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Montaser-Kouhsari L, Nicholas J, Gerraty RT, Shohamy D. Differentiating Reinforcement Learning and Episodic Memory in Value-Based Decisions in Parkinson's Disease. J Neurosci 2025; 45:e0911242025. [PMID: 40262901 PMCID: PMC12096037 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0911-24.2025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2024] [Revised: 03/28/2025] [Accepted: 04/03/2025] [Indexed: 04/24/2025] Open
Abstract
Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) are impaired at incremental reward-based learning. It is typically assumed that this impairment reflects a loss of striatal dopamine. However, many open questions remain about the nature of reward-based learning deficits in PD. Recent studies have found that even simple reward-based learning tasks rely on a combination of cognitive and computational strategies, including one-shot episodic memory. These findings raise questions about how incremental learning and episodic memory contribute to decision-making in PD. We tested healthy participants (n = 26; 14 males and 12 females) and patients with PD (n = 26; 16 males and 10 females), both on- and off-dopamine replacement medication, on a task designed to differentiate between the contributions of incremental learning and episodic memory to reward-based learning and decision-making. We found that PD patients performed equally well as healthy controls when using episodic memory but were impaired at incremental reward-based learning. Dopamine replacement medication remediated this deficit and enhanced subsequent episodic memory for the value of motivationally relevant stimuli. These results demonstrate that while PD patients are impaired at learning about reward from trial-and-error, their ability to encode memories for the value of one-shot experiences is intact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leila Montaser-Kouhsari
- Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women Hospital, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, New York 10025
| | - Jonathan Nicholas
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, New York 10025
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York 10025
| | - Raphael T Gerraty
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, New York 10025
| | - Daphna Shohamy
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, New York 10025
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York 10025
- Kavli Institute for Brain Science, Columbia University, New York, New York 10025
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2
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Corlett PR, Fraser KM. 20 Years of Aberrant Salience in Psychosis: What Have We Learned? Am J Psychiatry 2025:appiajp20240556. [PMID: 40134268 DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.20240556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/27/2025]
Abstract
Twenty years ago Shitij Kapur's "Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience" captured the attention of clinicians and cognitive and behavioral neuroscientists. It has become the de facto way of talking about delusion formation in labs and clinics. Here, evidence for this theory is critically evaluated in consideration of evolving data since its publication. A particular focus is placed on its specific predictions regarding the neural and behavioral loci of dopamine dysfunction in psychosis and finds them lacking. This examination is informed by recent advances in the understanding of the function of the dopamine system and its impacts on behavior following the explosion of new tools and probes for precise measurement and manipulation of dopaminergic circuits. Contemporary theories that have developed since Kapur-which suggest a role for dopamine in belief formation, belief updating under uncertainty, and abductive inference to the best explanation for some set of circumstances-are argued to form a more cogent theory that fits better with the work in patients with delusions and hallucinations, how they behave, and what is known about the function of their dopamine system. The original salience hypothesis has been influential as it attempted to unite neurochemical dysfunction with clinical phenomenology through computational cognitive neuroscience, which has led to the development of novel predictions that the authors highlight as future directions for the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip R Corlett
- Wu Tsai Institute, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, Yale University, New Haven (Corlett); Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (Fraser)
| | - Kurt M Fraser
- Wu Tsai Institute, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, Yale University, New Haven (Corlett); Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (Fraser)
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3
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Bein O, Niv Y. Schemas, reinforcement learning and the medial prefrontal cortex. Nat Rev Neurosci 2025; 26:141-157. [PMID: 39775183 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-024-00893-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/03/2024] [Indexed: 01/11/2025]
Abstract
Schemas are rich and complex knowledge structures about the typical unfolding of events in a context; for example, a schema of a dinner at a restaurant. In this Perspective, we suggest that reinforcement learning (RL), a computational theory of learning the structure of the world and relevant goal-oriented behaviour, underlies schema learning. We synthesize literature about schemas and RL to offer that three RL principles might govern the learning of schemas: learning via prediction errors, constructing hierarchical knowledge using hierarchical RL, and dimensionality reduction through learning a simplified and abstract representation of the world. We then suggest that the orbitomedial prefrontal cortex is involved in both schemas and RL due to its involvement in dimensionality reduction and in guiding memory reactivation through interactions with posterior brain regions. Last, we hypothesize that the amount of dimensionality reduction might underlie gradients of involvement along the ventral-dorsal and posterior-anterior axes of the orbitomedial prefrontal cortex. More specific and detailed representations might engage the ventral and posterior parts, whereas abstraction might shift representations towards the dorsal and anterior parts of the medial prefrontal cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oded Bein
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
- Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Yael Niv
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
- Psychology Department, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
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4
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Fraser KM, Collins V, Wolff AR, Ottenheimer DJ, Bornhoft KN, Pat F, Chen BJ, Janak PH, Saunders BT. Contextual cues facilitate dynamic value encoding in the mesolimbic dopamine system. Curr Biol 2025; 35:746-760.e5. [PMID: 39855205 PMCID: PMC11859769 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.12.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2024] [Revised: 11/04/2024] [Accepted: 12/11/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2025]
Abstract
Adaptive behavior in a dynamic environmental context often requires rapid revaluation of stimuli that deviates from well-learned associations. The divergence between stable value-encoding and appropriate behavioral output remains a critical component of theories of dopamine's function in learning, motivation, and motor control. Yet, how dopamine neurons are involved in the revaluation of cues when the world changes, to alter our behavior, remains unclear. Here, we make use of a complementary set of in vivo approaches to clarify the contributions of the mesolimbic dopamine system to the dynamic reorganization of reward- seeking behavior. Male and female rats were trained to discriminate when a conditioned stimulus would be followed by a sucrose reward by exploiting the prior, non-overlapping presentation of a another discrete cue-an occasion setter. Only when the occasion setter's presentation preceded the conditioned stimulus did the conditioned stimulus predict sucrose delivery, dissociating the average value of the conditioned stimulus from its immediate value, on a trial-to-trial basis. Activity of ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons was essential for rats to successfully update behavioral response to the occasion setter. Moreover, dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens following the conditioned stimulus only occurred when the occasion setter indicated it would predict reward and did not reflect its average expected value. Downstream of dopamine release, we found that neurons in the nucleus accumbens dynamically tracked the value of the conditioned stimulus. Together, these results help refine notions of dopamine function, revealing a prominent contribution of the mesolimbic dopamine system to the rapid revaluation of motivation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kurt M Fraser
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
| | - Val Collins
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Amy R Wolff
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - David J Ottenheimer
- The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Kaisa N Bornhoft
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Fiona Pat
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Bridget J Chen
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Patricia H Janak
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Benjamin T Saunders
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Medical Discovery Team on Addiction, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
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5
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Burke DA, Taylor A, Jeong H, Lee S, Wu B, Floeder JR, K Namboodiri VM. Reward timescale controls the rate of behavioural and dopaminergic learning. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.03.31.535173. [PMID: 37034619 PMCID: PMC10081323 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.31.535173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Learning the causes of rewards is necessary for survival. Thus, it is critical to understand the mechanisms of such a vital biological process. Cue-reward learning is controlled by mesolimbic dopamine and improves with spacing of cue-reward pairings. However, whether a mathematical rule governs such improvements in learning rate, and if so, whether a unifying mechanism captures this rule and dopamine dynamics during learning remain unknown. Here, we investigate the behavioral, algorithmic, and dopaminergic mechanisms governing cue-reward learning rate. Across a range of conditions in mice, we show a strong, mathematically proportional relationship between both behavioral and dopaminergic learning rates and the duration between rewards. Due to this relationship, removing up to 19 out of 20 cue-reward pairings over a fixed duration has no influence on overall learning. These findings are explained by a dopamine-based model of retrospective learning, thereby providing a unified account of the biological mechanisms of learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dennis A Burke
