Research article summary (published 30 Aug 2009):

Impairment of probabilistic reward-based learning in schizophrenia.

Full Abstract

Recent models assume that some symptoms of schizophrenia originate from defective reward processing mechanisms. Understanding the precise nature of reward-based learning impairments might thus make an important contribution to the understanding of schizophrenia and the development of treatment strategies. The present study investigated several features of probabilistic reward-based stimulus association learning, namely the acquisition of initial contingencies, reversal learning, generalization abilities, and the effects of reward magnitude. Compared to healthy controls, individuals with schizophrenia exhibited attenuated overall performance during acquisition, whereas learning rates across blocks were similar to the rates of controls. On the group level, persons with schizophrenia were, however, unable to learn the reversal of the initial reward contingencies. Exploratory analysis of only the subgroup of individuals with schizophrenia who showed significant learning during acquisition yielded deficits in reversal learning with low reward magnitudes only. There was further evidence of a mild generalization impairment of the persons with schizophrenia in an acquired equivalence task. In summary, although there was evidence of intact basic processing of reward magnitudes, individuals with schizophrenia were impaired at using this feedback for the adaptive guidance of behavior.

Author information

Author/s: Weiler, Julia A (JA); Bellebaum, Christian (C); Brüne, Martin (M); Juckel, Georg (G); Daum, Irene (I);

Affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neuropsychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. julia.weiler(-atsign-)rub.de

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Neuropsychology (Neuropsychology), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Sep; vol 23 (issue 5) : pp 571-80

Dates: Created 2009/08/25; Completed 2009/10/16;

PMID: 19702411, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/16/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult Analysis of Variance Association Learning - physiology Female Humans Learning Disorders - etiology Male

Neuropsychological Tests Probability Reaction Time - physiology Reward Schizophrenia - complications Schizophrenic Psychology Young Adult

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