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Desrochers SS, Nautiyal KM. Serotonin 1B receptor effects on response inhibition are independent of inhibitory learning. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2022; 187:107574. [PMID: 34902574 PMCID: PMC8900532 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2021.107574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2021] [Revised: 11/07/2021] [Accepted: 12/03/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Impulsivity is defined in terms of deficits in instrumental response inhibition, when the inability to withhold an action produces a negative outcome. However, there are many behavioral and cognitive constructs which theoretically could contribute to disordered impulsivity, including Pavlovian responding, which few studies have considered in this context. In the present set of studies, we examine Pavlovian inhibitory learning and excitatory responding in a mouse model for dysregulated impulsivity, specifically, mice lacking the serotonin 1B receptor (5-HT1BR). Consistent with previous results, we show that these mice display increased impulsivity as measured by premature responding in the operant 5-choice serial reaction time test. In a Pavlovian conditioned inhibition paradigm, they also show a decreased ability to withhold responding, but importantly have an intact ability to learn inhibitory associations. In a Pavlovian appetitive conditioning experiment, 5-HT1BR knockout mice show normal responding under a positive contingency schedule, however, they display increased responding to cues presented on an independent schedule from reinforcement in a zero contingency schedule. Interestingly this difference does not occur when the cues are explicitly unpaired in a negative contingency schedule, nor during a 25% reinforcement schedule. Overall, while our results show that the deficits in operant response inhibition in mice lacking 5-HT1BR are likely not due to Pavlovian inhibitory or excitatory learning, it is relevant to consider associative learning in the context of dysregulated impulsive behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Katherine M. Nautiyal
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755,To whom correspondence should be addressed: Katherine M. Nautiyal, PhD, 6207 Moore Hall, Hanover, NH 03755, 603-646-2778,
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Waite L, Bonardi C, Stevenson CW, Cassaday HJ. Strain comparisons in inhibitory discrimination learning and novel object recognition procedures. Physiol Behav 2021; 240:113557. [PMID: 34400194 PMCID: PMC8476941 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2021.113557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Revised: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Strain differences in visual abilities and exploratory tendencies can confound rats' performance in cognitive tests of learning and memory. In the present study we compared the performance of albino Wistar and pigmented Lister Hooded rats in appetitive conditioning and recognition memory procedures, specifically within-subjects inhibitory learning (A+ /AX-) and novel object recognition (NOR) variants. The inhibition task included an excitatory training stage and summation and retardation tests. Difference scores were used to help control for individual variation in baseline nosepoke responding. NOR was tested after a 10 min delay, following 24hr delay and using a recency variant. Discrimination ratios were used to control for individual variation in exploratory activity. In the inhibitory learning procedure, Lister Hooded showed more magazine activity prior to stimulus presentations than Wistar rats but this was a transient effect restricted to day 1 of excitatory training. There was no strain difference in associative learning at the excitatory training stage. The Wistars went on to show some performance advantage at the inhibitory discrimination stage and marginally stronger retardation test performance. In the NOR tasks, there was no significant effect of strain on cognitive performance, but the Wistars showed some advantage in the 10 min delay variant, whereas in the 24hr delay and relative recency NOR variants, the Lister Hooded rats showed some advantage. Overall the results of the present study confirm the suitability of Wistar rats for use in associative learning and basic NOR procedures.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Waite
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham,UK
| | - C Bonardi
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham,UK
| | | | - H J Cassaday
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham,UK
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3
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Abstract
