Serotonin, motivation and action in learning and decision-making
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1
University of Zürich, Switzerland
Serotonin, like dopamine, has long been implicated in adaptive behavior, including decision-making and reinforcement learning. However, while the two neuromodulators are tightly related and have a similar degree of functional and clinical importance, compared to dopamine, we have a much less specific understanding of the mechanisms by which serotonin affects behavior. The talks in this symposium all address the functional role of serotonin in learning and decision-making, using a wide range of methods including computational modeling, fMRI, pharmacological manipulations in humans and single-cell recording in primates. Common to these studies are efforts to assess the role of serotonin along independent motivational (reward vs. punishment) and activational (invigoration vs. inhibition) axes. Guitart-Masip opens the symposium by demonstrating a fundamental asymmetry between action and motivational valence embedded in the structure of the striatum that informs our understanding of how serotonin and dopamine modulate decision-making. Crockett adopts a similar approach to reconcile competing accounts of serotonin function, and shows that serotonin modulates behavior at the intersection of inhibition and punishment, promoting behavioral inhibition when aversive outcomes are expected. Nakamura presents data from single-cell recordings in the primate dorsal raphé nucleus, demonstrating that these serotonin-releasing cells are tonically modulated by expectations of appetitive and aversive outcomes. Finally, Cools concludes the symposium by presenting an updated theory of serotonin in motivation and action, along with a series of pharmacological experiments in humans suggesting that the role of serotonin is best characterized as coupling motivational and activational axes.
Keywords:
Motivation,
Serotonin
Conference:
XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011.
Presentation Type:
Introduction
Topic:
Symposium 15: Serotonin, motivation and action in learning and decision-making
Citation:
Crockett
M
(2011). Serotonin, motivation and action in learning and decision-making.
Conference Abstract:
XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI).
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00556
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Received:
14 Nov 2011;
Published Online:
28 Nov 2011.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Molly Crockett, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland, mollycrockett@gmail.com