The assessment dimension of regulatory mode mediates the relation between frontoparietal connectivity and risk-taking: Evidence from voxel-base morphometry and functional connectivity analysis

Abstract We used voxel-based morphometry and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) to investigate whether the regulatory mode orientation of assessment (the tendency of each individual to self-regulate by critically evaluating alternatives) interacts with neural systems underlying risk-taking. Across a sample of 112 participants, propensity for risk-taking (measured using the Wheel of Fortune task) was negatively correlated with assessment orientation, such that a greater tendency to critically evaluate alternatives was associated with a lower tendency for risk-taking. VBM revealed a negative correlation between assessment orientation and right inferior parietal lobe (RIPL) gray matter volume. Resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) between this same RIPL region and the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) was positively correlated with assessment orientation in an independent sample of 41 participants. Most importantly, based on the rs-FC results, a mediation analysis indicated that assessment orientation played a completely mediating role in the relation between the functional connectivity of RIPL-LIFG and risk-taking. These results suggest that assessment orientation may affect risk-taking via the RIPL and its connectivity with LIFG. On the whole, the present study yields the insights into how the assessment dimension of regulatory mode affects risk-taking, and provides a novel account of the neural substrate of this relationship.