Grant Number:	5R01CA170297-04 Interpret this number
Primary Investigator:	Lerman, Caryn
Organization:	University Of Pennsylvania
Project Title:	Retraining Neurocognitive Mechanisms of Cancer Risk Behavior (PQ4)
Fiscal Year:	2015

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This study addresses the provocative question: Why don't more people alter behaviors known to increase cancer risk? (PQ4). Emerging work in behavioral economics has shed light on the critical role of reward-based decision-making processes in health risk behavior. In parallel, research in cognitive neuroscience has clarified the central role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (DLPFC) in cognitive control during decision-making. Thus, we propose to integrate these lines of research and advance the science of behavior change by testing whether enhancement of DLPFC function via neurocognitive training improves decision-making processes that contribute to risk behavior. Young adults (ages 18-30; n=150) will participate in a five-week web-based neurocognitive training program or a cognitive stimulation (control) condition, based on random assignment. The evidence-based neurocognitive training focuses on enhancement of targeted cognitive processes to facilitate self-control and goal-directed behavior: sustained attention, working memory, and response inhibition. This intervention, shown to be highly effective for cognitive remediation in neuropsychiatric illness, has been adapted as a web-based tool for the proposed study to enhance cognitive function in healthy subjects. Importantly, our pilot data support the feasibility, high levels of compliance, and beneficial effects on neurocognitive performance. Our primary aim is to evaluate effects of neurocognitive training on neural activity and decision-making behavior. Our secondary aim is to examine the neurobehavioral mechanisms that mediate effects of neurocognitive training, including changes in executive cognitive function. Changes in decision-making processes and neural activity associated with neurocognitive training will be assessed at baseline and post-training by acquiring functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while participants perform reward-based decision-making tasks, specifically delay discounting and risk sensitivity. Cognitive performance will be assessed at these time points using a validated battery of tasks, in order to examine mediation effects. A three-month follow-up assessment will test the durability of the effects of neurocognitive training beyond the training period. Thus, this application breaks new scientific ground by applying novel concepts and tools from the field of cognitive neuroscience to accelerate the study of basic mechanisms of behavior change. These data will inform the development of novel and more comprehensive interventions for behavior change (e.g., combining neurocognitive training with existing behavioral interventions). As a basic mechanism study, the knowledge generated will be relevant to multiple health risk behaviors, enabling a potentially broad impact on cancer prevention.




A structural MRI marker predicts individual differences in impulsivity and classifies patients with behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia from matched controls.
Authors: Godefroy V. , Durand A. , Simon M.C. , Weber B. , Kable J. , Lerman C. , Bergström F. , Levy R. , Batrancourt B. , Schmidt L. , et al. .
Source: Biorxiv : The Preprint Server For Biology, 2024-09-16 00:00:00.0; , .
EPub date: 2024-09-16 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 39345385
Related Citations

Multivariate analysis of multimodal brain structure predicts individual differences in risk and intertemporal preference.
Authors: Bergström F. , Schu G. , Lee S. , Lerman C. , Kable J.W. .
Source: Biorxiv : The Preprint Server For Biology, 2024-07-08 00:00:00.0; , .
EPub date: 2024-07-08 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 39026787
Related Citations

Less cortical complexity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex is associated with a greater preference for risky and immediate rewards.
Authors: Bergström F. , Lerman C. , Kable J.W. .
Source: Biorxiv : The Preprint Server For Biology, 2023-09-13 00:00:00.0; , .
EPub date: 2023-09-13 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 37745594
Related Citations

An fMRI-Based Brain Marker of Individual Differences in Delay Discounting.
Authors: Koban L. , Lee S. , Schelski D.S. , Simon M.C. , Lerman C. , Weber B. , Kable J.W. , Plassmann H. .
Source: The Journal Of Neuroscience : The Official Journal Of The Society For Neuroscience, 2023-03-01 00:00:00.0; 43(9), p. 1600-1613.
EPub date: 2023-01-19 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 36657973
Related Citations

A neural signature of the vividness of prospective thought is modulated by temporal proximity during intertemporal decision making.
Authors: Lee S. , Parthasarathi T. , Cooper N. , Zauberman G. , Lerman C. , Kable J.W. .
Source: Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America, 2022 Nov; 119(44), p. e2214072119.
EPub date: 2022-10-24 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 36279433
Related Citations

A neural signature of the vividness of prospective thought is modulated by temporal proximity during intertemporal decision making.
Authors: Lee S. , Parthasarathi T. , Cooper N. , Zauberman G. , Lerman C. , Kable J.W. .
Source: Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America, 2022 Nov; 119(44), p. e2214072119.
EPub date: 2022-10-24 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 36279433
Related Citations

Fast construction of interpretable whole-brain decoders.
Authors: Lee S. , Bradlow E.T. , Kable J.W. .
Source: Cell Reports Methods, 2022-06-20 00:00:00.0; 2(6), p. 100227.
EPub date: 2022-06-06 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 35784649
Related Citations

Subjective value, not a gridlike code, describes neural activity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex during value-based decision-making.
Authors: Lee S. , Yu L.Q. , Lerman C. , Kable J.W. .
Source: Neuroimage, 2021-08-15 00:00:00.0; 237, p. 118159.
EPub date: 2021-05-12 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 33991700
Related Citations

Reward and punishment reversal-learning in major depressive disorder.
Authors: Mukherjee D. , Filipowicz A.L.S. , Vo K. , Satterthwaite T.D. , Kable J.W. .
Source: Journal Of Abnormal Psychology, 2020-10-01 00:00:00.0; , .
EPub date: 2020-10-01 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 33001663
Related Citations

Flexible Utility Function Approximation via Cubic Bezier Splines.
Authors: Lee S. , Glaze C.M. , Bradlow E.T. , Kable J.W. .
Source: Psychometrika, 2020-09-26 00:00:00.0; , .
EPub date: 2020-09-26 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 32979183
Related Citations

Amygdala Functional and Structural Connectivity Predicts Individual Risk Tolerance.
Authors: Jung W.H. , Lee S. , Lerman C. , Kable J.W. .
Source: Neuron, 2018-03-28 00:00:00.0; , .
EPub date: 2018-03-28 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 29628186
Related Citations

No Effect of Commercial Cognitive Training on Brain Activity, Choice Behavior, or Cognitive Performance.
Authors: Kable J.W. , Caulfield M.K. , Falcone M. , McConnell M. , Bernardo L. , Parthasarathi T. , Cooper N. , Ashare R. , Audrain-McGovern J. , Hornik R. , et al. .
Source: The Journal Of Neuroscience : The Official Journal Of The Society For Neuroscience, 2017-08-02 00:00:00.0; 37(31), p. 7390-7402.
EPub date: 2017-07-10 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 28694338
Related Citations