Abstract. In the current investigation, we classified participants as inhibitors or non-inhibitors depending on the extent to which they showed conditioned inhibition in a context that had been used for extinction of a conditioned response. This classification enabled us to predict participant responses in a second experiment which used a different design and a different experimental task. In the second experiment a feature-negative discrimination survived reversal training of the feature to a greater extent in the non-inhibitors than in the inhibitors and this result was supported by Bayesian analyses. We propose that the fundamental distinction between inhibitors and non-inhibitors is based on a tendency to utilize first-order (direct associations) or second-order (occasion-setting) strategies when faced with ambiguous information and that this classification is a stable individual differences attribute.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven Glautier
- School of Psychology, Southampton University, Southampton, UK
| | - Ovidiu Brudan
- School of Psychology, Southampton University, Southampton, UK
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Pickett C, Cassaday HJ, Bibby PA. Overshadowing depends on cue and reinforcement sensitivity but not schizotypy. Behav Brain Res 2017; 321:123-129. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.12.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2016] [Revised: 12/19/2016] [Accepted: 12/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Granger KT, Moran PM, Buckley MG, Haselgrove M. Enhanced latent inhibition in high schizotypy individuals. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2015.11.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Soar K, Dawkins L, Page F, Wooldridge J. Recreational cocaine use is associated with attenuated latent inhibition. Addict Behav 2015; 50:34-9. [PMID: 26093504 DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2015] [Revised: 04/21/2015] [Accepted: 06/04/2015] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Evidence has linked chronic cocaine use with various cognitive deficits; however few studies have investigated the effects of recreational (non-dependent) use. The present study aimed to assess whether recreational users show deficits in latent inhibition (LI: a measure of delayed learning of an association between 2 stimuli, one of which has been previously exposed (PE) without consequence and thus deemed irrelevant). METHODS Using a quasi-experimental between groups design, recreational cocaine users (n = 21), poly-drug users (n = 17) and drug-naive controls (n = 18) were compared on a LI task. Questionnaires assessing psychological health and drug use were also completed. RESULTS There was a statistically significant interaction between condition (PE vs non PE) and group (cocaine, polydrug and control); cocaine users scored lower in the PE condition compared to polydrug users and controls, indicating quicker learning. CONCLUSIONS Recreational cocaine users show attenuated LI reflecting reduced ability to filter out irrelevant stimuli enabling faster learning of a PE irrelevant and novel stimuli association. This does not appear to be a result of schizotypy and/or other drug use. Thus even at recreational levels, cocaine use may be sufficient to affect inhibitory attentional processes.
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Meyer HC, Putney RB, Bucci DJ. Inhibitory learning is modulated by nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Neuropharmacology 2015; 89:360-7. [PMID: 25445487 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2014.10.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2014] [Revised: 10/24/2014] [Accepted: 10/27/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Prior research has established that stimulating nicotinic acetylcholine receptors can facilitate learning and memory. However, most studies have focused on learning to emit a particular behavior, while little is known about the effects of nicotine on learning to withhold a behavioral response. The present study consisted of a dose response analysis of the effects of nicotine on negative occasion setting, a form of learned inhibition. In this paradigm, rats received one type of training trial in which presentation of a tone by itself was followed immediately by food reward. During the other type of trials, the tone was preceded by presentation of a light and no food was delivered after the tone. Rats gradually learned to approach the cup in anticipation of receiving food reward during presentations of the tone alone, but withheld that behavior when the tone was preceded by the light. Nicotine (0.35 mg/kg) facilitated negative occasion setting by reducing the number of sessions needed to learn the discrimination between trial types and by reducing the rate of responding on non-reinforced trials. Nicotine also increased the orienting response to the light, suggesting that nicotine may have affected the ability to withhold food cup behavior on non-reinforced trials by increasing attention to the light. In contrast to the effects of nicotine, rats treated with mecamylamine (0.125, 0.5, or 2 mg/kg) needed more training sessions to discriminate between reinforced and non-reinforced trials compared to saline-treated rats. The findings indicate that nicotinic acetylcholine receptors may be active during negative occasion setting and that nicotine can potentiate learned inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heidi C Meyer
