IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nathum/v3y2019i9d10.1038_s41562-019-0681-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing inter-individual differences with task-related functional neuroimaging

Author

Listed:
  • Maël Lebreton

    (University of Geneva
    Campus Biotech
    Universiteit van Amsterdam
    CREED, Amsterdam School of Economics (ASE), Universiteit van Amsterdam)

  • Sophie Bavard

    (Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Computationnelles, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale
    Département d’Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure
    Human Reinforcement Learning team, Université de Recherche Paris Sciences et Lettres)

  • Jean Daunizeau

    (Motivation, Brain & Behavior team, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière (ICM)
    CNRS UMR 7225, INSERM U 1127, Pierre & Marie Curie University)

  • Stefano Palminteri

    (Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Computationnelles, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale
    Département d’Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure
    Human Reinforcement Learning team, Université de Recherche Paris Sciences et Lettres)

Abstract

Explaining and predicting individual behavioural differences induced by clinical and social factors constitutes one of the most promising applications of neuroimaging. In this Perspective, we discuss the theoretical and statistical foundations of the analyses of inter-individual differences in task-related functional neuroimaging. Leveraging a five-year literature review (July 2013–2018), we show that researchers often assess how activations elicited by a variable of interest differ between individuals. We argue that the rationale for such analyses, typically grounded in resource theory, offers an over-large analytical and interpretational flexibility that undermines their validity. We also recall how, in the established framework of the general linear model, inter-individual differences in behaviour can act as hidden moderators and spuriously induce differences in activations. We conclude with a set of recommendations and directions, which we hope will contribute to improving the statistical validity and the neurobiological interpretability of inter-individual difference analyses in task-related functional neuroimaging.

Suggested Citation

  • Maël Lebreton & Sophie Bavard & Jean Daunizeau & Stefano Palminteri, 2019. "Assessing inter-individual differences with task-related functional neuroimaging," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 3(9), pages 897-905, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:3:y:2019:i:9:d:10.1038_s41562-019-0681-8
    DOI: 10.1038/s41562-019-0681-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-019-0681-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41562-019-0681-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chih-Chung Ting & Nahuel Salem-Garcia & Stefano Palminteri & Jan B. Engelmann & Maël Lebreton, 2023. "Neural and computational underpinnings of biased confidence in human reinforcement learning," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18, December.
    2. Karima Chakroun & Antonius Wiehler & Ben Wagner & David Mathar & Florian Ganzer & Thilo Eimeren & Tobias Sommer & Jan Peters, 2023. "Dopamine regulates decision thresholds in human reinforcement learning in males," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:3:y:2019:i:9:d:10.1038_s41562-019-0681-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.