract: Risky decision-making is subserved by the frontostriatal system, which includes a network of interconnected brain regions known to be dysfunctional in patients with schizophrenia. This study aimed to investigate whether and to what extent patients with schizophrenia display a different pattern of risk-taking behavior relative to matched healthy controls. The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) and the Risky-Gains Task were used as naturalistic measures of risk-taking behavior in 25 patients with schizophrenia and 25 controls. Results of the BART revealed that patients behaved more conservatively, and this in turn led to suboptimal risky decision-making. Consistently, patients behaved more conservatively in the Risky-Gains Task. Interestingly, however, they adjusted the pattern of risk-taking following a punished trial similar to controls. These findings indicate that patients have impaired reward but preserved punishment processing. This study complements previous studies on decision-making in schizophrenia and suggests specific rather than widespread abnormalities along the frontostriatal system in schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Gordon L F
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Joey C Y
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Frendi W S
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Esther Y Y
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Tatia M C
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011678:Punishment; D012201:Reward; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology