Reward processing and intertemporal decision making in adults and adolescents: The role of impulsivity and decision consistency

Several studies report differences between adults and adolescents in reward processing and impulsivity. Consistently, adolescents are more impulsive in their decision making, as measured by intertemporal choice tasks. Since impulsivity affects an individual’s perception and neural processing of rewards, it is unclear whether previously reported differences in brain activation between adults and adolescents are primarily due to maturation of the brain reward system or differences in impulsivity (i.e. discounting behaviour). To disentangle this, we analysed data from 235 adolescents and 29 adults who performed an intertemporal choice task in which monetary rewards were adapted to individual impulsivity. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we measured brain activity and assessed impulsivity and consistency of choices at the behavioural level. Although adolescents discounted delayed rewards more steeply than adults, when controlling for impulsivity, neural processing of reward value did not differ between groups. However, more impulsive subjects showed a lower brain response to delayed rewards, independent of age. Concerning decision making, adolescents exhibited a lower consistency of choices and less brain activity in the parietal network than adults.We conclude that processing of the value of prospective delayed rewards is more sensitive to discounting behaviour than to chronological age. Lower consistency of intertemporal choices might indicate ongoing maturation of parietal brain areas in adolescents.

► Decision processing and reward value processing occur in different brain networks.
► Adults and adolescents differ in decision processing but not in reward value processing, if rewards are adapted to their impulsivity level.
► A higher degree of impulsivity is related to hyposensitivity in ventral striatum in both groups.
► Choice consistency is higher in adults compared to adolescents and related to maturation in the fronto-parietal network.