Dopamine regulates decision thresholds in human reinforcement learning in males

Karima Chakroun, Antonius Wiehler, Ben Wagner, David Mathar, Florian Ganzer, Thilo Eimeren, Tobias Sommer and Jan Peters ()
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Karima Chakroun: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
Antonius Wiehler: Motivation, Brain and Behavior Lab, Paris Brain Institute (ICM), Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital
Ben Wagner: Technical University Dresden
David Mathar: University of Cologne
Florian Ganzer: Integrated Psychiatry Winterthur
Thilo Eimeren: University Medical Center Cologne
Tobias Sommer: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
Jan Peters: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Dopamine fundamentally contributes to reinforcement learning, but recent accounts also suggest a contribution to specific action selection mechanisms and the regulation of response vigour. Here, we examine dopaminergic mechanisms underlying human reinforcement learning and action selection via a combined pharmacological neuroimaging approach in male human volunteers (n = 31, within-subjects; Placebo, 150 mg of the dopamine precursor L-dopa, 2 mg of the D2 receptor antagonist Haloperidol). We found little credible evidence for previously reported beneficial effects of L-dopa vs. Haloperidol on learning from gains and altered neural prediction error signals, which may be partly due to differences experimental design and/or drug dosages. Reinforcement learning drift diffusion models account for learning-related changes in accuracy and response times, and reveal consistent decision threshold reductions under both drugs, in line with the idea that lower dosages of D2 receptor antagonists increase striatal DA release via an autoreceptor-mediated feedback mechanism. These results are in line with the idea that dopamine regulates decision thresholds during reinforcement learning, and may help to bridge action selection and response vigor accounts of dopamine.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41130-y

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