Article Dans Une Revue Communications Biology Année : 2026

Mapping the brain atrophy mediating increased impatience for reward in frontotemporal dementia

Résumé

Choices involving trade-offs between larger later (LL) and smaller sooner (SS) rewards—known as intertemporal preferences—are altered in many psychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions, leading to a preference for immediate rewards. Behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), a neurodegenerative disorder characterised by high impulsivity and atrophies in brain systems relevant for decision-making, provides a neuropathological model to investigate structural networks linked to higher impatience for reward. We studied 22 bvFTD patients and 17 controls, using two intertemporal choice (ITC) tasks involving (1) monetary and (2) food rewards. We compared outcomes of these tasks (discount rate and sensitivity to LL reward amounts) between groups and examined correlations with bvFTD symptoms. We applied whole-brain mediation analysis to participants’ structural MRI data to identify neural mediators of higher impatience for reward in bvFTD. BvFTD patients showed higher discount rates and lower sensitivity to LL reward for both money and food. These ITC outcomes for money (but not food) were related to inhibition deficits and lower executive functions among patients. Reduced grey matter density in the medial pulvinar and parahippocampal cortex mediated bvFTD’s alteration of ITC outcomes. Lesions of these structures involved in emotional salience and projection may constitute neural markers of impatience for reward.

Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
Godefroy_etal2026_CommsBiol.pdf (1.61 Mo) Télécharger le fichier
Origine Fichiers éditeurs autorisés sur une archive ouverte
Licence

Dates et versions

hal-05530277 , version 1 (27-02-2026)

Licence

Identifiants

Citer

Valérie Godefroy, Anaïs Durand, Richard Levy, Bénédicte Batrancourt, Liane Schmidt, et al.. Mapping the brain atrophy mediating increased impatience for reward in frontotemporal dementia. Communications Biology, 2026, 9 (1), pp.172. ⟨10.1038/s42003-025-09450-5⟩. ⟨hal-05530277⟩
133 Consultations
40 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

  • More