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Annie Taylor
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Huijeong Jeong
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - SeulAh Lee
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Brenda Wu
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Joseph R Floeder
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Vijay Mohan K Namboodiri
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
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6
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Taira M, Millard SJ, Verghese A, DiFazio LE, Hoang IB, Jia R, Sias A, Wikenheiser A, Sharpe MJ. Dopamine Release in the Nucleus Accumbens Core Encodes the General Excitatory Components of Learning. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e0120242024. [PMID: 38969504 PMCID: PMC11358529 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0120-24.2024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2024] [Revised: 06/18/2024] [Accepted: 06/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens core (NAcC) is generally considered to be a proxy for phasic firing of the ventral tegmental area dopamine (VTADA) neurons. Thus, dopamine release in NAcC is hypothesized to reflect a unitary role in reward prediction error signaling. However, recent studies reveal more diverse roles of dopamine neurons, which support an emerging idea that dopamine regulates learning differently in distinct circuits. To understand whether the NAcC might regulate a unique component of learning, we recorded dopamine release in NAcC while male rats performed a backward conditioning task where a reward is followed by a neutral cue. We used this task because we can delineate different components of learning, which include sensory-specific inhibitory and general excitatory components. Furthermore, we have shown that VTADA neurons are necessary for both the specific and general components of backward associations. Here, we found that dopamine release in NAcC increased to the reward across learning while reducing to the cue that followed as it became more expected. This mirrors the dopamine prediction error signal seen during forward conditioning and cannot be accounted for temporal-difference reinforcement learning. Subsequent tests allowed us to dissociate these learning components and revealed that dopamine release in NAcC reflects the general excitatory component of backward associations, but not their sensory-specific component. These results emphasize the importance of examining distinct functions of different dopamine projections in reinforcement learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masakazu Taira
- Department of Psychology, University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales 2006, Australia
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles 90095, California
| | - Samuel J Millard
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles 90095, California
| | - Anna Verghese
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles 90095, California
| | - Lauren E DiFazio
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles 90095, California
| | - Ivy B Hoang
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles 90095, California
| | - Ruiting Jia
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles 90095, California
| | - Ana Sias
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles 90095, California
| | - Andrew Wikenheiser
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles 90095, California
| | - Melissa J Sharpe
- Department of Psychology, University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales 2006, Australia
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles 90095, California
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7
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Millard SJ, Hoang IB, Sherwood S, Taira M, Reyes V, Greer Z, O'Connor SL, Wassum KM, James MH, Barker DJ, Sharpe MJ. Cognitive representations of intracranial self-stimulation of midbrain dopamine neurons depend on stimulation frequency. Nat Neurosci 2024; 27:1253-1259. [PMID: 38741021 PMCID: PMC11239488 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01643-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area support intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS), yet the cognitive representations underlying this phenomenon remain unclear. Here, 20-Hz stimulation of dopamine neurons, which approximates a physiologically relevant prediction error, was not sufficient to support ICSS beyond a continuously reinforced schedule and did not endow cues with a general or specific value. However, 50-Hz stimulation of dopamine neurons was sufficient to drive robust ICSS and was represented as a specific reward to motivate behavior. The frequency dependence of this effect is due to the rate (not the number) of action potentials produced by dopamine neurons, which differently modulates dopamine release downstream.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel J Millard
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ivy B Hoang
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Savannah Sherwood
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Masakazu Taira
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Vanessa Reyes
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Zara Greer
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Shayna L O'Connor
- Department of Psychiatry, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA
- Brain Health Institute, Rutgers Biomedical Health Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Kate M Wassum
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Morgan H James
- Department of Psychiatry, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA
- Brain Health Institute, Rutgers Biomedical Health Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - David J Barker
- Brain Health Institute, Rutgers Biomedical Health Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Melissa J Sharpe
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Psychology, University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia.
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8
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Robke R, Arbab T, Smith R, Willuhn I. Value-Driven Adaptations of Mesolimbic Dopamine Release Are Governed by Both Model-Based and Model-Free Mechanisms. eNeuro 2024; 11:ENEURO.0223-24.2024. [PMID: 38918053 PMCID: PMC11223458 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0223-24.2024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2024] [Accepted: 05/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/27/2024] Open
Abstract
The magnitude of dopamine signals elicited by rewarding events and their predictors is updated when reward value changes. It is actively debated how readily these dopamine signals adapt and whether adaptation aligns with model-free or model-based reinforcement-learning principles. To investigate this, we trained male rats in a pavlovian-conditioning paradigm and measured dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens core in response to food reward (unconditioned stimulus) and reward-predictive conditioned stimuli (CS), both before and after reward devaluation, induced via either sensory-specific or nonspecific satiety. We demonstrate that (1) such devaluation reduces CS-induced dopamine release rapidly, without additional pairing of CS with devalued reward and irrespective of whether the devaluation was sensory-specific or nonspecific. In contrast, (2) reward devaluation did not decrease food reward-induced dopamine release. Surprisingly, (3) postdevaluation reconditioning, by additional pairing of CS with devalued reward, rapidly reinstated CS-induced dopamine signals to predevaluation levels. Taken together, we identify distinct, divergent adaptations in dopamine-signal magnitude when reward value is decreased: CS dopamine diminishes but reinstates fast, whereas reward dopamine is resistant to change. This implies that, respective to abovementioned findings, (1) CS dopamine may be governed by a model-based mechanism and (2) reward dopamine by a model-free one, where (3) the latter may contribute to swift reinstatement of the former. However, changes in CS dopamine were not selective for sensory specificity of reward devaluation, which is inconsistent with model-based processes. Thus, mesolimbic dopamine signaling incorporates both model-free and model-based mechanisms and is not exclusively governed by either.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rhiannon Robke
- The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam 1105BA, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1105AZ, The Netherlands
| | - Tara Arbab
- The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam 1105BA, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1105AZ, The Netherlands
| | - Rachel Smith
- The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam 1105BA, The Netherlands
| | - Ingo Willuhn
- The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam 1105BA, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1105AZ, The Netherlands
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9
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Montaser-Kouhsari L, Nicholas J, Gerraty RT, Shohamy D. Two routes to value-based decisions in Parkinson's disease: differentiating incremental reinforcement learning from episodic memory. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.03.592414. [PMID: 38746345 PMCID: PMC11092770 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.03.592414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Patients with Parkinson's disease are impaired at incremental reward-based learning. It is typically assumed that this impairment reflects a loss of striatal dopamine. However, many open questions remain about the nature of reward-based learning deficits in Parkinson's. Recent studies have found that a combination of different cognitive and computational strategies contribute even to simple reward-based learning tasks, suggesting a possible role for episodic memory. These findings raise critical questions about how incremental learning and episodic memory interact to support learning from past experience and what their relative contributions are to impaired decision-making in Parkinson's disease. Here we addressed these questions by asking patients with Parkinson's disease (n=26) both on and off their dopamine replacement medication and age- and education-matched healthy controls (n=26) to complete a task designed to isolate the contributions of incremental learning and episodic memory to reward-based learning and decision-making. We found that Parkinson's patients performed as well as healthy controls when using episodic memory, but were impaired at incremental reward-based learning. Dopamine replacement medication remediated this deficit while enhancing subsequent episodic memory for the value of motivationally relevant stimuli. These results demonstrate that Parkinson's patients are impaired at learning about reward from trial-and-error when episodic memory is properly controlled for, and that learning based on the value of single experiences remains intact in patients with Parkinson's disease.