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
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Deutsch R, Smith KJM, Kordts-Freudinger R, Reichardt R. How absent negativity relates to affect and motivation: an integrative relief model. Front Psychol 2015; 6:152. [PMID: 25806008 PMCID: PMC4354424 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2014] [Accepted: 01/30/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The present paper concerns the motivational underpinnings and behavioral correlates of the prevention or stopping of negative stimulation – a situation referred to as relief. Relief is of great theoretical and applied interest. Theoretically, it is tied to theories linking affect, emotion, and motivational systems. Importantly, these theories make different predictions regarding the association between relief and motivational systems. Moreover, relief is a prototypical antecedent of counterfactual emotions, which involve specific cognitive processes compared to factual or mere anticipatory emotions. Practically, relief may be an important motivator of addictive and phobic behaviors, self destructive behaviors, and social influence. In the present paper, we will first provide a review of conflicting conceptualizations of relief. We will then present an integrative relief model (IRMO) that aims at resolving existing theoretical conflicts. We then review evidence relevant to distinctive predictions regarding the moderating role of various procedural features of relief situations. We conclude that our integrated model results in a better understanding of existing evidence on the affective and motivational underpinnings of relief, but that further evidence is needed to come to a more comprehensive evaluation of the viability of IRMO.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roland Deutsch
- Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden Dresden, Germany
| | - Kevin J M Smith
- Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden Dresden, Germany
| | | | - Regina Reichardt
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin Berlin, Germany
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Heym N, Kantini E, Checkley HLR, Cassaday HJ. Tourette-like behaviors in the normal population are associated with hyperactive/impulsive ADHD-like behaviors but do not relate to deficits in conditioned inhibition or response inhibition. Front Psychol 2014; 5:946. [PMID: 25228890 PMCID: PMC4151087 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2014] [Accepted: 08/07/2014] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Tourette Syndrome (TS) present as distinct conditions clinically; however, comorbidity and inhibitory control deficits have been proposed for both. Whilst such deficits have been studied widely within clinical populations, findings are mixed—partly due to comorbidity and/or medication effects—and studies have rarely distinguished between subtypes of the disorders. Studies in the general population are sparse. Using a continuity approach, the present study examined (i) the relationships between inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive aspects of ADHD and TS-like behaviors in the general population, and (ii) their unique associations with automatic and executive inhibitory control, as well as (iii) yawning (a proposed behavioral model of TS). One hundred and thirty-eight participants completed self-report measures for ADHD and TS-like behaviors as well as yawning, and a conditioned inhibition task to assess automatic inhibition. A sub-sample of fifty-four participants completed three executive inhibition tasks. An exploratory factor analysis of the TS behavior checklist supported a distinction between phonic and motor like pure TS behaviors. Whilst hyperactive/impulsive aspects of ADHD were associated with increased pure and compulsive TS-like behaviors, inattention in isolation was related to reduced obsessive-compulsive TS-like behaviors. TS-like behaviors were associated with yawning during situations of inactivity, and specifically motor TS was related to yawning during stress. Phonic TS and inattention aspects of ADHD were associated with yawning during concentration/activity. Whilst executive interference control deficits were linked to hyperactive/impulsive ADHD-like behaviors, this was not the case for inattentive ADHD or TS-like behaviors, which instead related to increased performance on some measures. No associations were observed for automatic conditioned inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadja Heym
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham Nottingham, UK ; Division of Psychology, School of Social Science, Nottingham Trent University Nottingham, UK
| | - Ebrahim Kantini
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham Nottingham, UK
