Motivationally salient cue processing measured using the monetary incentive delay (MID) task with electroencephalography (EEG): A potential marker of apathy in Huntington's disease

Marie-Claire Davis; Aron T Hill; Paul B Fitzgerald; Julie C Stout; Kate E Hoy

doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108426

Motivationally salient cue processing measured using the monetary incentive delay (MID) task with electroencephalography (EEG): A potential marker of apathy in Huntington's disease

Neuropsychologia. 2022 Dec 15:177:108426. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108426. Epub 2022 Nov 19.

Authors

Marie-Claire Davis¹, Aron T Hill², Paul B Fitzgerald³, Julie C Stout⁴, Kate E Hoy⁵

Affiliations

¹ Central Clinical School, Department of Psychiatry, Monash University, Victoria, Australia; Statewide Progressive Neurological Disease Service, Calvary Health Care Bethlehem, Victoria, Australia. Electronic address: marie-claire.davis@monash.edu.
² Central Clinical School, Department of Psychiatry, Monash University, Victoria, Australia; Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne Burwood Campus, Burwood, Australia. Electronic address: a.hill@deakin.edu.au.
³ Central Clinical School, Department of Psychiatry, Monash University, Victoria, Australia; School of Medicine and Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia. Electronic address: paul.fitzgerald@anu.edu.au.
⁴ School of Psychological Sciences, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, 18 Innovation Walk, Clayton Campus, Wellington Road, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia. Electronic address: julie.stout@monash.edu.
⁵ Central Clinical School, Department of Psychiatry, Monash University, Victoria, Australia; The Bionics Institute of Australia, 384-388 Albert St, East Melbourne, VIC, 3002, Australia. Electronic address: kate.hoy@monash.edu.

PMID: 36414099
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108426

Abstract

We explored the utility of the Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) task with concurrent encephalography (EEG) as a marker of apathy in people with Huntington's disease (HD) as well as neurotypical controls. Specifically, we assessed between and within-group differences in the amplitude of the P300 and Contingent Negative Variation (CNV) event-related potentials as a function of motivational salience. In contrast to neurotypical controls, HD participants' ERP amplitudes were not differentially modulated by motivationally salient cues (i.e., signalling potential 'gain' or 'loss') compared to 'neutral' cues. Difference waves isolating amplitude specific to the motivationally salient cues were calculated for the P300 and CNV. Only the difference waves for ERPs elicited by 'gain' cues differentiated the groups. The CNV difference wave was also significantly correlated with clinical measures of apathy and processing speed in the HD group. These findings provide initial support for the use of the MID with EEG as a marker of apathy in HD, and its potential as a sensitive outcome measure for novel treatment development.

Keywords: Apathy; Contingent negative variation (CNV); Motivation; P300; Processing speed.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Apathy*
Cues
Electroencephalography
Evoked Potentials
Humans
Huntington Disease*
Motivation