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10
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Floeder JR, Jeong H, Mohebi A, Namboodiri VMK. Mesolimbic dopamine ramps reflect environmental timescales. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.27.587103. [PMID: 38659749 PMCID: PMC11042231 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.27.587103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Mesolimbic dopamine activity occasionally exhibits ramping dynamics, reigniting debate on theories of dopamine signaling. This debate is ongoing partly because the experimental conditions under which dopamine ramps emerge remain poorly understood. Here, we show that during Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning, mesolimbic dopamine ramps are only observed when the inter-trial interval is short relative to the trial period. These results constrain theories of dopamine signaling and identify a critical variable determining the emergence of dopamine ramps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph R Floeder
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Huijeong Jeong
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Ali Mohebi
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Vijay Mohan K Namboodiri
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
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11
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Bernklau TW, Righetti B, Mehrke LS, Jacob SN. Striatal dopamine signals reflect perceived cue-action-outcome associations in mice. Nat Neurosci 2024; 27:747-757. [PMID: 38291283 PMCID: PMC11001585 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01567-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Striatal dopamine drives associative learning by acting as a teaching signal. Much work has focused on simple learning paradigms, including Pavlovian and instrumental learning. However, higher cognition requires that animals generate internal concepts of their environment, where sensory stimuli, actions and outcomes become flexibly associated. Here, we performed fiber photometry dopamine measurements across the striatum of male mice as they learned cue-action-outcome associations based on implicit and changing task rules. Reinforcement learning models of the behavioral and dopamine data showed that rule changes lead to adjustments of learned cue-action-outcome associations. After rule changes, mice discarded learned associations and reset outcome expectations. Cue- and outcome-triggered dopamine signals became uncoupled and dependent on the adopted behavioral strategy. As mice learned the new association, coupling between cue- and outcome-triggered dopamine signals and task performance re-emerged. Our results suggest that dopaminergic reward prediction errors reflect an agent's perceived locus of control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tobias W Bernklau
- Translational Neurotechnology Laboratory, Department of Neurosurgery, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Beatrice Righetti
- Translational Neurotechnology Laboratory, Department of Neurosurgery, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Leonie S Mehrke
- Translational Neurotechnology Laboratory, Department of Neurosurgery, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Simon N Jacob
- Translational Neurotechnology Laboratory, Department of Neurosurgery, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
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12
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Wolff AR, Saunders BT. Sensory Cues Potentiate VTA Dopamine Mediated Reinforcement. eNeuro 2024; 11:ENEURO.0421-23.2024. [PMID: 38238080 PMCID: PMC10875637 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0421-23.2024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 01/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Sensory cues are critical for shaping decisions and invigorating actions during reward seeking. Dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are central in this process, supporting associative learning in Pavlovian and instrumental settings. Studies of intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) behavior, which show that animals will work hard to receive stimulation of dopamine neurons, support the notion that dopamine transmits a reward or value signal to support learning. Recent studies have begun to question this, however, emphasizing dopamine's value-free functions, leaving its contribution to behavioral reinforcement somewhat muddled. Here, we investigated the role of sensory stimuli in dopamine-mediated reinforcement, using an optogenetic ICSS paradigm in tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-Cre rats. We find that while VTA dopamine neuron activation in the absence of explicit external cues is sufficient to maintain robust self-stimulation, the presence of cues dramatically potentiates ICSS behavior. Our results support a framework where dopamine can have some base value as a reinforcer, but the impact of this signal is modulated heavily by the sensory learning context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy R Wolff
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455, Minnesota
- Medical Discovery Team on Addiction, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455, Minnesota
| | - Benjamin T Saunders
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455, Minnesota
- Medical Discovery Team on Addiction, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455, Minnesota
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13
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Sharpe MJ. The cognitive (lateral) hypothalamus. Trends Cogn Sci 2024; 28:18-29. [PMID: 37758590 PMCID: PMC10841673 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.08.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Revised: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
Despite the physiological complexity of the hypothalamus, its role is typically restricted to initiation or cessation of innate behaviors. For example, theories of lateral hypothalamus argue that it is a switch to turn feeding 'on' and 'off' as dictated by higher-order structures that render when feeding is appropriate. However, recent data demonstrate that the lateral hypothalamus is critical for learning about food-related cues. Furthermore, the lateral hypothalamus opposes learning about information that is neutral or distal to food. This reveals the lateral hypothalamus as a unique arbitrator of learning capable of shifting behavior toward or away from important events. This has relevance for disorders characterized by changes in this balance, including addiction and schizophrenia. Generally, this suggests that hypothalamic function is more complex than increasing or decreasing innate behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa J Sharpe
- Department of Psychology, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia; Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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14
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Fraser KM, Collins VL, Wolff AR, Ottenheimer DJ, Bornhoft KN, Pat F, Chen BJ, Janak PH, Saunders BT. Contexts facilitate dynamic value encoding in the mesolimbic dopamine system. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.11.05.565687. [PMID: 37961363 PMCID: PMC10635154 DOI: 10.1101/2023.11.05.565687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
Adaptive behavior in a dynamic environment often requires rapid revaluation of stimuli that deviates from well-learned associations. The divergence between stable value-encoding and appropriate behavioral output remains a critical test to theories of dopamine's function in learning, motivation, and motor control. Yet how dopamine neurons are involved in the revaluation of cues when the world changes to alter our behavior remains unclear. Here we make use of pharmacology, in vivo electrophysiology, fiber photometry, and optogenetics to resolve the contributions of the mesolimbic dopamine system to the dynamic reorganization of reward-seeking. Male and female rats were trained to discriminate when a conditioned stimulus would be followed by sucrose reward by exploiting the prior, non-overlapping presentation of a separate discrete cue - an occasion setter. Only when the occasion setter's presentation preceded the conditioned stimulus did the conditioned stimulus predict sucrose delivery. As a result, in this task we were able to dissociate the average value of the conditioned stimulus from its immediate expected value on a trial-to-trial basis. Both the activity of ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons and dopamine signaling in the nucleus accumbens were essential for rats to successfully update behavioral responding in response to the occasion setter. Moreover, dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens following the conditioned stimulus only occurred when the occasion setter indicated it would predict reward. Downstream of dopamine release, we found that single neurons in the nucleus accumbens dynamically tracked the value of the conditioned stimulus. Together these results reveal a novel mechanism within the mesolimbic dopamine system for the rapid revaluation of motivation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kurt M Fraser
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University
| | | | - Amy R Wolff
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota
| | | | | | - Fiona Pat
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University
| | - Bridget J Chen
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University
| | - Patricia H Janak
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University
- The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University
| | - Benjamin T Saunders
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota
- Medical Discovery Team on Addiction, University of Minnesota
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15
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Iglesias AG, Chiu AS, Wong J, Campus P, Li F, Liu ZN, Bhatti JK, Patel SA, Deisseroth K, Akil H, Burgess CR, Flagel SB. Inhibition of Dopamine Neurons Prevents Incentive Value Encoding of a Reward Cue: With Revelations from Deep Phenotyping. J Neurosci 2023; 43:7376-7392. [PMID: 37709540 PMCID: PMC10621773 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0848-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 09/08/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The survival of an organism is dependent on its ability to respond to cues in the environment. Such cues can attain control over behavior as a function of the value ascribed to them. Some individuals have an inherent tendency to attribute reward-paired cues with incentive motivational value, or incentive salience. For these individuals, termed sign-trackers, a discrete cue that precedes reward delivery becomes attractive and desirable in its own right. Prior work suggests that the behavior of sign-trackers is dopamine-dependent, and cue-elicited dopamine in the NAc is believed to encode the incentive value of reward cues. Here we exploited the temporal resolution of optogenetics to determine whether selective inhibition of ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons during cue presentation attenuates the propensity to sign-track. Using male tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-Cre Long Evans rats, it was found that, under baseline conditions, ∼84% of TH-Cre rats tend to sign-track. Laser-induced inhibition of VTA dopamine neurons during cue presentation prevented the development of sign-tracking behavior, without affecting goal-tracking behavior. When laser inhibition was terminated, these same rats developed a sign-tracking response. Video analysis using DeepLabCutTM revealed that, relative to rats that received laser inhibition, rats in the control group spent more time near the location of the reward cue even when it was not present and were more likely to orient toward and approach the cue during its presentation. These findings demonstrate that cue-elicited dopamine release is critical for the attribution of incentive salience to reward cues.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Activity of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) during cue presentation is necessary for the development of a sign-tracking, but not a goal-tracking, conditioned response in a Pavlovian task. We capitalized on the temporal precision of optogenetics to pair cue presentation with inhibition of VTA dopamine neurons. A detailed behavioral analysis with DeepLabCutTM revealed that cue-directed behaviors do not emerge without dopamine neuron activity in the VTA. Importantly, however, when optogenetic inhibition is lifted, cue-directed behaviors increase, and a sign-tracking response develops. These findings confirm the necessity of dopamine neuron activity in the VTA during cue presentation to encode the incentive value of reward cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda G Iglesias
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
| | - Alvin S Chiu
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
| | - Jason Wong
- College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
| | - Paolo Campus
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
| | - Fei Li
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
| | - Zitong Nemo Liu
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
| | - Jasmine K Bhatti
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
| | - Shiv A Patel
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
| | - Karl Deisseroth
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305
| | - Huda Akil
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
| | - Christian R Burgess
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
| | - Shelly B Flagel
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
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16
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Krausz TA, Comrie AE, Kahn AE, Frank LM, Daw ND, Berke JD. Dual credit assignment processes underlie dopamine signals in a complex spatial environment. Neuron 2023; 111:3465-3478.e7. [PMID: 37611585 PMCID: PMC10841332 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.07.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Revised: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 07/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023]
Abstract
Animals frequently make decisions based on expectations of future reward ("values"). Values are updated by ongoing experience: places and choices that result in reward are assigned greater value. Yet, the specific algorithms used by the brain for such credit assignment remain unclear. We monitored accumbens dopamine as rats foraged for rewards in a complex, changing environment. We observed brief dopamine pulses both at reward receipt (scaling with prediction error) and at novel path opportunities. Dopamine also ramped up as rats ran toward reward ports, in proportion to the value at each location. By examining the evolution of these dopamine place-value signals, we found evidence for two distinct update processes: progressive propagation of value along taken paths, as in temporal difference learning, and inference of value throughout the maze, using internal models. Our results demonstrate that within rich, naturalistic environments dopamine conveys place values that are updated via multiple, complementary learning algorithms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy A Krausz
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Alison E Comrie
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Ari E Kahn
- Department of Psychology, and Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Loren M Frank
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD 20815, USA; Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Nathaniel D Daw
- Department of Psychology, and Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Joshua D Berke
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; Department of Neurology and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.
