Reward learning

Efficient contingent learning requires actions and outcomes to be closely associated in time. Extensive prior work indicates that interaction between amygdala, frontal cortex, and striatum is critical for this type of learning. Here, we conducted neurophysiology recordings and applied computational approaches to understand how activity in this circuit varies when choice and reward are separated in time, intentionally decreasing animals’ ability to associate the two together. We trained 3 rhesus macaques to perform a probabilistic reward-learning task. In each session, animals learn the probabi

…risk-taking, and sensitivity to rewards, alongside neural and behavioral changes. Research suggests that alterations in functional connectivity within and between cortical and subcortical areas optimize interregional communication, impacting reward processing and decision-making. Hormonal changes, notably gonadal hormones, significantly influence adolescent behavior and brain development. This study aims to elucidate adolescent behavior through a reward learning paradigm while investigating underlying neuronal

The frontal cortex plays critical roles in learning and decision-making, particularly in representing reward-related variables such as reward magnitude and probability. Previous studies have identified frontal neural representations of these variables in expertly trained animals. However, it remains unknown how these representations emerge during learning from naive to expert. To address this gap, we use 2-photon microscopy to longitudinally record the activity of the same population of neurons in the dorsomedial frontal cortex. We record from head-fixed mice learning to perform Pavlovian or o

Learning from rewards and punishments is crucial for survival, and is mediated by interactions between the prefrontal-cortex (PFC) and subcortical structures. It is thought that inhibition plays a key role in these interactions, yet there is little direct evidence for this in humans. Here we overcome the technical challenges of measuring inhibition in the human brain and show that the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric-acid (GABA) differentially affects the interaction between the dorsal-anterior-cingulate-cortex (dACC) and subcortical structures during learning with reward

Learning the predictive relationships between stimuli and rewards is critical for adaptive behaviour. Non-human animal studies suggest that reward learning is driven by dopaminergic midbrain responses which evolve in time from a salience signal to a valuation signal (Schultz, 2016). These two signals are believed to emerge from the same population of midbrain neurons and as such are mixed into an aggregate signal that is difficult to decouple, even at the level of single-neuron recordings. Here we exploit high-temporal precision electrophysiology (EEG) collected simultaneously with 7T function

…in temporal difference (TD) models of reward learning. However, the neuromodulatory substrates of threat prediction errors have remained elusive. Norepinephrine (NE) is released by surprise and uncertainty, and causal manipulations demonstrate a role for NE in threat learning. Thus, we hypothesized that NE encodes a threat prediction error signal, and compared NE release measurements in mice undergoing threat learning with predictions of TD learning. NE release scales with the strength of fear associations and threat imminence. Ho

Elucidating the neural basis of cognition requires incorporating cognitive models into the modelling of neural data. A prevalent strategy in neuroimaging is to fit computational models of cognition to concurrent behavior, and then regress the latent variables of those models onto fMRI data. Though widely used, this approach is restricted to mapping computational variables that are in some way expressed in behavior. Here we introduce a computational parametric mapping (CPM), a framework which builds on and generalizes the Bayesian population receptive field framework. CPM offers three main adva

…without relying on extrinsic rewards. However, the field of inquiry has been somewhat segregated into three different research traditions which have been developed relatively independently --- research on curiosity, interest, and trait curiosity/interest. The current talk sets out an integrative perspective; the reward-learning framework of knowledge acquisition. This conceptual framework takes on the basic premise of existing reward-learning models of in

…without relying on extrinsic rewards. However, the field of inquiry has been somewhat segregated into three different research traditions which have been developed relatively independently -- research on curiosity, interest, and trait curiosity/interest. The current talk sets out an integrative perspective; the reward-learning framework of knowledge acquisition. This conceptual framework takes on the basic premise of existing reward-learning models of inf

The neurotransmitter dopamine is essential for normal reward learning and motivational arousal processes. Indeed these core functions are implicated in the major neurological and psychiatric dopamine disorders such as schizophrenia, substance abuse disorders/addiction and Parkinson's disease. Over the years, we have made significant strides in understanding the dopamine system across multiple levels of description, and I will focus on our recent advances in the computational description, and brain circuit mechanisms that facilitate the dual role of dopamine in learning and performance. I will

Learning the consequences our choices have as we interact with our world is critical for flexible behavior. Relational knowledge of one’s environment gives structure to otherwise-individual one-to-one stimulus-outcome mappings, providing a substrate to globally update behavioral contingencies in the face of changes in the landscape of reward. In the brain, this relational knowledge is thought to be encoded in the hippocampus (HPC) in the form of a cognitive map, while prefrontal regions, such as orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), are thought to instantiate subjective estimates of location on the map,