Universität zu Köln

Smith, Elke ORCID: 0000-0003-2836-0924, Theis, Hendrik ORCID: 0000-0003-4661-5994, van Eimeren, Thilo ORCID: 0000-0002-6951-2325, Knauth, Kilian ORCID: 0000-0002-4002-4651, Tuzsus, Deniz ORCID: 0000-0002-0825-5222, Zhang, Lei ORCID: 0000-0002-9586-595X, Mathar, David ORCID: 0000-0003-3411-7867 and Peters, Jan ORCID: 0000-0002-0195-5357 (2025). Dopamine and Temporal Discounting: Revisiting Pharmacology and Individual Differences. The Journal of Neuroscience, 45 (49). pp. 1-12. Society for Neuroscience. ISSN 0270-6474

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Abstract

[Artikel-Nr.: e0786252025] Disorders characterized by changes in dopamine (DA) neurotransmission are often linked to changes in the temporal discounting of future rewards. Likewise, pharmacological manipulations of DA neurotransmission in healthy individuals modulate temporal discounting, but there is considerable variability in the directionality of reported pharmacological effects, as enhancements and reductions of DA signaling have been linked to both increases and reductions of temporal discounting. This may be due to meaningful individual differences in drug effects and/or false-positive findings in small samples. To resolve these inconsistencies, we (1) revisited pharmacological effects of the DA precursor l -DOPA on temporal discounting in a large sample of N = 76 healthy participants ( n = 44 male) and (2) examined several putative proxy measures for DA to revisit the role of individual differences in a randomized, double-blind placebo–controlled preregistered study ( https://osf.io/a4k9j/ ). Replicating previous findings, higher rewards were discounted less (magnitude effect). Computational modeling using hierarchical Bayesian parameter estimation confirmed that the data in both drug conditions were best accounted for by a nonlinear temporal discounting drift diffusion model. In line with recent animal and human work, l -DOPA reliably reduced the discount rate with a small effect size, challenging earlier findings in substantially smaller samples. We found no credible evidence for effects of putative DA proxy measures on model parameters, calling into question the role of these measures in accounting for individual differences in DA drug effects.

Item Type:	Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Smith, Elke UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2836-0924 UNSPECIFIED Theis, Hendrik UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4661-5994 UNSPECIFIED van Eimeren, Thilo UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6951-2325 UNSPECIFIED Knauth, Kilian UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4002-4651 UNSPECIFIED Tuzsus, Deniz UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0825-5222 UNSPECIFIED Zhang, Lei UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9586-595X UNSPECIFIED Mathar, David UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3411-7867 UNSPECIFIED Peters, Jan UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0195-5357 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-811762
Identification Number:	10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0786-25.2025
Journal or Publication Title:	The Journal of Neuroscience
Volume:	45
Number:	49
Page Range:	pp. 1-12
Number of Pages:	12
Date:	3 December 2025
Publisher:	Society for Neuroscience
ISSN:	0270-6474
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Human Sciences Faculty of Medicine
Divisions:	Faculty of Human Sciences > Department Psychologie Faculty of Medicine > Neurologie > Klinik und Poliklinik für Neurologie Faculty of Medicine > Nuklearmedizin > Klinik und Poliklinik für Nuklearmedizin
Subjects:	Psychology Medical sciences Medicine
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language dopamine ; impulsive choice ; individual differences ; L-DOPA ; temporal discounting English
['eprint_fieldname_oa_funders' not defined]:	Publikationsfonds UzK
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/81176