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17
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Wolff AR, Saunders BT. Sensory cues potentiate VTA dopamine mediated reinforcement. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.10.18.562986. [PMID: 37904916 PMCID: PMC10614908 DOI: 10.1101/2023.10.18.562986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2023]
Abstract
Sensory cues are critical for shaping decisions and invigorating actions during reward seeking. Dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are critical in this process, supporting associative learning in Pavlovian and instrumental settings. Studies of intracranial self stimulation (ICSS) behavior, which show that animals will work hard to receive stimulation of dopamine neurons, support the notion that dopamine transmits a reward or value signal to support learning. Recent studies have begun to question this, however, emphasizing dopamine's value-free functions, leaving its contribution to behavioral reinforcement somewhat muddled. Here, we investigated the role of sensory stimuli in dopamine-mediated reinforcement, using an optogenetic ICSS paradigm in tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-cre rats. We find that while VTA dopamine neuron activation in the absence of any external cueing stimulus is sufficient to maintain robust self stimulation, the presence of cues dramatically potentiates ICSS behavior. Our results support a framework where dopamine can have some base value as a reinforcer, but the impact of this signal is modulated heavily by the sensory learning context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy R Wolff
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota
- Medical Discovery Team on Addiction, University of Minnesota
| | - Benjamin T Saunders
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota
- Medical Discovery Team on Addiction, University of Minnesota
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18
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Ongchoco JDK, Castiello S, Corlett PR. Excessive teleological thinking is driven by aberrant associations and not by failure of reasoning. iScience 2023; 26:107643. [PMID: 37705957 PMCID: PMC10495659 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Revised: 07/31/2023] [Accepted: 08/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Teleological thought - the tendency to ascribe purpose to objects and events - is useful in some cases (encouraging explanation-seeking), but harmful in others (fueling delusions and conspiracy theories). What drives excessive and maladaptive teleological thinking? In causal learning, there is a fundamental distinction between associative learning versus learning via propositional mechanisms. Here, we propose that directly contrasting the contributions of these two pathways can elucidate the roots of excess teleology. We modified a causal learning task such that we could encourage associative versus propositional mechanisms in different instances. Across three experiments (total N = 600), teleological tendencies were correlated with delusion-like ideas and uniquely explained by aberrant associative learning, but not by learning via propositional rules. Computational modeling suggested that the relationship between associative learning and teleological thinking can be explained by excessive prediction errors that imbue random events with more significance - providing a new understanding for how humans make meaning of lived events.
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19
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Iglesias AG, Chiu AS, Wong J, Campus P, Li F, Liu Z(N, Patel SA, Deisseroth K, Akil H, Burgess CR, Flagel SB. Inhibition of dopamine neurons prevents incentive value encoding of a reward cue: With revelations from deep phenotyping. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.05.03.539324. [PMID: 37205506 PMCID: PMC10187226 DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.03.539324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
The survival of an organism is dependent on their ability to respond to cues in the environment. Such cues can attain control over behavior as a function of the value ascribed to them. Some individuals have an inherent tendency to attribute reward-paired cues with incentive motivational value, or incentive salience. For these individuals, termed sign-trackers, a discrete cue that precedes reward delivery becomes attractive and desirable in its own right. Prior work suggests that the behavior of sign-trackers is dopamine-dependent, and cue-elicited dopamine in the nucleus accumbens is believed to encode the incentive value of reward cues. Here we exploited the temporal resolution of optogenetics to determine whether selective inhibition of ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons during cue presentation attenuates the propensity to sign-track. Using male tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-Cre Long Evans rats it was found that, under baseline conditions, ∼84% of TH-Cre rats tend to sign-track. Laser-induced inhibition of VTA dopamine neurons during cue presentation prevented the development of sign-tracking behavior, without affecting goal-tracking behavior. When laser inhibition was terminated, these same rats developed a sign-tracking response. Video analysis using DeepLabCut revealed that, relative to rats that received laser inhibition, rats in the control group spent more time near the location of the reward cue even when it was not present and were more likely to orient towards and approach the cue during its presentation. These findings demonstrate that cue-elicited dopamine release is critical for the attribution of incentive salience to reward cues. Significance Statement Activity of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) during cue presentation is necessary for the development of a sign-tracking, but not a goal-tracking, conditioned response in a Pavlovian task. We capitalized on the temporal precision of optogenetics to pair cue presentation with inhibition of VTA dopamine neurons. A detailed behavioral analysis with DeepLabCut revealed that cue-directed behaviors do not emerge without VTA dopamine. Importantly, however, when optogenetic inhibition is lifted, cue-directed behaviors increase, and a sign-tracking response develops. These findings confirm the necessity of VTA dopamine during cue presentation to encode the incentive value of reward cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda G. Iglesias
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48104, Michigan
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48104, Michigan
| | - Alvin S. Chiu
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48104, Michigan
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48104, Michigan
| | - Jason Wong
- College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48104, Michigan
| | - Paolo Campus
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48104, Michigan
| | - Fei Li
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48104, Michigan
| | - Zitong (Nemo) Liu
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48104, Michigan
| | - Shiv A. Patel
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48104, Michigan
| | - Karl Deisseroth
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford 94305, California
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford 94305, California
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford 94305, California
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford 94305, California
| | - Huda Akil
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48104, Michigan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48104, Michigan
| | - Christian R. Burgess
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48104, Michigan
| | - Shelly B. Flagel
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48104, Michigan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48104, Michigan
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20
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Krausz TA, Comrie AE, Frank LM, Daw ND, Berke JD. Dual credit assignment processes underlie dopamine signals in a complex spatial environment. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.02.15.528738. [PMID: 36993482 PMCID: PMC10054934 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.15.528738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Dopamine in the nucleus accumbens helps motivate behavior based on expectations of future reward ("values"). These values need to be updated by experience: after receiving reward, the choices that led to reward should be assigned greater value. There are multiple theoretical proposals for how this credit assignment could be achieved, but the specific algorithms that generate updated dopamine signals remain uncertain. We monitored accumbens dopamine as freely behaving rats foraged for rewards in a complex, changing environment. We observed brief pulses of dopamine both when rats received reward (scaling with prediction error), and when they encountered novel path opportunities. Furthermore, dopamine ramped up as rats ran towards reward ports, in proportion to the value at each location. By examining the evolution of these dopamine place-value signals, we found evidence for two distinct update processes: progressive propagation along taken paths, as in temporal-difference learning, and inference of value throughout the maze, using internal models. Our results demonstrate that within rich, naturalistic environments dopamine conveys place values that are updated via multiple, complementary learning algorithms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy A Krausz
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco
| | - Alison E Comrie
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco
| | - Loren M Frank
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco
- Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, UCSF
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Department of Physiology, UCSF
| | - Nathaniel D Daw
- Department of Psychology, and Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, NJ
| | - Joshua D Berke
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco
- Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, UCSF
- Department of Neurology, and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, UCSF
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21
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Glutamatergic dysfunction leads to a hyper-dopaminergic phenotype through deficits in short-term habituation: a mechanism for aberrant salience. Mol Psychiatry 2023; 28:579-587. [PMID: 36460723 PMCID: PMC9908551 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01861-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Revised: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
Psychosis in disorders like schizophrenia is commonly associated with aberrant salience and elevated striatal dopamine. However, the underlying cause(s) of this hyper-dopaminergic state remain elusive. Various lines of evidence point to glutamatergic dysfunction and impairments in synaptic plasticity in the etiology of schizophrenia, including deficits associated with the GluA1 AMPAR subunit. GluA1 knockout (Gria1-/-) mice provide a model of impaired synaptic plasticity in schizophrenia and exhibit a selective deficit in a form of short-term memory which underlies short-term habituation. As such, these mice are unable to reduce attention to recently presented stimuli. In this study we used fast-scan cyclic voltammetry to measure phasic dopamine responses in the nucleus accumbens of Gria1-/- mice to determine whether this behavioral phenotype might be a key driver of a hyper-dopaminergic state. There was no effect of GluA1 deletion on electrically-evoked dopamine responses in anaesthetized mice, demonstrating normal endogenous release properties of dopamine neurons in Gria1-/- mice. Furthermore, dopamine signals were initially similar in Gria1-/- mice compared to controls in response to both sucrose rewards and neutral light stimuli. They were also equally sensitive to changes in the magnitude of delivered rewards. In contrast, however, these stimulus-evoked dopamine signals failed to habituate with repeated presentations in Gria1-/- mice, resulting in a task-relevant, hyper-dopaminergic phenotype. Thus, here we show that GluA1 dysfunction, resulting in impaired short-term habituation, is a key driver of enhanced striatal dopamine responses, which may be an important contributor to aberrant salience and psychosis in psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia.
