scholarly journals Does dopamine synthesis capacity predict individual variation in curiosity?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lieke L. F. van Lieshout ◽  
Ruben van den Bosch ◽  
Lieke Hofmans ◽  
Floris P. de Lange ◽  
Roshan Cools
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Ventral Striatum ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
Neuronal Firing ◽  
Dopamine Synthesis ◽  
Prediction Errors ◽  
Firing Rates ◽  
Outcome Valence ◽  
Different Types

SummaryCuriosity, which can be defined as “intrinsically motivated information-seeking”, is an important driving force in our everyday lives. Based on previous evidence demonstrating a link between information prediction errors and dopamine neuronal firing rates, we asked whether the drive to seek information varies with individual differences in dopamine synthesis capacity. In order to investigate this, we let participants perform a lottery task in which we independently manipulated outcome uncertainty, outcome valence (gains versus losses) and expected value, and asked participants to indicate their curiosity for each presented lottery. In a separate session, participants underwent an [18F]DOPA PET scan to quantify their dopamine synthesis capacity. We replicate previous behavioral results, showing that curiosity is a function of outcome uncertainty as well as outcome valence (gain versus loss). However, we found no evidence that curiosity or the sensitivity to outcome uncertainty, outcome valence and expected value was related to participants’ dopamine synthesis capacity in the ventral striatum, the caudate nucleus or the putamen. These findings stress the need for further studies into the role of dopamine in (different types of) curiosity.

scholarly journals Striatal Dopamine and Reward Prediction Error Signaling in Unmedicated Schizophrenia Patients

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 1535-1546
Author(s):  
Teresa Katthagen ◽  
Jakob Kaminski ◽  
Andreas Heinz ◽  
Ralph Buchert ◽  
Florian Schlagenhauf
Keyword(s):  
Reversal Learning ◽  
Prediction Error ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Ventral Striatum ◽  
Striatal Dopamine ◽  
Dopamine Synthesis ◽  
Positive Symptoms ◽  
Prediction Errors ◽  
Reward Prediction Error ◽  
Reward Prediction

Abstract Increased striatal dopamine synthesis capacity has consistently been reported in patients with schizophrenia. However, the mechanism translating this into behavior and symptoms remains unclear. It has been proposed that heightened striatal dopamine may blunt dopaminergic reward prediction error signaling during reinforcement learning. In this study, we investigated striatal dopamine synthesis capacity, reward prediction errors, and their association in unmedicated schizophrenia patients (n = 19) and healthy controls (n = 23). They took part in FDOPA-PET and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning, where they performed a reversal-learning paradigm. The groups were compared regarding dopamine synthesis capacity (Kicer), fMRI neural prediction error signals, and the correlation of both. Patients did not differ from controls with respect to striatal Kicer. Taking into account, comorbid alcohol abuse revealed that patients without such abuse showed elevated Kicer in the associative striatum, while those with abuse did not differ from controls. Comparing all patients to controls, patients performed worse during reversal learning and displayed reduced prediction error signaling in the ventral striatum. In controls, Kicer in the limbic striatum correlated with higher reward prediction error signaling, while there was no significant association in patients. Kicer in the associative striatum correlated with higher positive symptoms and blunted reward prediction error signaling was associated with negative symptoms. Our results suggest a dissociation between striatal subregions and symptom domains, with elevated dopamine synthesis capacity in the associative striatum contributing to positive symptoms while blunted prediction error signaling in the ventral striatum related to negative symptoms.

scholarly journals Specific Role of VTA Dopamine Neuronal Firing Rates and Morphology in the Reversal of Anxiety-Related, but not Depression-Related Behavior in the ClockΔ19 Mouse Model of Mania

2011 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 1478-1488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Coque ◽  
Shibani Mukherjee ◽  
Jun-Li Cao ◽  
Sade Spencer ◽  
Marian Marvin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mouse Model ◽  
Neuronal Firing ◽  
Specific Role ◽  
Firing Rates

scholarly journals Curiosity or savouring? Information seeking is modulated by both uncertainty and valence

