Interaction between emotional state and learning underlies mood instability

Eran Eldar () and Yael Niv
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Eran Eldar: Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University
Yael Niv: Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Intuitively, good and bad outcomes affect our emotional state, but whether the emotional state feeds back onto the perception of outcomes remains unknown. Here, we use behaviour and functional neuroimaging of human participants to investigate this bidirectional interaction, by comparing the evaluation of slot machines played before and after an emotion-impacting wheel-of-fortune draw. Results indicate that self-reported mood instability is associated with a positive-feedback effect of emotional state on the perception of outcomes. We then use theoretical simulations to demonstrate that such positive feedback would result in mood destabilization. Taken together, our results suggest that the interaction between emotional state and learning may play a significant role in the emergence of mood instability.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7149

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