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22
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Jeong H, Taylor A, Floeder JR, Lohmann M, Mihalas S, Wu B, Zhou M, Burke DA, Namboodiri VMK. Mesolimbic dopamine release conveys causal associations. Science 2022; 378:eabq6740. [PMID: 36480599 PMCID: PMC9910357 DOI: 10.1126/science.abq6740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Learning to predict rewards based on environmental cues is essential for survival. It is believed that animals learn to predict rewards by updating predictions whenever the outcome deviates from expectations, and that such reward prediction errors (RPEs) are signaled by the mesolimbic dopamine system-a key controller of learning. However, instead of learning prospective predictions from RPEs, animals can infer predictions by learning the retrospective cause of rewards. Hence, whether mesolimbic dopamine instead conveys a causal associative signal that sometimes resembles RPE remains unknown. We developed an algorithm for retrospective causal learning and found that mesolimbic dopamine release conveys causal associations but not RPE, thereby challenging the dominant theory of reward learning. Our results reshape the conceptual and biological framework for associative learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huijeong Jeong
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Annie Taylor
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Joseph R Floeder
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | | | - Stefan Mihalas
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Brenda Wu
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Mingkang Zhou
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Dennis A Burke
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Vijay Mohan K Namboodiri
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Weill Institute for Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
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23
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Kutlu MG, Zachry JE, Melugin PR, Tat J, Cajigas S, Isiktas AU, Patel DD, Siciliano CA, Schoenbaum G, Sharpe MJ, Calipari ES. Dopamine signaling in the nucleus accumbens core mediates latent inhibition. Nat Neurosci 2022; 25:1071-1081. [PMID: 35902648 PMCID: PMC9768922 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-022-01126-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Studies investigating the neural mechanisms by which associations between cues and predicted outcomes control behavior often use associative learning frameworks to understand the neural control of behavior. These frameworks do not always account for the full range of effects that novelty can have on behavior and future associative learning. Here, in mice, we show that dopamine in the nucleus accumbens core is evoked by novel, neutral stimuli, and the trajectory of this response over time tracked habituation to these stimuli. Habituation to novel cues before associative learning reduced future associative learning, a phenomenon known as latent inhibition. Crucially, trial-by-trial dopamine response patterns tracked this phenomenon. Optogenetic manipulation of dopamine responses to the cue during the habituation period bidirectionally influenced future associative learning. Thus, dopamine signaling in the nucleus accumbens core has a causal role in novelty-based learning in a way that cannot be predicted based on purely associative factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Munir Gunes Kutlu
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Jennifer E Zachry
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Patrick R Melugin
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Jennifer Tat
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Stephanie Cajigas
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Atagun U Isiktas
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Dev D Patel
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Cody A Siciliano
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Geoffrey Schoenbaum
- Intramural Research Program, National Institutes on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Melissa J Sharpe
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Erin S Calipari
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
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24
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de Jong JW, Fraser KM, Lammel S. Mesoaccumbal Dopamine Heterogeneity: What Do Dopamine Firing and Release Have to Do with It? Annu Rev Neurosci 2022; 45:109-129. [PMID: 35226827 PMCID: PMC9271543 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-110920-011929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine (DA) neurons are often thought to uniformly encode reward prediction errors. Conversely, DA release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), the prominent projection target of these neurons, has been implicated in reinforcement learning, motivation, aversion, and incentive salience. This contrast between heterogeneous functions of DA release versus a homogeneous role for DA neuron activity raises numerous questions regarding how VTA DA activity translates into NAc DA release. Further complicating this issue is increasing evidence that distinct VTA DA projections into defined NAc subregions mediate diverse behavioral functions. Here, we evaluate evidence for heterogeneity within the mesoaccumbal DA system and argue that frameworks of DA function must incorporate the precise topographic organization of VTA DA neurons to clarify their contribution to health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes W de Jong
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA;
| | - Kurt M Fraser
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA;
| | - Stephan Lammel
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA;
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25
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Seitz BM, Hoang IB, DiFazio LE, Blaisdell AP, Sharpe MJ. Dopamine errors drive excitatory and inhibitory components of backward conditioning in an outcome-specific manner. Curr Biol 2022; 32:3210-3218.e3. [PMID: 35752165 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.06.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Revised: 04/29/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
For over two decades, phasic activity in midbrain dopamine neurons was considered synonymous with the prediction error in temporal-difference reinforcement learning.1-4 Central to this proposal is the notion that reward-predictive stimuli become endowed with the scalar value of predicted rewards. When these cues are subsequently encountered, their predictive value is compared to the value of the actual reward received, allowing for the calculation of prediction errors.5,6 Phasic firing of dopamine neurons was proposed to reflect this computation,1,2 facilitating the backpropagation of value from the predicted reward to the reward-predictive stimulus, thus reducing future prediction errors. There are two critical assumptions of this proposal: (1) that dopamine errors can only facilitate learning about scalar value and not more complex features of predicted rewards, and (2) that the dopamine signal can only be involved in anticipatory cue-reward learning in which cues or actions precede rewards. Recent work7-15 has challenged the first assumption, demonstrating that phasic dopamine signals across species are involved in learning about more complex features of the predicted outcomes, in a manner that transcends this value computation. Here, we tested the validity of the second assumption. Specifically, we examined whether phasic midbrain dopamine activity would be necessary for backward conditioning-when a neutral cue reliably follows a rewarding outcome.16-20 Using a specific Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) procedure,21-23 we show rats learn both excitatory and inhibitory components of a backward association, and that this association entails knowledge of the specific identity of the reward and cue. We demonstrate that brief optogenetic inhibition of VTADA neurons timed to the transition between the reward and cue reduces both of these components of backward conditioning. These findings suggest VTADA neurons are capable of facilitating associations between contiguously occurring events, regardless of the content of those events. We conclude that these data may be in line with suggestions that the VTADA error acts as a universal teaching signal. This may provide insight into why dopamine function has been implicated in myriad psychological disorders that are characterized by very distinct reinforcement-learning deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin M Seitz
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 91602, USA
| | - Ivy B Hoang
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 91602, USA
| | - Lauren E DiFazio
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 91602, USA
| | - Aaron P Blaisdell
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 91602, USA
| | - Melissa J Sharpe
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 91602, USA.
