title: Brain structural substrates of reward dependence during behavioral performance.
abstract: Interindividual differences in the effects of reward on performance are prevalent and poorly understood, with some individuals being more dependent than others on the rewarding outcomes of their actions. The origin of this variability in reward dependence is unknown. Here, we tested the relationship between reward dependence and brain structure in healthy humans. Subjects trained on a visuomotor skill-acquisition task and received performance feedback in the presence or absence of reward. Reward dependence was defined as the statistical trial-by-trial relation between reward and subsequent performance. We report a significant relationship between reward dependence and the lateral prefrontal cortex, where regional gray-matter volume predicted reward dependence but not feedback alone. Multivoxel pattern analysis confirmed the anatomical specificity of this relationship. These results identified a likely anatomical marker for the prospective influence of reward on performance, which may be of relevance in neurorehabilitative settings.
authors.affiliation: Human Cortical Physiology and Neurorehabilitation Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and dayane@ninds.nih.gov cohenl@ninds.nih.gov.
authors.forename: Eran
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dayan
authors.affiliation: Human Cortical Physiology and Neurorehabilitation Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Janne M
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6614-4205
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hamann
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, and.
authors.forename: Bruno B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Averbeck
authors.affiliation: Human Cortical Physiology and Neurorehabilitation Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and dayane@ninds.nih.gov cohenl@ninds.nih.gov.
authors.forename: Leonardo G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001519:Behavior; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012201:Reward; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: brain structure; motivation; prefrontal cortex; reward