scholarly journals Cortical and thalamic influences on striatal involvement in instructed, serial reversal learning; implications for the organisation of flexible behaviour.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brendan Williams ◽  
Anastasia Christakou
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Reversal Learning ◽  
Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽  
Dorsal Striatum ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
Flexible Control ◽  
The Right ◽  
Serial Reversal

Cognitive flexibility is essential for enabling an individual to respond adaptively to changes in their environment. Evidence from human and animal research suggests that the control of cognitive flexibility is dependent on an array of neural architecture. Cortico-basal ganglia circuits have long been implicated in cognitive flexibility. In particular, the role of the striatum is pivotal, acting as an integrative hub for inputs from the prefrontal cortex and thalamus, and modulation by dopamine and acetylcholine. Striatal cholinergic modulation has been implicated in the flexible control of behaviour, driven by input from the centromedian-parafascicular nuclei of the thalamus. However, the role of this system in humans is not clearly defined as much of the current literature is based on animal work. Here, we aim to investigate the roles corticostriatal and thalamostriatal connectivity in serial reversal learning. Functional connectivity between the left centromedian-parafascicular nuclei and the associative dorsal striatum was significantly increased for negative feedback compared to positive feedback. Similar differences in functional connectivity were observed for the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex, but these were localised to when participants switched to using an alternate response strategy following reversal. These findings suggest that connectivity between the centromedian-parafascicular nuclei and the striatum may be used to generally identify potential changes in context based on negative outcomes, and the effect of this signal on striatal output may be influenced by connectivity between the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the striatum.

scholarly journals Orbitofrontal and Thalamic Influences on Striatal Involvement in Human Reversal Learning

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiffany Bell ◽  
Angela Langdon ◽  
Michael Lindner ◽  
William Lloyd ◽  
Anastasia Christakou
Keyword(s):  
Reversal Learning ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
Dorsal Striatum ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
Cholinergic Interneurons ◽  
Learning Tasks ◽  
Initial Learning ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Psychophysiological Interaction

ABSTRACTCognitive flexibility is crucial for adaptation and is disrupted in neuropsychiatric disorders and psychopathology. Human studies of flexibility using reversal learning tasks typically contrast error trials before and after reversal, which provides little information about the mechanisms that support learning and expressing a new response. However, animal studies suggest a specific role in this latter process for the connections between the dorsal striatum and the centromedian parafascicular (CM-Pf) thalamus, a system which may recruit the striatal cholinergic interneurons, but which is not well understood in humans. This study investigated the role of this system in human probabilistic reversal learning, specifically with respect to learning a new response strategy, contrasting its function to that of the better understood orbitoftontal-striatal systems. Using psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data we show that connectivity between the striatum and both the lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC) and CM-Pf pathways increased during reversal, but not initial learning. However, while the strength of lOFC-striatal connectivity was associated with the speed of the reversal, the strength of CM-Pf-striatal connectivity was associated specifically with the quality of the reversal (reduced regressive errors). These findings expand our understanding of flexibility mechanisms in the human brain, bridging the gap with animal studies of this system.

scholarly journals Selective Role of the Putamen in Serial Reversal Learning in the Marmoset

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 447-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacey A W Jackson ◽  
Nicole K Horst ◽  
Sebastian F A Axelsson ◽  
Naotaka Horiguchi ◽  
Gemma J Cockcroft ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reversal Learning ◽  
Serial Reversal

scholarly journals Obesity status and obesity-associated gut dysbiosis effects on hypothalamic structural covariance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Contreras-Rodriguez ◽  
M. Arnoriaga-Rodríguez ◽  
R. Miranda-Olivos ◽  
G. Blasco ◽  
C. Biarnés ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽  
Executive Dysfunction ◽  
Structural Covariance ◽  
Gut Dysbiosis ◽  
Obesity Status ◽  
Subcortical Nuclei ◽  
Parietal Cortices