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van Elzelingen W, Goedhoop J, Warnaar P, Denys D, Arbab T, Willuhn I. A unidirectional but not uniform striatal landscape of dopamine signaling for motivational stimuli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2117270119. [PMID: 35594399 PMCID: PMC9171911 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2117270119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Dopamine signals in the striatum are critical for motivated behavior. However, their regional specificity and precise information content are actively debated. Dopaminergic projections to the striatum are topographically organized. Thus, we quantified dopamine release in response to motivational stimuli and associated predictive cues in six principal striatal regions of unrestrained, behaving rats. Absolute signal size and its modulation by stimulus value and by subjective state of the animal were interregionally heterogeneous on a medial to lateral gradient. In contrast, dopamine-concentration direction of change was homogeneous across all regions: appetitive stimuli increased and aversive stimuli decreased dopamine concentration. Although cues predictive of such motivational stimuli acquired the same influence over dopamine homogeneously across all regions, dopamine-mediated prediction-error signals were restricted to the ventromedial, limbic striatum. Together, our findings demonstrate a nuanced striatal landscape of unidirectional but not uniform dopamine signals, topographically encoding distinct aspects of motivational stimuli and their prediction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wouter van Elzelingen
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1105 BA Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jessica Goedhoop
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1105 BA Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Pascal Warnaar
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1105 BA Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Damiaan Denys
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1105 BA Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tara Arbab
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1105 BA Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Ingo Willuhn
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1105 BA Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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27
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Millard SJ, Bearden CE, Karlsgodt KH, Sharpe MJ. The prediction-error hypothesis of schizophrenia: new data point to circuit-specific changes in dopamine activity. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022; 47:628-640. [PMID: 34588607 PMCID: PMC8782867 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-01188-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2021] [Revised: 08/23/2021] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder affecting 21 million people worldwide. People with schizophrenia suffer from symptoms including psychosis and delusions, apathy, anhedonia, and cognitive deficits. Strikingly, schizophrenia is characterised by a learning paradox involving difficulties learning from rewarding events, whilst simultaneously 'overlearning' about irrelevant or neutral information. While dysfunction in dopaminergic signalling has long been linked to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, a cohesive framework that accounts for this learning paradox remains elusive. Recently, there has been an explosion of new research investigating how dopamine contributes to reinforcement learning, which illustrates that midbrain dopamine contributes in complex ways to reinforcement learning, not previously envisioned. This new data brings new possibilities for how dopamine signalling contributes to the symptomatology of schizophrenia. Building on recent work, we present a new neural framework for how we might envision specific dopamine circuits contributing to this learning paradox in schizophrenia in the context of models of reinforcement learning. Further, we discuss avenues of preclinical research with the use of cutting-edge neuroscience techniques where aspects of this model may be tested. Ultimately, it is hoped that this review will spur to action more research utilising specific reinforcement learning paradigms in preclinical models of schizophrenia, to reconcile seemingly disparate symptomatology and develop more efficient therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel J Millard
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
| | - Carrie E Bearden
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Katherine H Karlsgodt
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Melissa J Sharpe
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
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Zmigrod L, Robbins TW. Dopamine, Cognitive Flexibility, and IQ: Epistatic Catechol-O-MethylTransferase:DRD2 Gene-Gene Interactions Modulate Mental Rigidity. J Cogn Neurosci 2021; 34:153-179. [PMID: 34818409 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Cognitive flexibility has been hypothesized to be neurochemically rooted in dopamine neurotransmission. Nonetheless, underpowered sample sizes and contradictory meta-analytic findings have obscured the role of dopamine genes in cognitive flexibility and neglected potential gene-gene interactions. In this largest neurocognitive-genetic study to date (n = 1400), single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with elevated prefrontal dopamine levels (catechol-O-methyltransferase; rs4680) and diminished striatal dopamine (C957T; rs6277) were both implicated in Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance. Crucially, however, these genetic effects were only evident in low-IQ participants, suggesting high intelligence compensates for, and eliminates, the effect of dispositional dopamine functioning on flexibility. This interaction between cognitive systems may explain and resolve previous empirical inconsistencies in highly educated participant samples. Moreover, compensatory gene-gene interactions were discovered between catechol-O-methyltransferase and DRD2, such that genotypes conferring either elevated prefrontal dopamine or diminished striatal dopamine-via heightened striatally concentrated D2 dopamine receptor availability-are sufficient for cognitive flexibility, but neither is necessary. The study has therefore revealed a form of epistatic redundancy or substitutability among dopamine systems in shaping adaptable thought and action, thus defining boundary conditions for dopaminergic effects on flexible behavior. These results inform theories of clinical disorders and psychopharmacological interventions and uncover complex fronto-striatal synergies in human flexible cognition.
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VTA dopamine neuron activity encodes social interaction and promotes reinforcement learning through social prediction error. Nat Neurosci 2021; 25:86-97. [PMID: 34857949 PMCID: PMC7612196 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-021-00972-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 10/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Social interactions are motivated behaviors that in many species facilitate learning. However, how the brain encodes the reinforcing properties of social interactions remains elusive. Here, using in vivo recording in freely moving mice, we show that dopamine (DA) neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) increase their activity during interactions with an unfamiliar conspecific and display heterogeneous responses. Using a social instrumental task (SIT), we then show that VTA DA neuron activity encodes social prediction error and drives social reinforcement learning. Thus, our findings suggest that VTA DA neurons are a neural substrate for a social learning signal that drives motivated behavior.
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van Ruitenbeek P, Quaedflieg CWEM, Hernaus D, Hartogsveld B, Smeets T. Dopaminergic and noradrenergic modulation of stress-induced alterations in brain activation associated with goal-directed behaviour. J Psychopharmacol 2021; 35:1449-1463. [PMID: 34519561 PMCID: PMC8652367 DOI: 10.1177/02698811211044679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Acute stress is thought to reduce goal-directed behaviour, an effect purportedly associated with stress-induced release of catecholamines. In contrast, experimentally increased systemic catecholamine levels have been shown to increase goal-directed behaviour. Whether experimentally increased catecholamine function can modulate stress-induced reductions in goal-directed behaviour and its neural substrates, is currently unknown. AIM To assess whether and how experimentally induced increases in dopamine and noradrenaline contribute to the acute stress effects on goal-directed behaviour and associated brain activation. METHODS One hundred participants underwent a stress induction protocol (Maastricht acute stress test; MAST) or a control procedure and received methylphenidate (MPH) (40 mg, oral) or placebo according to a 2 × 2 between-subjects design. In a well-established instrumental learning paradigm, participants learnt stimulus-response-outcome associations, after which rewards were selectively devalued. Participants' brain activation and associated goal-directed behaviour were assessed in a magnetic resonance imaging scanner at peak cortisol/MPH concentrations. RESULTS The MAST and MPH increased physiological measures of stress (salivary cortisol and blood pressure), but only MAST increased subjective measures of stress. MPH modulated stress effects on activation of brain areas associated with goal-directed behaviour, including insula, putamen, amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, frontal pole and orbitofrontal cortex. However, MPH did not modulate the tendency of stress to induce a reduction in goal-directed behaviour. CONCLUSION Our neuroimaging data suggest that MPH-induced increases in dopamine and noradrenaline reverse stress-induced changes in key brain regions associated with goal-directed behaviour, while behavioural effects were absent. These effects may be relevant for preventing stress-induced maladaptive behaviour like in addiction or binge eating disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter van Ruitenbeek
- Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands,Peter van Ruitenbeek, Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, Maastricht 6229 ER, The Netherlands.
| | - Conny WEM Quaedflieg
- Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Dennis Hernaus
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Faculty of Health Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Bart Hartogsveld
- Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Tom Smeets
- Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands,CoRPS – Center of Research on Psychological and Somatic Diseases, Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Noord-Brabant, The Netherlands
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Smoking as a Common Modulator of Sensory Gating and Reward Learning in Individuals with Psychotic Disorders. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11121581. [PMID: 34942883 PMCID: PMC8699526 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11121581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2021] [Revised: 11/23/2021] [Accepted: 11/26/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Motivational and perceptual disturbances co-occur in psychosis and have been linked to aberrations in reward learning and sensory gating, respectively. Although traditionally studied independently, when viewed through a predictive coding framework, these processes can both be linked to dysfunction in striatal dopaminergic prediction error signaling. This study examined whether reward learning and sensory gating are correlated in individuals with psychotic disorders, and whether nicotine—a psychostimulant that amplifies phasic striatal dopamine firing—is a common modulator of these two processes. We recruited 183 patients with psychotic disorders (79 schizophrenia, 104 psychotic bipolar disorder) and 129 controls and assessed reward learning (behavioral probabilistic reward task), sensory gating (P50 event-related potential), and smoking history. Reward learning and sensory gating were correlated across the sample. Smoking influenced reward learning and sensory gating in both patient groups; however, the effects were in opposite directions. Specifically, smoking was associated with improved performance in individuals with schizophrenia but impaired performance in individuals with psychotic bipolar disorder. These findings suggest that reward learning and sensory gating are linked and modulated by smoking. However, disorder-specific associations with smoking suggest that nicotine may expose pathophysiological differences in the architecture and function of prediction error circuitry in these overlapping yet distinct psychotic disorders.
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32
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K Namboodiri VM, Stuber GD. The learning of prospective and retrospective cognitive maps within neural circuits. Neuron 2021; 109:3552-3575. [PMID: 34678148 PMCID: PMC8809184 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.09.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Revised: 08/26/2021] [Accepted: 09/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Brain circuits are thought to form a "cognitive map" to process and store statistical relationships in the environment. A cognitive map is commonly defined as a mental representation that describes environmental states (i.e., variables or events) and the relationship between these states. This process is commonly conceptualized as a prospective process, as it is based on the relationships between states in chronological order (e.g., does reward follow a given state?). In this perspective, we expand this concept on the basis of recent findings to postulate that in addition to a prospective map, the brain forms and uses a retrospective cognitive map (e.g., does a given state precede reward?). In doing so, we demonstrate that many neural signals and behaviors (e.g., habits) that seem inflexible and non-cognitive can result from retrospective cognitive maps. Together, we present a significant conceptual reframing of the neurobiological study of associative learning, memory, and decision making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vijay Mohan K Namboodiri
- Department of Neurology, Center for Integrative Neuroscience, Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.
| | - Garret D Stuber
- Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction, Pain, and Emotion, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
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33
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Seitz BM, Blaisdell AP, Sharpe MJ. Higher-Order Conditioning and Dopamine: Charting a Path Forward. Front Behav Neurosci 2021; 15:745388. [PMID: 34671247 PMCID: PMC8520911 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.745388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Higher-order conditioning involves learning causal links between multiple events, which then allows one to make novel inferences. For example, observing a correlation between two events (e.g., a neighbor wearing a particular sports jersey), later helps one make new predictions based on this knowledge (e.g., the neighbor's wife's favorite sports team). This type of learning is important because it allows one to benefit maximally from previous experiences and perform adaptively in complex environments where many things are ambiguous or uncertain. Two procedures in the lab are often used to probe this kind of learning, second-order conditioning (SOC) and sensory preconditioning (SPC). In second-order conditioning (SOC), we first teach subjects that there is a relationship between a stimulus and an outcome (e.g., a tone that predicts food). Then, an additional stimulus is taught to precede the predictive stimulus (e.g., a light leads to the food-predictive tone). In sensory preconditioning (SPC), this order of training is reversed. Specifically, the two neutral stimuli (i.e., light and tone) are first paired together and then the tone is paired separately with food. Interestingly, in both SPC and SOC, humans, rodents, and even insects, and other invertebrates will later predict that both the light and tone are likely to lead to food, even though they only experienced the tone directly paired with food. While these processes are procedurally similar, a wealth of research suggests they are associatively and neurobiologically distinct. However, midbrain dopamine, a neurotransmitter long thought to facilitate basic Pavlovian conditioning in a relatively simplistic manner, appears critical for both SOC and SPC. These findings suggest dopamine may contribute to learning in ways that transcend differences in associative and neurological structure. We discuss how research demonstrating that dopamine is critical to both SOC and SPC places it at the center of more complex forms of cognition (e.g., spatial navigation and causal reasoning). Further, we suggest that these more sophisticated learning procedures, coupled with recent advances in recording and manipulating dopamine neurons, represent a new path forward in understanding dopamine's contribution to learning and cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin M Seitz
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Aaron P Blaisdell
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Melissa J Sharpe
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
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34
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Tanaka S, Taylor JE, Sakagami M. The effect of effort on reward prediction error signals in midbrain dopamine neurons. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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35
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Eckstein MK, Wilbrecht L, Collins AGE. What do Reinforcement Learning Models Measure? Interpreting Model Parameters in Cognition and Neuroscience. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2021; 41:128-137. [PMID: 34984213 PMCID: PMC8722372 DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Reinforcement learning (RL) is a concept that has been invaluable to fields including machine learning, neuroscience, and cognitive science. However, what RL entails differs between fields, leading to difficulties when interpreting and translating findings. After laying out these differences, this paper focuses on cognitive (neuro)science to discuss how we as a field might over-interpret RL modeling results. We too often assume-implicitly-that modeling results generalize between tasks, models, and participant populations, despite negative empirical evidence for this assumption. We also often assume that parameters measure specific, unique (neuro)cognitive processes, a concept we call interpretability, when evidence suggests that they capture different functions across studies and tasks. We conclude that future computational research needs to pay increased attention to implicit assumptions when using RL models, and suggest that a more systematic understanding of contextual factors will help address issues and improve the ability of RL to explain brain and behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria K Eckstein
- Department of Psychology, UC Berkeley, 2121 Berkeley Way West, Berkeley, 94720, CA, USA
| | - Linda Wilbrecht
- Department of Psychology, UC Berkeley, 2121 Berkeley Way West, Berkeley, 94720, CA, USA
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, UC Berkeley, 175 Li Ka Shing Center, Berkeley, 94720, CA, USA
| | - Anne G E Collins
- Department of Psychology, UC Berkeley, 2121 Berkeley Way West, Berkeley, 94720, CA, USA
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, UC Berkeley, 175 Li Ka Shing Center, Berkeley, 94720, CA, USA
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36
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Iordanova MD, Yau JOY, McDannald MA, Corbit LH. Neural substrates of appetitive and aversive prediction error. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 123:337-351. [PMID: 33453307 PMCID: PMC7933120 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.10.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2020] [Revised: 08/24/2020] [Accepted: 10/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Prediction error, defined by the discrepancy between real and expected outcomes, lies at the core of associative learning. Behavioural investigations have provided evidence that prediction error up- and down-regulates associative relationships, and allocates attention to stimuli to enable learning. These behavioural advances have recently been followed by investigations into the neurobiological substrates of prediction error. In the present paper, we review neuroscience data obtained using causal and recording neural methods from a variety of key behavioural designs. We explore the neurobiology of both appetitive (reward) and aversive (fear) prediction error with a focus on the mesolimbic dopamine system, the amygdala, ventrolateral periaqueductal gray, hippocampus, cortex and locus coeruleus noradrenaline. New questions and avenues for research are considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mihaela D Iordanova
- Department of Psychology/Centre for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke St, Montreal, QC, H4B 1R6, Canada.
| | - Joanna Oi-Yue Yau
- School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales, UNSW Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
| | - Michael A McDannald
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, 514 McGuinn Hall, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467, USA.
| | - Laura H Corbit
- Departments of Psychology and Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G3, Canada.
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37
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Rmus M, McDougle SD, Collins AGE. The role of executive function in shaping reinforcement learning. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2021; 38:66-73. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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38
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Lerner TN, Holloway AL, Seiler JL. Dopamine, Updated: Reward Prediction Error and Beyond. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2021; 67:123-130. [PMID: 33197709 PMCID: PMC8116345 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2020.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2020] [Revised: 10/12/2020] [Accepted: 10/14/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Dopamine neurons have been intensely studied for their roles in reinforcement learning. A dominant theory of how these neurons contribute to learning is through the encoding of a reward prediction error (RPE) signal. Recent advances in dopamine research have added nuance to RPE theory by incorporating the ideas of sensory prediction error, distributional encoding, and belief states. Further nuance is likely to be added shortly by convergent lines of research on dopamine neuron diversity. Finally, a major challenge is to reconcile RPE theory with other current theories of dopamine function to account for dopamine's role in movement, motivation, and goal-directed planning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Talia N Lerner
- Feinberg School of Medicine and Department of Physiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA; Northwestern University Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Chicago, IL, USA.
| | - Ashley L Holloway
- Feinberg School of Medicine and Department of Physiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA; Northwestern University Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Jillian L Seiler
- Feinberg School of Medicine and Department of Physiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
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39
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Speranza L, di Porzio U, Viggiano D, de Donato A, Volpicelli F. Dopamine: The Neuromodulator of Long-Term Synaptic Plasticity, Reward and Movement Control. Cells 2021; 10:735. [PMID: 33810328 PMCID: PMC8066851 DOI: 10.3390/cells10040735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 169] [Impact Index Per Article: 42.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2021] [Revised: 03/20/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Dopamine (DA) is a key neurotransmitter involved in multiple physiological functions including motor control, modulation of affective and emotional states, reward mechanisms, reinforcement of behavior, and selected higher cognitive functions. Dysfunction in dopaminergic transmission is recognized as a core alteration in several devastating neurological and psychiatric disorders, including Parkinson's disease (PD), schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and addiction. Here we will discuss the current insights on the role of DA in motor control and reward learning mechanisms and its involvement in the modulation of synaptic dynamics through different pathways. In particular, we will consider the role of DA as neuromodulator of two forms of synaptic plasticity, known as long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) in several cortical and subcortical areas. Finally, we will delineate how the effect of DA on dendritic spines places this molecule at the interface between the motor and the cognitive systems. Specifically, we will be focusing on PD, vascular dementia, and schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luisa Speranza
- Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA;
| | - Umberto di Porzio
- Institute of Genetics and Biophysics “Adriano Buzzati Traverso”, CNR, 80131 Naples, Italy
| | - Davide Viggiano
- Department of Translational Medical Sciences, Genetic Research Institute “Gaetano Salvatore”, University of Campania “L. Vanvitelli”, IT and Biogem S.c.a.r.l., 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy; (D.V.); (A.d.D.)
| | - Antonio de Donato
- Department of Translational Medical Sciences, Genetic Research Institute “Gaetano Salvatore”, University of Campania “L. Vanvitelli”, IT and Biogem S.c.a.r.l., 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy; (D.V.); (A.d.D.)
| | - Floriana Volpicelli
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy;
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Moaddab M, McDannald MA. Retrorubral field is a hub for diverse threat and aversive outcome signals. Curr Biol 2021; 31:2099-2110.e5. [PMID: 33756109 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2019] [Revised: 01/13/2021] [Accepted: 02/25/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Adaptive fear scales to the degree of threat and requires diverse neural signals for threat and aversive outcome. We propose that the retrorubral field (RRF), a midbrain region containing A8 dopamine, is a neural origin of such signals. To reveal these signals, we recorded RRF single-unit activity while male rats discriminated danger, uncertainty, and safety. Many RRF neurons showed firing extremes to danger and safety that framed intermediate firing to uncertainty. The remaining neurons showed unique, threat-selective cue firing patterns. Diversity in firing direction, magnitude, and temporal characteristics led to the detection of at least eight functional neuron types. Neuron types defined with respect to threat showed unique firing patterns following aversive outcome. The result was RRF signals for foot shock receipt, positive prediction error, anti-positive prediction error, persistent safety, and persistent threat. The diversity of threat and aversive outcome signals points to a key role for the RRF in adaptive fear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahsa Moaddab
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA.
| | - Michael A McDannald
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA.