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He Z, Cassaday HJ, Bonardi C, Bibby PA. Do personality traits predict individual differences in excitatory and inhibitory learning? Front Psychol 2013; 4:245. [PMID: 23658551 PMCID: PMC3647220 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2013] [Accepted: 04/14/2013] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Conditioned inhibition (CI) is demonstrated in classical conditioning when a stimulus is used to signal the omission of an otherwise expected outcome. This basic learning ability is involved in a wide range of normal behavior – and thus its disruption could produce a correspondingly wide range of behavioral deficits. The present study employed a computer-based task to measure conditioned excitation and inhibition in the same discrimination procedure. CI by summation test was clearly demonstrated. Additionally summary measures of excitatory and inhibitory learning (difference scores) were calculated in order to explore how performance related to individual differences in a large sample of normal participants (n = 176 following exclusion of those not meeting the basic learning criterion). The individual difference measures selected derive from two biologically based personality theories, Gray’s (1982) reinforcement sensitivity theory and Eysenck and Eysenck (1991) psychoticism, extraversion, and neuroticism theory. Following the behavioral tasks, participants completed the behavioral inhibition system/behavioral activation system (BIS/BAS) scales and the Eysenck personality questionnaire revised short scale (EPQ-RS). Analyses of the relationship between scores on each of the scales and summary measures of excitatory and inhibitory learning suggested that those with higher BAS (specifically the drive sub-scale) and higher EPQ-RS neuroticism showed reduced levels of excitatory conditioning. Inhibitory conditioning was similarly attenuated in those with higher EPQ-RS neuroticism, as well as in those with higher BIS scores. Thus the findings are consistent with higher levels of neuroticism being accompanied by generally impaired associative learning, both inhibitory and excitatory. There was also evidence for some dissociation in the effects of behavioral activation and behavioral inhibition on excitatory and inhibitory learning respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhimin He
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham Nottingham, UK
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Schmechtig A, Lees J, Grayson L, Craig KJ, Dadhiwala R, Dawson GR, Deakin JFW, Dourish CT, Koychev I, McMullen K, Migo EM, Perry C, Wilkinson L, Morris R, Williams SCR, Ettinger U. Effects of risperidone, amisulpride and nicotine on eye movement control and their modulation by schizotypy. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2013; 227:331-45. [PMID: 23430159 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-013-2973-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2012] [Accepted: 12/19/2012] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE The increasing demand to develop more efficient compounds to treat cognitive impairments in schizophrenia has led to the development of experimental model systems. One such model system combines the study of surrogate populations expressing high levels of schizotypy with oculomotor biomarkers. OBJECTIVES We aimed (1) to replicate oculomotor deficits in a psychometric schizotypy sample and (2) to investigate whether the expected deficits can be remedied by compounds shown to ameliorate impairments in schizophrenia. METHODS In this randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study 233 healthy participants performed prosaccade (PS), antisaccade (AS) and smooth pursuit eye movement (SPEM) tasks after being randomly assigned to one of four drug groups (nicotine, risperidone, amisulpride, placebo). Participants were classified into medium- and high-schizotypy groups based on their scores on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ, Raine (Schizophr Bull 17:555-564, 1991)). RESULTS AS error rate showed a main effect of Drug (p < 0.01), with nicotine improving performance, and a Drug by Schizotypy interaction (p = 0.04), indicating higher error rates in medium schizotypes (p = 0.01) but not high schizotypes under risperidone compared to placebo. High schizotypes had higher error rates than medium schizotypes under placebo (p = 0.03). There was a main effect of Drug for saccadic peak velocity and SPEM velocity gain (both p ≤ 0.01) indicating impaired performance with risperidone. CONCLUSIONS We replicate the observation of AS impairments in high schizotypy under placebo and show that nicotine enhances performance irrespective of group status. Caution should be exerted in applying this model as no beneficial effects of antipsychotics were seen in high schizotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Schmechtig
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences, De Crespigny Park, P089, London, SE5 8AF, UK.
