Talk abstracts > Fabien Vinckier (ICM, Paris)

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Fabien Vinckier - ICM, Paris

Friday, June 2^nd

Talk Session 4: Alteration of decisions in psychiatry

14h - 14h30

Why not try harder? Computational approach to motivation deficits in depression. 

Motivational deficits are pervasive in neuropsychiatric disorders and a core clinical manifestation of depression. However, the underlying mechanisms, which cannot be accessed through conventional questionnaire-based scoring, remain largely unknown. According to decision theory, apathy could result either from biased subjective estimates (of action costs or outcomes) or from dysfunctional processes (in making decisions or allocating resources). We combined a series of behavioral tasks with computational modeling to elucidate the motivational deficits of patients with several neuropsychiatric disorders, especially depression.  Our results highlight effort cost as a critical dimension that might explain multiple behavioral changes in patients with depression. More generally, they validate a test battery for computational phenotyping of motivational states, which could orientate toward specific medication or rehabilitation therapy, and thereby help pave the way for more personalized medicine in psychiatry.