Neural Markers of Reward Valuation and Impulsive Decision-Making in Mania Risk.

Elevated reward-expectancy–linked activation in left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and pre-supplementary motor area is positively associated with mania or hypomania risk in adults at risk.

• Why it matters: Reward hypersensitivity and impulsive decision-making are linked to mania risk, but it is unclear whether the same neural signals reflect shared or distinct pathways, and how depression severity shapes these links.
• What they did: In two cross-sectional fMRI samples (142 discovery, 86 replication), adults completed a reward task and a 27-Item Monetary Choice Questionnaire delay discounting measure; regression tested associations with Mood Spectrum Self-Report-Lifetime mania score and moderation by depression severity.
• The result: Both regions showed positive mania or hypomania risk associations (discovery: L-vlPFC β=0.544; pre-SMA β=0.496; replication: L-vlPFC β=0.503; pre-SMA β=0.684). Delay discounting was dissociable in discovery (L-vlPFC lower discounting β=-0.305; pre-SMA higher discounting β=0.521), with the L-vlPFC effect replicating (β=-0.704). A pre-SMA activation × depression severity interaction emerged in replication (β=-0.427), attenuating the pre-SMA–higher discounting link.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.