The date/delay effect in intertemporal choice: A combined fMRI and eye‐tracking study

Human Brain Mapping · 6 authors, 5 centres

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TL;DR

This study used fMRI and eye-tracking to investigate why people discount future rewards less when the time is presented as a specific date versus a delay.

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The study combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and eye-tracking to investigate the neural and cognitive mechanisms of the date/delay effect in intertemporal choice. Behavioral results replicated the effect, with lower discount rates in the date condition compared to the delay condition. Eye-tracking showed higher proportions of saccades between time attributes and longer fixation durations on time attributes in the date condition. Furthermore, a higher subjective value signal was found in the ventral striatum in the delay condition. The findings support both the differential time estimation hypothesis and the choice strategy hypothesis. Limitations include a small eye-tracking sample, potential reading confounds, and the exploratory nature of the fMRI analysis. The study provides the first neuroimaging evidence for the mechanisms underlying this cognitive bias.

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other

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neurology

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ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10893971

The date/delay effect in intertemporal choice: A combined fMRI and eye‐tracking study

Human Brain Mapping

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ABSTRACT

Abstract Temporal discounting, the tendency to devalue future rewards as a function of delay until receipt, is influenced by time framing. Specifically, discount rates are shallower when the time at which the reward is received is presented as a date (date condition; e.g., June 8, 2023) rather than in delay units (delay condition; e.g., 30 days), which is commonly referred to as the date/delay effect. However, the cognitive and neural mechanisms of this effect are not well understood. Here, we examined the date/delay effect by analysing combined fMRI and eye‐tracking data of N = 31 participants completing a temporal discounting task in both a delay and a date condition. The results confirmed the date/delay effect and revealed that the date condition led to higher fixation durations on time attributes and to higher activity in precuneus/PCC and angular gyrus, that is, areas previously associated with episodic thinking. Additionally, participants made more comparative eye movements in the date compared to the delay condition. A lower date/delay effect was associated with higher prefrontal activity in the date > delay contrast, suggesting that higher control or arithmetic operations may reduce the date/delay effect. Our findings are in line with hypotheses positing that the date condition is associated with differential time estimation and the use of more comparative as opposed to integrative choice strategies. Specifically, higher activity in memory‐related brain areas suggests that the date condition leads to higher perceived proximity of delayed rewards, while higher frontal activity (middle/superior frontal gyrus, posterior medial frontal cortex, cingulate) in participants with a lower date/delay effect suggests that the effect is particularly pronounced in participants avoiding complex arithmetic operations in the date condition. Keywords: date/delay effect, episodic thinking, eye‐tracking, fMRI, precuneus, temporal discounting

CITATION EXPORT

Kristof Keidel, Rebekka Schröder, Peter Trautner et al.. The date/delay effect in intertemporal choice: A combined fMRI and eye‐tracking study. Human Brain Mapping. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.26585

AUTHORS

6 · 5 CENTRES

Kristof Keidel, Rebekka Schröder, Peter Trautner, Alexander Radbruch, Carsten Murawski, Ulrich Ettinger

1 Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
2 Department of Finance, Centre for Brain, Mind and Markets, The University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria, Australia
3 Core Facility Human 3T MRI, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
4 Clinic of Neuroradiology, University Hospital, Bonn, Germany
5 Clinical Neuroimaging, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany