Topic: higher-order learning

Goal-directed behavior in dynamic environments requires animals to predict relevant changes, such as the occurrence of reinforcement, from the presence of sensory cues. This has been formalized in the prediction error theory, where the difference between the predicted and the received reinforcement serves as a driving force in the learning process to optimize future reinforcement prediction and to enable anticipatory approach or avoidance behavior. In the fruit fly brain, dopaminergic neurons in the mushroom body, a central structure for learning and memory, have been suggested to compute such