Abstract Background Functional connectivity alterations in the lateral and medial hypothalamic networks have been associated with the development and maintenance of obesity, but the possible impact on the structural properties of these networks remains largely unexplored. Also, obesity-related gut dysbiosis may delineate specific hypothalamic alterations within obese conditions. We aim to assess the effects of obesity, and obesity and gut-dysbiosis on the structural covariance differences in hypothalamic networks, executive functioning, and depressive symptoms. Methods Medial (MH) and lateral (LH) hypothalamic structural covariance alterations were identified in 57 subjects with obesity compared to 47 subjects without obesity. Gut dysbiosis in the subjects with obesity was defined by the presence of high (n = 28) and low (n = 29) values in a BMI-associated microbial signature, and posthoc comparisons between these groups were used as a proxy to explore the role of obesity-related gut dysbiosis on the hypothalamic measurements, executive function, and depressive symptoms. Results Structural covariance alterations between the MH and the striatum, lateral prefrontal, cingulate, insula, and temporal cortices are congruent with previously functional connectivity disruptions in obesity conditions. MH structural covariance decreases encompassed postcentral parietal cortices in the subjects with obesity and gut-dysbiosis, but increases with subcortical nuclei involved in the coding food-related hedonic information in the subjects with obesity without gut-dysbiosis. Alterations for the structural covariance of the LH in the subjects with obesity and gut-dysbiosis encompassed increases with frontolimbic networks, but decreases with the lateral orbitofrontal cortex in the subjects with obesity without gut-dysbiosis. Subjects with obesity and gut dysbiosis showed higher executive dysfunction and depressive symptoms. Conclusions Obesity-related gut dysbiosis is linked to specific structural covariance alterations in hypothalamic networks relevant to the integration of somatic-visceral information, and emotion regulation.

scholarly journals Value and probability coding in a feedback-based learning task utilizing food rewards

2015 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Tricomi ◽  
Karolina M. Lempert
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Dorsal Striatum ◽  
Action Planning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Complex Signal ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Subjective Value ◽  
The Right ◽  
Probability Information

For the consequences of our actions to guide behavior, the brain must represent different types of outcome-related information. For example, an outcome can be construed as negative because an expected reward was not delivered or because an outcome of low value was delivered. Thus behavioral consequences can differ in terms of the information they provide about outcome probability and value. We investigated the role of the striatum in processing probability-based and value-based negative feedback by training participants to associate cues with food rewards and then employing a selective satiety procedure to devalue one food outcome. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined brain activity related to receipt of expected rewards, receipt of devalued outcomes, omission of expected rewards, omission of devalued outcomes, and expected omissions of an outcome. Nucleus accumbens activation was greater for rewarding outcomes than devalued outcomes, but activity in this region did not correlate with the probability of reward receipt. Activation of the right caudate and putamen, however, was largest in response to rewarding outcomes relative to expected omissions of reward. The dorsal striatum (caudate and putamen) at the time of feedback also showed a parametric increase correlating with the trialwise probability of reward receipt. Our results suggest that the ventral striatum is sensitive to the motivational relevance, or subjective value, of the outcome, while the dorsal striatum codes for a more complex signal that incorporates reward probability. Value and probability information may be integrated in the dorsal striatum, to facilitate action planning and allocation of effort.

The Neural Substrates of In-Group Bias

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 1131-1139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay J. Van Bavel ◽  
Dominic J. Packer ◽  
William A. Cunningham
Keyword(s):  
Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽  
Dorsal Striatum ◽  
Mixed Race ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Intergroup Perception ◽  
Amygdala Activity ◽  
Group Members

Classic minimal-group studies found that people arbitrarily assigned to a novel group quickly display a range of perceptual, affective, and behavioral in-group biases. We randomly assigned participants to a mixed-race team and used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify brain regions involved in processing novel in-group and out-group members independently of preexisting attitudes, stereotypes, or familiarity. Whereas previous research on intergroup perception found amygdala activity—typically interpreted as negativity—in response to stigmatized social groups, we found greater activity in the amygdala, fusiform gyri, orbitofrontal cortex, and dorsal striatum when participants viewed novel in-group faces than when they viewed novel out-group faces. Moreover, activity in orbitofrontal cortex mediated the in-group bias in self-reported liking for the faces. These in-group biases in neural activity were not moderated by race or by whether participants explicitly attended to team membership or race, a finding suggesting that they may occur automatically. This study helps clarify the role of neural substrates involved in perceptual and affective in-group biases.

scholarly journals Role of the orbitofrontal cortex and dorsal striatum in regulating the dose-related effects of self-administered cocaine