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41
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Sharpe MJ, Batchelor HM, Mueller LE, Gardner MPH, Schoenbaum G. Past experience shapes the neural circuits recruited for future learning. Nat Neurosci 2021; 24:391-400. [PMID: 33589832 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-020-00791-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Experimental research controls for past experience, yet prior experience influences how we learn. Here, we tested whether we could recruit a neural population that usually encodes rewards to encode aversive events. Specifically, we found that GABAergic neurons in the lateral hypothalamus (LH) were not involved in learning about fear in naïve rats. However, if these rats had prior experience with rewards, LH GABAergic neurons became important for learning about fear. Interestingly, inhibition of these neurons paradoxically enhanced learning about neutral sensory information, regardless of prior experience, suggesting that LH GABAergic neurons normally oppose learning about irrelevant information. These experiments suggest that prior experience shapes the neural circuits recruited for future learning in a highly specific manner, reopening the neural boundaries we have drawn for learning of particular types of information from work in naïve subjects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa J Sharpe
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Hannah M Batchelor
- National Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Program, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Lauren E Mueller
- National Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Program, Baltimore, MD, USA
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42
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Behavioral determinants in the expression of the Kamin blocking effect: Implications for associative learning theory. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 124:16-34. [PMID: 33497781 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2020] [Revised: 01/02/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Associative learning makes important contributions to our behavior and decisions. The Kamin blocking effect is an associative learning phenomenon that plays a central role in understanding of the psychological principles underlying associative learning. However, several recent failures to replicate the blocking effect suggest that the conditions necessary for blocking are poorly understood. To understand the conditions necessary for blocking, here we review studies into the expression of blocking in subjects that either approach and interact with the conditioned cue (sign trackers) or approach and interact with the reward location (goal trackers) during appetitive classical conditioning. Psychological theory and the neurophysiological correlates of appetitive classical conditioning make opposing predictions regarding the expression of blocking in sign and goal trackers. We reconcile these opposing predictions in a qualitative model using two parallel learning processes. Such models offer a better framework for understanding the psychological associative structures acquired during learning, their interactions contributing to the conditioned response, and how they affect subsequent learning and the expression of the Kamin blocking effect.
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43
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Liashenko A, Dizaji AS, Melloni L, Schwiedrzik CM. Memory guidance of value-based decision making at an abstract level of representation. Sci Rep 2020; 10:21496. [PMID: 33299077 PMCID: PMC7726557 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-78460-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2020] [Accepted: 11/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Value-based decisions about alternatives we have never experienced can be guided by associations between current choice options and memories of prior reward. A critical question is how similar memories need to be to the current situation to effectively guide decisions. We address this question in the context of associative learning of faces using a sensory preconditioning paradigm. We find that memories of reward spread along established associations between faces to guide decision making. While memory guidance is specific for associated facial identities, it does not only occur for the specific images that were originally encountered. Instead, memory guidance generalizes across different images of the associated identities. This suggests that memory guidance does not rely on a pictorial format of representation but on a higher, view-invariant level of abstraction. Thus, memory guidance operates on a level of representation that neither over- nor underspecifies associative relationships in the context of obtaining reward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Liashenko
- Neural Circuits and Cognition Lab, European Neuroscience Institute Göttingen - A Joint Initiative of the University Medical Center Göttingen and the Max Planck Society, Grisebachstraße 5, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School Neurosciences at the Georg August University Göttingen, Grisebachstraße 5, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Aslan S Dizaji
- Neural Circuits and Cognition Lab, European Neuroscience Institute Göttingen - A Joint Initiative of the University Medical Center Göttingen and the Max Planck Society, Grisebachstraße 5, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Lucia Melloni
- Department of Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Grüneburgweg 14, 60322, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Department of Neurology, New York University School of Medicine, 223 East 34th Street, New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Caspar M Schwiedrzik
- Neural Circuits and Cognition Lab, European Neuroscience Institute Göttingen - A Joint Initiative of the University Medical Center Göttingen and the Max Planck Society, Grisebachstraße 5, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
- Perception and Plasticity Group, German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
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Reward influences cortical representations: Commentary on the paper "The growth of cognition: free energy minimization and the embryogenesis of cortical computation" by Wright and Bourke. Phys Life Rev 2020; 36:3-4. [PMID: 33278814 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2020.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Accepted: 11/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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45
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Bang D, Kishida KT, Lohrenz T, White JP, Laxton AW, Tatter SB, Fleming SM, Montague PR. Sub-second Dopamine and Serotonin Signaling in Human Striatum during Perceptual Decision-Making. Neuron 2020; 108:999-1010.e6. [PMID: 33049201 PMCID: PMC7736619 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.09.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2020] [Revised: 07/30/2020] [Accepted: 09/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Recent animal research indicates that dopamine and serotonin, neuromodulators traditionally linked to appetitive and aversive processes, are also involved in sensory inference and decisions based on such inference. We tested this hypothesis in humans by monitoring sub-second striatal dopamine and serotonin signaling during a visual motion discrimination task that separates sensory uncertainty from decision difficulty in a factorial design. Caudate nucleus recordings (n = 4) revealed multi-scale encoding: in three participants, serotonin tracked sensory uncertainty, and, in one participant, both dopamine and serotonin tracked deviations from expected trial transitions within our factorial design. Putamen recordings (n = 1) supported a cognition-action separation between caudate nucleus and putamen—a striatal sub-division unique to primates—with both dopamine and serotonin tracking decision times. These first-of-their-kind observations in the human brain reveal a role for sub-second dopamine and serotonin signaling in non-reward-based aspects of cognition and action. Dopamine and serotonin are measured in human striatum during awake decision-making Serotonin tracks sensory uncertainty in caudate nucleus Dopamine and serotonin track sensory statistics in caudate nucleus Dopamine and serotonin track decision times in putamen
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Bang
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, UK; Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK.
| | - Kenneth T Kishida
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA.
| | - Terry Lohrenz
- Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, Virginia Tech, Roanoke, VA 24016, USA
| | - Jason P White
- Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, Virginia Tech, Roanoke, VA 24016, USA
| | - Adrian W Laxton
- Department of Neurosurgery, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA
| | - Stephen B Tatter
- Department of Neurosurgery, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA
| | - Stephen M Fleming
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, UK; Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London WC1H 0AP, UK; Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London, WC1B 5EH, UK
| | - P Read Montague
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, UK; Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, Virginia Tech, Roanoke, VA 24016, USA; Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
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46
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Gahnstrom CJ, Spiers HJ. Striatal and hippocampal contributions to flexible navigation in rats and humans. Brain Neurosci Adv 2020; 4:2398212820979772. [PMID: 33426302 PMCID: PMC7755934 DOI: 10.1177/2398212820979772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2020] [Accepted: 11/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The hippocampus has been firmly established as playing a crucial role in flexible navigation. Recent evidence suggests that dorsal striatum may also play an important role in such goal-directed behaviour in both rodents and humans. Across recent studies, activity in the caudate nucleus has been linked to forward planning and adaptation to changes in the environment. In particular, several human neuroimaging studies have found the caudate nucleus tracks information traditionally associated with that by the hippocampus. In this brief review, we examine this evidence and argue the dorsal striatum encodes the transition structure of the environment during flexible, goal-directed behaviour. We highlight that future research should explore the following: (1) Investigate neural responses during spatial navigation via a biophysically plausible framework explained by reinforcement learning models and (2) Observe the interaction between cortical areas and both the dorsal striatum and hippocampus during flexible navigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoffer J. Gahnstrom
- Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Experimental Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Hugo J. Spiers
- Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Experimental Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
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