Previous research, involving monetary rewards, found that limbic reward-related
areas show greater activity when an intertemporal choice includes
an immediate reward than when the options include only delayed rewards.
In contrast, the lateral prefrontal and parietal cortex (areas commonly
associated with deliberative cognitive processes, including future
planning) respond to intertemporal choices in general but do not
exhibit sensitivity to immediacy (McClure et al., 2004). The current
experiments extend these findings to primary rewards (fruit juice
or water) and time delays of minutes instead of weeks. Thirsty subjects
choose between small volumes of drinks delivered at precise times
during the experiment (e.g., 2 ml now vs 3 ml in 5 min). Consistent
with previous findings, limbic activation was greater for choices
between an immediate reward and a delayed reward than for choices
between two delayed rewards, whereas the lateral prefrontal cortex
and posterior parietal cortex responded similarly whether choices
were between an immediate and a delayed reward or between two delayed
rewards. Moreover, relative activation of the two sets of brain regions
predicts actual choice behavior. A second experiment finds that when
the delivery of all rewards is offset by 10 min (so that the earliest
available juice reward in any choice is 10 min), no differential
activity is observed in limbic reward-related areas for choices involving
the earliest versus only more delayed rewards. We discuss implications
of this finding for differences between primary and secondary rewards.
Center for the Study of Brain, Mind, and Behavior and Department
of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08540,
USA. smcclure@princeton.edu
%0 Journal Article
%1 McClure2007
%A McClure, Samuel M
%A Ericson, Keith M
%A Laibson, David I
%A Loewenstein, George
%A Cohen, Jonathan D
%D 2007
%J Journal of Neuroscience
%K Behavior; Cerebral Choice Cortex; Factors Female; Humans; Male; Reward; Time
%N 21
%P 5796--5804
%T Time discounting for primary rewards.
%V 27
%X Previous research, involving monetary rewards, found that limbic reward-related
areas show greater activity when an intertemporal choice includes
an immediate reward than when the options include only delayed rewards.
In contrast, the lateral prefrontal and parietal cortex (areas commonly
associated with deliberative cognitive processes, including future
planning) respond to intertemporal choices in general but do not
exhibit sensitivity to immediacy (McClure et al., 2004). The current
experiments extend these findings to primary rewards (fruit juice
or water) and time delays of minutes instead of weeks. Thirsty subjects
choose between small volumes of drinks delivered at precise times
during the experiment (e.g., 2 ml now vs 3 ml in 5 min). Consistent
with previous findings, limbic activation was greater for choices
between an immediate reward and a delayed reward than for choices
between two delayed rewards, whereas the lateral prefrontal cortex
and posterior parietal cortex responded similarly whether choices
were between an immediate and a delayed reward or between two delayed
rewards. Moreover, relative activation of the two sets of brain regions
predicts actual choice behavior. A second experiment finds that when
the delivery of all rewards is offset by 10 min (so that the earliest
available juice reward in any choice is 10 min), no differential
activity is observed in limbic reward-related areas for choices involving
the earliest versus only more delayed rewards. We discuss implications
of this finding for differences between primary and secondary rewards.
@article{McClure2007,
abstract = {Previous research, involving monetary rewards, found that limbic reward-related
areas show greater activity when an intertemporal choice includes
an immediate reward than when the options include only delayed rewards.
In contrast, the lateral prefrontal and parietal cortex (areas commonly
associated with deliberative cognitive processes, including future
planning) respond to intertemporal choices in general but do not
exhibit sensitivity to immediacy (McClure et al., 2004). The current
experiments extend these findings to primary rewards (fruit juice
or water) and time delays of minutes instead of weeks. Thirsty subjects
choose between small volumes of drinks delivered at precise times
during the experiment (e.g., 2 ml now vs 3 ml in 5 min). Consistent
with previous findings, limbic activation was greater for choices
between an immediate reward and a delayed reward than for choices
between two delayed rewards, whereas the lateral prefrontal cortex
and posterior parietal cortex responded similarly whether choices
were between an immediate and a delayed reward or between two delayed
rewards. Moreover, relative activation of the two sets of brain regions
predicts actual choice behavior. A second experiment finds that when
the delivery of all rewards is offset by 10 min (so that the earliest
available juice reward in any choice is 10 min), no differential
activity is observed in limbic reward-related areas for choices involving
the earliest versus only more delayed rewards. We discuss implications
of this finding for differences between primary and secondary rewards.},
added-at = {2009-10-13T14:06:45.000+0200},
author = {McClure, Samuel M and Ericson, Keith M and Laibson, David I and Loewenstein, George and Cohen, Jonathan D},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/213c0ef2fed8d5a898c85149deb2d35e8/schultem},
institution = {Center for the Study of Brain, Mind, and Behavior and Department
of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08540,
USA. smcclure@princeton.edu},
interhash = {c3239fc094e9d09549f27555eb66fa71},
intrahash = {13c0ef2fed8d5a898c85149deb2d35e8},
journal = {Journal of Neuroscience},
keywords = {Behavior; Cerebral Choice Cortex; Factors Female; Humans; Male; Reward; Time},
number = 21,
owner = {Michael},
pages = {5796--5804},
pii = {27/21/5796},
pmid = {17522323},
timestamp = {2009-10-13T14:06:53.000+0200},
title = {Time discounting for primary rewards.},
volume = 27,
year = 2007
}