Neurobiological substrates of the dread of future losses

When anticipating future losses, people respond by exhibiting 1 of 2 starkly distinct behavioral decision patterns: the dread of future losses (DFL) and the preference of future losses (vs. immediate losses). Yet, how to accurately discriminate between those who exhibit dread vs. preference and uncover the potential neurobiological substrates underlying these 2 groups remain understudied. To address this, we designed a novel experimental task in which the DFL group was defined as selecting immediate-loss options >50% in the trials with approximate subjective value in immediate and delayed options (n = 16), otherwise coding as the preference of future losses (PFL). At the behavioral level, DFL exhibited higher weight for delayed losses than immediate losses via the logistic regression model. At the neural level, DFL manifested hypoactivations on subjective valuations of delayed losses, atypical brain pattern when choosing immediate-loss options, and decreased functional coupling between the valuation and choice-systems when making decisions related to immediate-loss alternatives compared with PFL. Moreover, both these brain activations subserving distinct decision processes and their interactions predicted individual decisions and behavioral preferences. Furthermore, morphological analysis also revealed decreased right precuneus volume in DFL compared with PFL, and brain activations related to valuation and choice process mediated the associations between this region volume and behavioral performances. Taken together, these findings help to clarify potential cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying the DFL and provide a clear discrimination strategy.