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0257011
Author(s):  
Lieke L. F. van Lieshout ◽  
Iris J. Traast ◽  
Floris P. de Lange ◽  
Roshan Cools
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
Bad News ◽  
Positive Information ◽  
Everyday Lives ◽  
Outcome Valence ◽  
Uncertain Outcomes ◽  
Gains And Losses

Curiosity is pervasive in our everyday lives, but we know little about the factors that contribute to this drive. In the current study, we assessed whether curiosity about uncertain outcomes is modulated by the valence of the information, i.e. whether the information is good or bad news. Using a lottery task in which outcome uncertainty, expected value and outcome valence (gain versus loss) were manipulated independently, we found that curiosity is overall higher for gains compared with losses and that curiosity increased with increasing outcome uncertainty for both gains and losses. These effects of uncertainty and valence did not interact, indicating that the motivation to reduce uncertainty and the motivation to maximize positive information represent separate, independent drives.

scholarly journals Curiosity or savouring? Information seeking is modulated by both uncertainty and valence.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lieke van Lieshout ◽  
Iris Traast ◽  
Floris de Lange ◽  
Roshan Cools
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Negative Information ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
Bad News ◽  
Positive Information ◽  
World Model ◽  
Outcome Valence ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Uncertain Outcomes ◽  
Gains And Losses

Curiosity is pervasive in our everyday lives, but little is known about its underlying mechanisms. In the current study, we assessed whether curiosity about uncertain outcomes is modulated by the valence of the information, i.e. whether the information is good or bad news. Using a lottery task in which outcome uncertainty, expected value and outcome valence (gain versus loss) were manipulated independently, we found that curiosity is overall higher for gains compared with losses. Surprisingly, curiosity increased with increasing outcome uncertainty for both gains and losses, contradicting models that posit that humans seek positive and avoid negative information. Curiosity thus follows from multiple drives, including a drive to improve our world model, as well as, separately, a drive to maximize positive information.

scholarly journals Signed Reward Prediction Errors in the Ventral Striatum Drive Episodic Memory

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian Buc Calderon ◽  
Esther De Loof ◽  
Kate Ergo ◽  
Anna Snoeck ◽  
Carsten Nico Boehler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Ventral Striatum ◽  
Declarative Memory ◽  
Choice Task ◽  
Prediction Errors ◽  
Reward Prediction ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Memory Acquisition ◽  
Behavioral Evidence

AbstractA growing body of behavioral evidence implicates reward prediction errors (RPEs) as a key factor in the acquisition of episodic memory. Yet, important neural predictions related to the role of RPE in declarative memory acquisition remain to be tested. Using a novel variable-choice task, we experimentally manipulated RPEs and found support for key predictions on the neural level with fMRI. Specifically, we demonstrate that trial-specific RPE responses in the ventral striatum (during learning) predict the strength of subsequent episodic memory (during recollection). Furthermore, functional connectivity between task-relevant processing areas (e.g., face-selective areas) and hippocampus, ventral tegmental area, and ventral striatum increased as a function of RPE value (during learning), suggesting a central role of these areas in episodic memory formation. Our results consolidate reinforcement learning theory and striatal RPEs as key operations subtending the formation of episodic memory.

Potential Uses of Vinegar as a Medicine and Related in vivo Mechanisms

2016 ◽  
Vol 86 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 127-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeshan Ali ◽  
Zhenbin Wang ◽  
Rai Muhammad Amir ◽  
Shoaib Younas ◽  
Asif Wali ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Structure ◽  
Review Paper ◽  
Heart Diseases ◽  
Folk Medicine ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Current Review ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Positive Effect

While the use of vinegar to fi ght against infections and other crucial conditions dates back to Hippocrates, recent research has found that vinegar consumption has a positive effect on biomarkers for diabetes, cancer, and heart diseases. Different types of vinegar have been used in the world during different time periods. Vinegar is produced by a fermentation process. Foods with a high content of carbohydrates are a good source of vinegar. Review of the results of different studies performed on vinegar components reveals that the daily use of these components has a healthy impact on the physiological and chemical structure of the human body. During the era of Hippocrates, people used vinegar as a medicine to treat wounds, which means that vinegar is one of the ancient foods used as folk medicine. The purpose of the current review paper is to provide a detailed summary of the outcome of previous studies emphasizing the role of vinegar in treatment of different diseases both in acute and chronic conditions, its in vivo mechanism and the active role of different bacteria.

