Time-domain and time-frequency analysis of the neural response to
monetary and social reward: Examination of domain-general,
domain-specific, and task effects
Abstract
Reward-related brain activity has most often been examined during
monetary reward paradigms, but it has also been examined in response to
other types of reward (e.g., social reward) that often necessitate
modifications to procedure and task design. It is important to
investigate whether task factors impact the ability to assess the neural
response common across different types of reward (i.e., domain-general)
and specific to each type of reward (i.e., domain-specific). The present
study involved a sample of 303 18-year-olds (49.5% female) who
completed the Monetary Doors task and two social tasks: Social Reward,
which was designed to be analogous to Monetary Doors, and Island
Getaway, which differed procedurally from the other two tasks. Using
electroencephalography to measure the time-domain reward positivity
(RewP) and time-frequency delta and theta activity, we found that all
three tasks elicited a RewP and greater delta activity to favorable
outcomes (i.e., monetary win, social like/acceptance), and greater theta
activity to unfavorable outcomes (i.e., monetary loss, social
dislike/rejection). The RewP was positively correlated across all three
tasks, indicating the ability to measure domain-general neural response,
but the neural responses during Monetary Doors and Social Reward were
more strongly correlated compared to the other task pairwise
correlations for the RewP and delta activity. The present study suggests
that different monetary and social reward tasks can elicit both
domain-general and domain-specific brain activity but are influenced by
task design. Recommendations are made regarding factors to consider when
attempting to examine domain-general and domain-specific neural response
to reward.