Research On Brain Mechanism Of Inter-temporal Choice Under Gain And Loss Condition Based On EEG

Inter-temporal choices refer to decision-making that takes place at different points in time, so that individuals weigh the costs and benefits, and then make various judgments and choices. Many people’s decisions will be involved in the time dimension, such as the problem of how individuals choose the retirement savings. In addition, in the formulation of various community organizations’ or national public policies, these issues also involve the effects of the time dimension to the decision making. In terms of mental health, the study of inter-temporal choices has important theoretical value to investigate a series of real-life behavioral disorders and psychological causes of mental illness, such as addiction, drug abuse behavior, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, etc. From the practical sense, the inter-temporal decision making researches can encourage people to make more rational decisions, promote the resolution of individual education, diet, health, marriage and birth, retirement savings, investment as well as national macro-economic regulation and control and the problem of sustainable development.Previous studies have focused on the discussion of the inter-temporal choice under the gain framework, and there are few studies to research the inter-temporal choice under the loss framework. Based on this, in this study we use three experiments to explore the behavior differences and neural basis of inter-temporal choice under gain and loss framework. Experiment 1 explored the differences of chosen rate and reaction time of soon/small(SS) choice and long/large(LL) choice from the behavioral perspective. With the help of ERP technology, experiment 2 studied the brain processes and characteristics of inter-temporal choice under gain and loss framework from the neural perspective. Experiment 3 introduced the concepts of complex networks and functional connectivity, and tried to investigate the differences of brain network under gain and loss framework.Results:(1) In experiment 1, compared to gain condition, we find that subjects are more likely to choose soon/small option in loss condition, and for reaction time, subjects need more time to make decisions in loss condition. These results are consistent with previous results, confirming that there are differences in behavior between gain condition and loss condition.(2) The ERP results show that loss condition can induce larger amplitude of waveforms, and the appearance of P2 and N3 shows negative stimulus’ effects on subjects’ attention, which subjects will put more attention to negative stimulus.(3) In experiment 3, there are significant differences in brain network between gain and loss condition, the hubs are different for two conditions. These results show the neural process mechanisms of inter-temporal choice from another perspective.