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He Z, Cassaday HJ, Park SBG, Bonardi C. When to hold that thought: an experimental study showing reduced inhibition of pre-trained associations in schizophrenia. PLoS One 2012; 7:e42175. [PMID: 22860074 PMCID: PMC3408477 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2012] [Accepted: 07/03/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Schizophrenia encompasses a wide variety of cognitive dysfunctions, a number of which can be understood as deficits of inhibition. To date, no research has examined ‘conditioned inhibition’ in schizophrenia - the ability of a stimulus that signals the absence of an expected outcome to counteract the conditioned response produced by a signal for that outcome (a conditioned excitor). A computer-based task was used to measure conditioned excitation and inhibition in the same discrimination procedure, in 25 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of schizophrenia and a community-based comparison sample. Conditioned inhibition was measured by a ratio score, which compared the degree to which the inhibitory stimulus and a neutral control stimulus reduced conditioned responding to the excitatory cue: the lower the ratio, the greater the inhibitory learning. At test the ratios were 0.45 and 0.39 for patient and control groups respectively, and the relevant interaction term of the ANOVA confirmed that the degree of inhibition was reduced in the patient group, with an effect size of r = 0.28. These results demonstrate for the first time that inhibitory learning is impaired in schizophrenia. Such an impairment provides an attractive framework for the interpretation of the positive symptoms of schizophrenia. However, we were unable to demonstrate any relationship between the level of conditioned inhibition and medication. Similarly, in the present study it must be emphasised that the available data did not demonstrate any relationship between individual variation in inhibitory learning and the level of positive symptoms as measured by the PANSS. In fact inhibitory learning impairment was relatively greater in participants with a predominantly negative symptom profile and their excitatory learning was also reduced. Accordingly the next step will be to investigate such relationships in a larger sample with a priori defined sub-groups displaying predominantly positive versus predominantly negative symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhimin He
- Division of Psychiatry, School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Helen J. Cassaday
- Division of Psychiatry, School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | - S. Bert G. Park
- Division of Psychiatry, School of Community Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Charlotte Bonardi
- Division of Psychiatry, School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
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Soar K, Mason C, Potton A, Dawkins L. Neuropsychological effects associated with recreational cocaine use. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2012; 222:633-43. [PMID: 22374254 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-012-2666-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2011] [Accepted: 02/06/2012] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE Recent evidence suggests that recreational cocaine use is on the increase, with the UK reporting one of the highest levels of use in the EU (EMCDDA 2010). Nevertheless, very few studies have addressed the neuropsychological effects associated with non-dependent recreational cocaine use. OBJECTIVES The current study aimed to assess whether recreational cocaine users show neuropsychological deficits on a battery of tests, previously shown to be sensitive to cocaine-dependent and psychosis-prone individuals. Schizotypal traits were also measured. METHODS Recreational cocaine users (n = 17) were compared with controls (n = 24) on drug use patterns, the General Health Questionnaire, the Brief Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ-B) and four neuropsychological tasks: spatial working memory, intra/extra-dimensional set shifting, the Stocking of Cambridge and the rapid visual processing. RESULTS Relative to controls, recreational cocaine users produced significantly more errors on the intra/extra-dimensional set shift task and completed fewer stages, made significantly more six box stage errors on the spatial working memory task, and made significantly more errors and fewer hits, with overall poorer detection rates on the rapid visual processing task. Recreational cocaine users reported significantly higher scores on the cognitive perceptual and disorganised thinking SPQ-B subscales and total SPQ-B scores compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS Recreational cocaine users displayed impairments on tasks tapping sustained attention, attentional shifting and spatial memory and reported higher schizotypal trait expression. These findings are consistent with the emerging literature suggesting subtle cognitive deficits, putatively reflecting underlying dopaminergic dysfunction, in non-dependent, recreational cocaine users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirstie Soar
- School of Psychology, University of East London, Stratford Campus, Water Lane, London,E15 4LZ, UK.
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He Z, Cassaday HJ, Howard RC, Khalifa N, Bonardi C. Impaired Pavlovian conditioned inhibition in offenders with personality disorders. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2011; 64:2334-51. [DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2011.616933] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
Certain types of violent offending are often accompanied by evidence of personality disorders (PDs), a range of heterogeneous conditions characterized by disinhibited behaviours that are generally described as impulsive. The tasks previously used to show impulsivity deficits experimentally (in borderline personality disorder, BPD) have required participants to inhibit previously rewarded responses. To date, no research has examined the inhibition of responding based on Pavlovian stimulus–stimulus contingencies, formally “conditioned inhibition” (CI), in PDs. The present study used a computer-based task to measure excitatory and inhibitory learning within the same CI procedure in offenders recruited from the “personality disorder” and the “dangerous and severe personality disorder” units of a high-security psychiatric hospital. These offenders showed a striking and statistically significant change in the expression of inhibitory learning in a highly controlled procedure: The contextual information provided by conditioned inhibitors had virtually no effect on their prepotent associations. Moreover, this difference was not obviously attributable to nonspecific cognitive or motivational factors. Impaired CI would reduce the ability to learn to control associative triggers and so could provide an explanation of some types of offending behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhimin He
