Combining Prolonged Heat Pain with Low Controllability Over Rewards and Losses Results in Minimal Effects on Value-Based Decision-Making

Abstract

Previous research has shown that experimental manipulations aiming at inducing choice strategies resembling learned helplessness (LH) in healthy adults influence the arbitration between simple and complex decision-making strategies. However, research regarding decision-making and LH-manipulations with experimental pain is lacking. Therefore, the present study applied the new LH-induction method with add-on prolonged heat pain stimulation during a reinforcement learning task. 75 healthy adult participants were randomly assigned to three groups (n = 25). Their performance was measured in a modified orthogonalized Go/NoGo task camouflaged as a card game. The task consisted of five blocks with four cards in each, in which cards differed in terms of action-outcome associations. Two of the three groups underwent manipulations in block 2 and 4. Both experimental groups underwent a low controllability (LC) manipulation, whilst one group also received pain stimulation (LC-P). We predicted that, in manipulation blocks and the following non-manipulated blocks, the experimental groups would exert motivational bias and suboptimal choice behavior, with a stronger effect in LC-P. Between-group comparisons showed no differences between the LC and LC-P groups in any measurements provided by the present study. Nevertheless, the present manipulations managed to reduce participants ́ subjective ratings of perceived control and success in both groups in the manipulation blocks. These findings indicate that our current LH- and pain-induction methods and the translational value thereof are limited. Therefore, the limitations and implications for future research were provided.