The Diagnosis of Lupus Anticoagulants by the Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time - The Central Role of Phosphatidyl Serine

1984 ◽  
Vol 52 (02) ◽  
pp. 172-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
P R Kelsey ◽  
K J Stevenson ◽  
L Poller
Keyword(s):  
Screening Method ◽  
Coagulation Factors ◽  
Phosphatidyl Serine ◽  
Test System ◽  
Specific Factor ◽  
Marginal Effect ◽  
Constant Composition ◽  
Lupus Anticoagulants ◽  
Different Types

SummaryLiposomes of pure phospholipids were used in a modified APTT test system and the role of phosphatidyl serine (PS) in determining the sensitivity of the test system to the presence of lupus anticoagulants was assessed. Six consecutive patients with lupus anticoagulants and seven haemophiliacs with anticoagulants directed at specific coagulation factors, were studied. Increasing the concentration of phospholipid in the test system markedly reduced the sensitivity to lupus anticoagulants but had marginal effect on the specific factor inhibitors. The same effect was achieved when the content of PS alone was increased in a vehicle liposome of constant composition.The results suggest that the lupus anticoagulants can best be detected by a screening method using an APTT test with a reagent of low PS content. The use of a reagent rich in PS will largely abolish the lupus anticoagulant’s effect on the APTT. An approach using the two different types of reagent may facilitate differentiation of lupus inhibitors from other types of anticoagulant.

The Role of Evaluative Tools in the Creation of the Memorial Media Portrait of Jacques Chirac (1932—2019)

2020 ◽  
pp. 97-110
Author(s):  
E. N. Mikhailova ◽  
V. A. Telegina
Keyword(s):  
Print Media ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Research Material ◽  
Political Orientations ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Entire Text

The article is devoted to the study of evaluative tools used in modern French media in order to form the media image of a representative of the political elite. The techniques used in the creation of a memorial media portrait of Jacques Chirac (1932—2019), President of France from 1995 to 2007 are considered. The research material was the most prestigious French print media of various political orientations, published in late September — early October 2019 in connection with the death of the ex-President of the French Republic. The relevance of the research topic is dictated by the close attention of modern linguistics to axiological phenomena, differently presented in different types of discursive practices. The novelty of the study is due to the appeal to the analysis of the complex of evaluation tools used in the French print media when characterizing the former leader of the state during the nation’s farewell period. The estimated potential of the title of the article and its influence on the formation of the estimated vector of the entire text of the publication are shown. A systematic analysis of the assessment expression means, reflected in the memorial media portrait of the politician, is given. The factors that influenced the peculiarities of their use in this type of media portrait are revealed.

Information-seeking to Support Personal and Community Wellbeing: Report of a study of New Zealand Men Using Focus Groups

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peta Wellstead
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Structural Constraints ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Groupes De Discussion

This paper reports part of an ongoing study exploring the information behaviour of New Zealand men during periods of diminished health and wellbeing. Focus groups were used for this iteration of the study. Results indicate that New Zealand men face both personal and structural constraints to their information-seeking during periods when their health and wellbeing may be compromised. This study highlights that service providers need to develop more effective information delivery mechanisms and support services for men. These services need to be appealing to men and reflect men’s information seeking preferences. The role of LIS professionals in supporting this endeavour is discussed. Cet article présente une étude en cours explorant le comportement informationnel d’ hommes néo-zélandais durant des périodes où leur état de santé et de bien-être est amoindri. Des groupes de discussion ont été utilisés pour cette itération de l'étude. Les résultats indiquent que les hommes en Nouvelle-Zélande font face à des contraintes à la fois  personnelles et structurelles dans leur recherche d'information pendant les périodes où leur santé et leur bien-être peuvent être affaiblis. Cette étude met en évidence le besoin pour les fournisseurs de services de développer des mécanismes de diffusion de l'information plus efficaces et des services de soutien pour les hommes. Ces services doivent être attrayants et refléter les préférences des hommes dans leurs recherches d’information. Le rôle des professionnels de l'information dans le soutien à cette entreprise est discuté.

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