2009 ◽  
Vol 201 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen M. Kantak ◽  
Yasmin Mashhoon ◽  
David N. Silverman ◽  
Amy C. Janes ◽  
Claudia M. Goodrich
Keyword(s):  
Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽  
Dorsal Striatum

scholarly journals Dissociable roles for the striatal cholinergic system in different flexibility contexts.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brendan Williams ◽  
Anastasia Christakou
Keyword(s):  
Reversal Learning ◽  
Cholinergic System ◽  
Dorsal Striatum ◽  
Resonance Spectroscopy ◽  
Prediction Errors ◽  
Behavioural Flexibility ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Rate Of Learning ◽  
Striatal Cholinergic System

The production of behavioural flexibility requires the coordination and integration of information from across the brain, by the dorsal striatum. In particular, the striatal cholinergic system is thought to be important for the modulation of striatal activity. Research from animal literature has shown that chemical inactivation of the dorsal striatum leads to impairments in reversal learning. Furthermore, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy work has shown that the striatal cholinergic system is also important for reversal learning in humans. Here, we aim to assess whether the state of the dorsal striatal cholinergic system at rest is related to flexible behaviour in reversal learning. We provide preliminary results showing that variability in choline in the dorsal striatum is significantly related to both the number perseverative and regressive errors that participants make, and their rate of learning from positive and negative prediction errors. These findings, in line with previous work, suggest the resting state of dorsal striatal cholinergic system has important implications for producing flexible behaviour. However, these results also suggest the system may have heterogeneous functionality across different types of tasks measuring behavioural flexibility. These findings provide a starting point for further interrogation into understanding the functional role of the striatal cholinergic system in flexibility.

scholarly journals The role of the rodent lateral orbitofrontal cortex in simple Pavlovian cue-outcome learning depends on training experience

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marios C. Panayi ◽  
Simon Killcross
Keyword(s):  
Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽  
Behavioural Control ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
Training Experience ◽  
Flexible Control ◽  
Null Effect ◽  
Outcome Relationship ◽  
Associative Blocking ◽  
Critical Structure

AbstractThe orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is a critical structure in the flexible control of value-based behaviours. OFC dysfunction is typically only detected when task or environmental contingencies change, against a backdrop of apparently intact initial acquisition and behaviour. While intact acquisition following OFC lesions in simple Pavlovian cue-outcome conditioning is often predicted by models of OFC function, this predicted null effect has not been thoroughly investigated. Here we test the effects of lesions and temporary muscimol inactivation of the rodent lateral OFC on the acquisition of a simple single cue-outcome relationship. Surprisingly, pre-training lesions significantly enhanced acquisition after over-training whereas post-training lesions and inactivation significantly impaired acquisition. This impaired acquisition to the cue reflects a disruption of behavioural control and not learning since the cue could also act as an effective blocking stimulus in an associative blocking procedure. These findings suggest that even simple cue-outcome representations acquired in the absence of OFC function are impoverished. Therefore, while OFC function is often associated with flexible behavioural control in complex environments, it is also involved in very simple Pavlovian acquisition where complex cue-outcome relationships are irrelevant to task performance.

The rhetoric of New Zealand's COVID-19 response

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Binh Bui ◽  
Olayinka Moses ◽  
John Dumay
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rhetorical Strategy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Government Documents ◽  
The Right ◽  
Public Policy Decisions

PurposeThe authors unpack the critical role of rhetoric in developing and justifying the New Zealand (NZ) government's coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown strategy.Design/methodology/approachUsing Green's (2004) theory of rhetorical diffusion, the authors analysed government documents and media releases before, during and after the lockdown to reconstruct the government's rationale.FindingsThe blending of kairos (sense of urgency and “right” time to act), ethos (emphasis on “saving lives”), pathos (fear of disruption and death) and selective use of health-based logos (shrinking infection rates), prompted fast initial adoption of the lockdown. However, support for the rhetoric wavered post-lockdown as absence of robust logos became apparent to the public.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors implicate the role of rhetoric in decision-makers’ ability to successfully elicit support for a new practice under urgency and the right moment to act using emotionalisation and moralisation. The assessment of the NZ government's response strategy provides insights decision-makers could glean in developing policies to tame the virus.Practical implicationsThis study’s analysis demonstrates the unsustainability of rhetoric in the absence of reliable information.Originality/valueThe authors demonstrate the consequences of limited (intermittent) evidence and disregard for accounting/accountability data in public policy decisions under a rhetorical strategy.

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