J Korean Soc Biol Ther Psychiatry.  2024 Oct;30(3):76-85. 10.22802/jksbtp.2024.30.3.76.

Decision Making Delay in Methamphetamine Use Disorder Individuals: Delayed Shift From Ambiguity to Risk

• Kim HD
• Kim YT
• Seo SS

• KMID: 2563226
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.22802/jksbtp.2024.30.3.76

Abstract

Objectives
The aim of this study was to investigate how impaired decision-making, hypersensitivity to reward, and executive dysfunction in individuals with methamphetamine use disorder affect their ability to make decisions under uncertain conditions.
Methods
We conducted a study with 33 patients diagnosed with methamphetamine use disorder and 33 healthy individuals. Three tasks were administered: the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), Game of Dice Task (GDT), and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). We then analyzed the participants’ performance on these tasks and calculated the correlations between them.
Results
Patients with methamphetamine use disorder performed poorly on all three tasks compared to the healthy individuals. Furthermore, the correlations between performances on the GDT and the later trials of the IGT were delayed in the methamphetamine use disorder group compared to the healthy group. A strong correlations were also observed between performances on the earlier trials of the IGT and the WCST in the patient group.
Conclusions
These findings suggest that executive dysfunction in individuals with methamphetamine use disorder impairs their ability to accurately estimate the probabilities of different choices. Consequently, this impairment leads to a delayed transition from uncertain to risky decisions in the IGT. The study sheds light on the neuropsychological factors that contribute to impaired decision-making under uncertainty in individuals with methamphetamine use disorder.

Keyword

Methamphetamine; Decision making; Executive functions