The temporal dynamics of reversal learning: P3 amplitude predicts valence-specific behavioral adjustment

Abstract Adapting behavior to dynamic stimulus-reward contingences is a core feature of reversal learning and a capacity thought to be critical to socio-emotional behavior. Impairment in reversal learning has been linked to multiple psychiatric outcomes, including depression, Parkinson's disord...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physiology & behavior 2016-07, Vol.161, p.24-32
Main Authors: Donaldson, Kayla R, Ait Oumeziane, Belel, Hélie, Sebastien, Foti, Dan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological - physiology
Adolescent
Adult
Brain Mapping
Electroencephalography
ERP
Evoked Potentials - physiology
Feedback
Female
Flexibility
Humans
Male
Nonlinear Dynamics
Photic Stimulation
Psychiatry
Punishment
Reversal Learning - physiology
Reversal-learning
Reward
Young Adult
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Summary:Abstract Adapting behavior to dynamic stimulus-reward contingences is a core feature of reversal learning and a capacity thought to be critical to socio-emotional behavior. Impairment in reversal learning has been linked to multiple psychiatric outcomes, including depression, Parkinson's disorder, and substance abuse. A recent influential study introduced an innovative laboratory reversal-learning paradigm capable of disentangling the roles of feedback valence and expectancy. Here, we sought to use this paradigm in order to examine the time-course of reward and punishment learning using event-related potentials among a large, representative sample ( N = 101). Three distinct phases of processing were examined: initial feedback evaluation (reward positivity, or RewP), allocation of attention (P3), and sustained processing (late positive potential, or LPP). Results indicate a differential pattern of valence and expectancy across these processing stages: the RewP was uniquely related to valence (i.e., positive vs. negative feedback), the P3 was uniquely associated with expectancy (i.e., unexpected vs. expected feedback), and the LPP was sensitive to both valence and expectancy (i.e., main effects of each, but no interaction). The link between ERP amplitudes and behavioral performance was strongest for the P3, and this association was valence-specific. Overall, these findings highlight the potential utility of the P3 as a neural marker for feedback processing in reversal-based learning and establish a foundation for future research in clinical populations.
ISSN:0031-9384
1873-507X
DOI:10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.03.034