Explicit and implicit representation of reward value in cocaine use disorder (CUD): A mouse kinematic study on intertemporal decision-making

Objective: Cocaine use disorder (CUD) is a chronic condition with implications on cognitive functions such as decision-making and impulse control. Intertemporal choice paradigms, measuring temporal discounting, offer insight into decision-making of addictive behaviors. When coupled with mouse kinematics, they also provide implicit measures of decision dynamics. Here, we employed mouse kinematics to investigate the profile of both explicit and implicit intertemporal decision-making in CUD patients versus healthy controls, and the degree of association with clinical, psychiatric, and neuropsychological measures. Method: We recorded mouse kinematics during an intertemporal choice task in 36 CUD patients and 34 healthy matched controls. Before testing, CUD patients underwent a general assessment on a set of addiction-related psychiatric and cognitive domains. Results: In line with previous literature, results revealed higher discount rates in the CUD group. Mouse kinematics was able to discriminate among groups, with CUD patients displaying straighter trajectories for immediate choices and edge-curved ones for future ones. Further, a series of significant correlations have been found between discount rates, kinematic measures and both clinical and psychiatric indices. Conclusions: Overall, these results hold important implications and relevant insights for tailored therapeutic interventions, relapses prediction, and neurobiological classification of addictive disorders.