Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33639845›Full record

ArticleBMC neuroscience2021

Sex differences in neural responses to reward and the influences of individual reward and punishment sensitivity.

Isha Dhingra, Sheng Zhang, Simon Zhornitsky, Wuyi Wang, Thang M Le, Chiang-Shan R Li

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC neuroscience, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
30citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
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  5. Brain-wide activity mapping reveals the somatosensory cortex as a sex-specific regulator of hedonic feeding.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
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  11. Polygenic Risks for Depression and Neural Responses to Reward and Punishment in Young Adults.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Isha DhingraDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
Sheng ZhangDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
Simon ZhornitskyDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
Wuyi WangDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
Thang M LeDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
Chiang-Shan R LiDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA. chiang-shan.li@yale.edu.ORCID 0000-0002-9393-1212

Funding

Yale Clinical and Translational Science Award (U Component)UL1TR001863 · NCATS · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI John H. Krystal, LUCILA OHNO-MACHADO · 2016 to 2026
$102.9M
Cognitive control and cocaine dependence: thalamic noradrenergic processesR01DA023248 · NIDA · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI LI, CHIANG-SHAN RAY · 2008 to 2018
$4.0M
Thalamic cortical dysfunction and predictors of relapse in cocaine dependenceK25DA040032 · NIDA · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI ZHANG, SHENG · 2015 to 2019
$834k
Imaging the monoaminergic midbrain and cognitive control in cocaine addictionR21DA044749 · NIDA · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI LI, CHIANG-SHAN RAY · 2018 to 2019
$704k
Imaging the hypothalamus and motivation deficits in cocaine addictionR21DA045743 · NIDA · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI ZHANG, SHENG · 2019 to 2020
$404k
A noradrenergic mechanism of apathy and motivation deficit in MCI and ADR21AG067024 · NIA · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI LI, CHIANG-SHAN RAY · 2020 to 2020
$404k
Aging and cerebral regulation of physiological responses to social emotionsR21MH113134 · NIMH · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI LI, CHIANG-SHAN RAY · 2017 to 2018
$397k
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR001863NIA NIH HHS R21 AG067024NIDA NIH HHS K25 DA040032NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA023248NIDA NIH HHS R21 DA044749NIDA NIH HHS R21 DA045743NIMH NIH HHS R21 MH113134
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMen and women show differences in sensitivity to reward and punishment, which may impact behavior in health and disease. However, the neural bases of these sex differences remain under-investigated. Here, by combining functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a variant of the Monetary Incentive Delay Task (MIDT), we examined sex differences in the neural responses to wins and losses and how individual reward and punishment sensitivity modulates these regional activities.

methodsThirty-sex men and 27 women participated in the fMRI study. We assessed sensitivity to punishment (SP) and sensitivity to reward (SR) with the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ). In the MIDT, participants pressed a button to collect reward ($1, 1¢, or nil), with the reaction time window titrated across trials so participants achieved a success rate of approximately 67%. We processed the Imaging data with published routines and evaluated the results with a corrected threshold.

resultsWomen showed higher SP score than men and men showed higher SR score than women. Men relative to women showed higher response to the receipt of dollar or cent reward in bilateral orbitofrontal and visual cortex. Men as compared to women also showed higher response to dollar loss in bilateral orbitofrontal cortex. Further, in whole-brain regressions, women relative to men demonstrated more significant modulation by SP in the neural responses to wins and larger wins, and the sex differences were confirmed by slope tests.

conclusionsTogether, men showed higher SR and neural sensitivity to both wins, large or small, and losses than women. Individual differences in SP were associated with diminished neural responses to wins and larger wins in women only. These findings highlight how men and women may differ in reward-related brain activations in the MIDT and add to the imaging literature of sex differences in cognitive and affective functions.

Indexed as

PunishmentRewardSex CharacteristicsAdultAnticipation, PsychologicalBrainBrain MappingFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedfMRIGenderIndividual differenceMIDTPunishmentReward

Identifiers

PMID33639845
PMCPMC7913329

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.