Abstract
Successful adaptive behavior requires the learning of associations between stimulus-specific choices and rewarding outcomes. Most research on the mechanisms underlying such processes has focused on subcortical reward-processing regions, in conjunction with frontal circuits. Given the extensive stimulus-specific coding in the sensory cortices, we hypothesized they would play a key role in the learning of stimulus-specific reward associations. We recorded electrical brain activity (EEG) during a learning-based, decision-making, gambling task where, on each trial, participants chose between a face and a house and then received feedback (gain or loss). Within each 20-trial set, either faces or houses were more likely to predict a gain. Results showed that early feedback processing (~200-1200ms) was independent of the choice made. In contrast, later feedback processing (~1400-1800ms) was stimulus-specific, reflected by decreased alpha power (reflecting increased cortical activity) over face-selective regions. For winning-versus-losing after a face choice, but not after a house choice. Finally, as the reward association was learned in a set, there was increasingly stronger attentional bias towards the more likely winning stimulus, reflected by increasing attentional-orienting-related brain activity and increasing likelihood of choosing that stimulus. These results delineate the processes underlying the updating of stimulus-reward associations during feedback-guided learning, which then guides future attentional allocation and decision making.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 173–187 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 20-Dec-2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Feb-2019 |
Keywords
- ANTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX
- BASAL GANGLIA CIRCUITS
- DECISION-MAKING
- ATTENTION
- REPRESENTATION
- PERCEPTION
- OBJECT
- FMRI
- PREDICTION
- SIGNATURES