Reduced Sensitivity to Future Consequences Underlies Gambling Decision in Cerebellar Ataxia

Authors

• Ruo-Yah Lai
• Eli Levy
• Christian J Amlang
• Ihika Rampalli
• Rory Mahabir
• Ming-Kai Pan
• Chi-Ying R Lin
• Sheng-Han Kuo

Language

English

Publication Date

6-15-2024

Journal

Journal of the Neurological Sciences

DOI

10.1016/j.jns.2024.123060

PMID

38810429

PMCID

PMC11166508

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

6-15-2025

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Abstract

Introduction: Previous research has identified that people with cerebellar ataxia (CA) showed impaired reward-related decision-making in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). To investigate the mechanisms underlying this impairment, we examined CA participants' combination of performance in the IGT, which predominantly tests reward seeking, and the modified IGT (mIGT), which mainly assesses punishment avoidance.

Methods: Fifty participants with CA and one hundred controls completed the IGT and mIGT. Task performance in each of the five twenty-trial blocks was compared between groups and the learning rates were assessed with simple linear regressions. Each participant's IGT score and mIGT score were compared.

Results: CA participants performed worse than controls in both the IGT and the mIGT, especially in the last block (IGT: -0.24 ± 10.05 vs. 3.88 ± 10.31, p = 0.041; mIGT: 2.72 ± 7.62 vs. 8.65 ± 8.64, p < 0.001). In contrast to the controls, those with CA did not significantly improve their scores over time in either task. Controls performed better in the mIGT than the IGT, while CA participants' scores in the two tasks showed no significant difference. IGT and mIGT performance did not correlate with ataxia severity or depressive symptoms.

Conclusion: Individuals with CA showed impaired performance in both the IGT and mIGT, which indicates disruption in both short-term reward seeking and short-term punishment avoidance. Therefore, these results suggest that reduced sensitivity to long-term consequences drives the risky decision-making in CA.

Keywords

Humans, Male, Female, Middle Aged, Cerebellar Ataxia, Decision Making, Gambling, Adult, Reward, Neuropsychological Tests, Aged, Cerebellum, Cerebellar Ataxia, Impulsivity, Gambling, Risk Taking, Decision Making

Published Open-Access

yes

Recommended Citation

Lai, Ruo-Yah; Levy, Eli; Amlang, Christian J; et al., "Reduced Sensitivity to Future Consequences Underlies Gambling Decision in Cerebellar Ataxia" (2024). Faculty, Staff and Students Publications. 7221.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/baylor_docs/7221