Hierarchical-Bayesian estimation of the Drift Diffusion model (HDDM) to study a large high-risk cohort during adolescent development

Authors

• K Kim
• S Haller
• M Brotman
• Z Laky

Abstract

During adolescent development, decision-making processes also improve, influenced by both the child’s internal and external environment. The Brazilian High-Risk Cohort (BHRC) for Psychiatric Disorders is a large longitudinal cohort that has consistently collected data from over 2500 children and adolescents since 2010, including demographic characteristics, responses to cognitive behavioral tasks, and questionnaires representative of their mental health difficulties. These variables were utilized in the context of implementing the Drift Diffusion Model (DDM) and the Hierarchical Drift Diffusion Model (HDDM) to extract parameters regarding differences in the decision-making process in populations that have and have not been clinically diagnosed with any psychiatric disorder. While the DDM does not find any statistically significant differences in the decision-making process between these two populations, the HDDM does, suggesting both the benefit of hierarchical estimation when working with small numbers of trials and a potential mechanism for the performance differences in the diagnosed and non-diagnosed adolescent groups.

Scientific Focus Area: Neuroscience

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