Working-memory training: effects on delay discounting in male Long Evans rats

Abstract

Delay discounting describes the devaluation of a reward as the delay to the receipt of the reward increases. Because steep delay discounting is robustly correlated with a number of behavioral problems (e.g., substance dependence, gambling) and some evidence suggests steep discounting precedes and predicts drug-taking in humans and rats, this study sought to experimentally reduce rats' delay discounting. Human stimulant-dependent participants given working-memory training reportedly decreased their rates of discounting relative to a sham-training group (Bickel, Yi, Landes, Hill, & Baxter, 2011). To evaluate the cross-species generality of this effect, 38 male Long-Evans rats, matched on pretraining delay-discounting rates, were randomly assigned to receive 140 sessions of working-memory training or sham training (which required no memory of the sample stimulus). Large between-group differences in working memory were observed after training; however, posttraining delay-discounting rates were undifferentiated across groups. Potential explanations for these findings are discussed.

Keywords: competing neurobehavioral decisions systems theory; delay discounting; executive function; impulsivity; lever press; rats; working-memory training.