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| Research article summary (published 2 Feb 2009): |
Striatal dopamine predicts outcome-specific reversal learning and its sensitivity to dopaminergic drug administration.
Full Abstract
Individual variability in reward-based learning has been ascribed to quantitative variation in baseline levels of striatal dopamine. However, direct evidence for this pervasive hypothesis has hitherto been unavailable. We demonstrate that individual differences in reward-based reversal learning reflect variation in baseline striatal dopamine synthesis capacity, as measured with neurochemical positron emission tomography. Subjects with high baseline dopamine synthesis in the striatum showed relatively better reversal learning from unexpected rewards than from unexpected punishments, whereas subjects with low baseline dopamine synthesis in the striatum showed the reverse pattern. In addition, baseline dopamine synthesis predicted the direction of dopaminergic drug effects. The D(2) receptor agonist bromocriptine improved reward-based relative to punishment-based reversal learning in subjects with low baseline dopamine synthesis capacity, while impairing it in subjects with high baseline dopamine synthesis capacity in the striatum. Finally, this pattern of drug effects was outcome-specific, and driven primarily by drug effects on punishment-, but not reward-based reversal learning. These data demonstrate that the effects of D(2) receptor stimulation on reversal learning in humans depend on task demands and baseline striatal dopamine synthesis capacity.
Author information
Author/s: Cools, Roshan (R); Frank, Michael J (MJ); Gibbs, Sasha E (SE); Miyakawa, Asako (A); Jagust, William (W); D'Esposito, Mark (M);
Affiliation: Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands. roshan.cools(-atsign-)donders.ru.nl
Grants: AG027984 (Agency:NIA NIH HHS) ; DA02060 (Agency:NIDA NIH HHS) ; MH63901 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS) ; NS40813 (Agency:NINDS NIH HHS)
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Journal: The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience (J Neurosci), published in United States. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2009-Feb; vol 29 (issue 5) : pp 1538-43
Dates: Created 2009/02/05; Completed 2009/02/24;
PMID: 19193900, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 3/9/2009, IMS Date: 09 Mar 2009 00:00:00)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
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