Prediction error learning across development
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1
UCLA, Department of Psychology, United States
According to decision-making theories, choices are driven by the value that is assigned to each potential choice (decision value: DV). Stimulus values are learned and updated after each experience based on the difference between the expected and actual outcomes (prediction error: PE). Previous work has demonstrated that adolescents may have a hypersensitive response to reward in the ventral striatum, an area closely tied to the mesolimbic dopamine system that is critical for signaling PE. Therefore, we attempted to determine whether the hypersensitive adolescent response to reward is associated with unique changes in either DV or PE signals. We administered a probabilistic learning task known to rely on the dopamine system and prefrontal cortex to healthy children, adolescents, and adults aged 8-30. We rewarded participants with real money for correct responses while undergoing an fMRI scan. Using a simple computational model of learning, we estimated both DV and PE signals on each trial. We found that the neural representation of the DV and PE signals exhibited different timecourses across development. The neural response to DV decreased linearly with age in the medial prefrontal cortex, whereas the response to PE peaked in adolescence in the striatum and angular gyrus. Given that adolescence is a developmental period associated with increased risky, reward-seeking behavior, understanding the neural basis of adolescent decision-making is a critical challenge. The present work suggests that one contributor to adolescent reward-seeking may be the presence of enhanced PE signals.
Conference:
Conference on Neurocognitive Development, Berkeley, CA, United States, 12 Jul - 14 Jul, 2009.
Presentation Type:
Oral Presentation
Topic:
Cognitive control frontostriatal circuitry, and dopamine
Citation:
Cohen
J
(2009). Prediction error learning across development.
Conference Abstract:
Conference on Neurocognitive Development.
doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.10.016
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Received:
06 Jul 2009;
Published Online:
06 Jul 2009.
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Correspondence:
Jessica Cohen, UCLA, Department of Psychology, Los Angeles, CA, United States, jrcohen@psych.ucla.edu