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Helen J. Cassaday
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Richard C. Howard
- Community Health Sciences, Division of Psychiatry, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Najat Khalifa
- Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, The Wells Rd Centre, The Wells Rd, Nottingham, NG2 7UA, UK
| | - Charlotte Bonardi
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
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MacLeod JE, Vucovich MM, Bucci DJ. Differential effects of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor stimulation on negative occasion setting. Behav Neurosci 2011; 124:656-61. [PMID: 20939665 DOI: 10.1037/a0020904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
We have previously shown that nicotine enhances learning in a negative occasion setting task in which rats are trained to distinguish between two different trial types. During reinforced trials, a target stimulus (a tone) is presented and immediately followed by food reward. On nonreinforced trials, a feature stimulus (a light) is presented prior to the tone and indicates the absence of reward following presentation of the tone. The goal of the present study was to identify the behavioral mechanism through which nicotine affects this form of learning, and to determine which subtype(s) of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors mediate the effects of nicotine. Consistent with our prior findings, nicotine administration enhanced the ability of rats to discriminate between the two trial types. Nicotine enhanced the magnitude of the discrimination by decreasing responding to the tone on nonreinforced trials. Nicotine-treated rats also learned the discrimination in fewer sessions than control rats. A significant new finding was that nicotine also increased the orienting response to the light, suggesting that nicotine may enhance learning the serial feature negative discrimination by increasing attention to the visual feature. In addition, we found that RJR-2403, a selective α4β2 nicotinic receptor agonist, also enhanced discrimination. However, RJR-2403 did not affect responding on nonreinforced trials, nor did RJR-2403 affect orienting to the light. Together these data indicate that nicotine may enhance discrimination by enhancing tone-reward associability through α4β2 nicotinic receptors and by enhancing attention to the light through non-α4β2 receptor subtypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jill E MacLeod
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
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Haselgrove M, Evans LH. Variations in selective and nonselective prediction error with the negative dimension of schizotypy. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2010; 63:1127-49. [PMID: 20509208 DOI: 10.1080/17470210903229979] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Two human associative-learning experiments investigated the relationship between the negative dimension of schizotypy and selective and nonselective prediction-error learning. Experiment 1 demonstrates that individuals low, but not high, on the introvertive anhedonia dimension of schizotypy demonstrate Kamin blocking, which has been taken to reflect the operation of selective learning (Rescorla & Wagner, 1972). In complement, Experiment 2 demonstrates that individuals high, but not low, on the same dimension demonstrate asymmetrical learning about the components of a compound stimulus that differ in their associative history, which has been suggested to reflect the operation of nonselective learning (Rescorla, 2000). The implications of this double dissociation for understanding the nature of the cognitive deficit in schizophrenia and for theories of learning are considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Haselgrove
- School of Psychology, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
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Ochsner KN. The social-emotional processing stream: five core constructs and their translational potential for schizophrenia and beyond. Biol Psychiatry 2008; 64:48-61. [PMID: 18549876 PMCID: PMC2453243 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.04.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 226] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2008] [Revised: 03/21/2008] [Accepted: 04/21/2008] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cognitive neuroscience approaches to translational research have made great strides toward understanding basic mechanisms of dysfunction and their relation to cognitive deficits, such as thought disorder in schizophrenia. The recent emergence of Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience has paved the way for similar progress to be made in explaining the mechanisms underlying the social and emotional dysfunctions (i.e., negative symptoms) of schizophrenia and that characterize virtually all DSM Axis I and II disorders more broadly. METHODS This article aims to provide a roadmap for this work by distilling from the emerging literature on the neural bases of social and emotional abilities a set of key constructs that can be used to generate questions about the mechanisms of clinical dysfunction in general and schizophrenia in particular. RESULTS To achieve these aims, the first part of this article sketches a framework of five constructs that comprise a social-emotional processing stream. The second part considers how future basic research might flesh out this framework and translational work might relate it to schizophrenia and other clinical populations. CONCLUSIONS Although the review suggests there is more basic research needed for each construct, two in particular--one involving the bottom-up recognition of social and emotional cues, the second involving the use of top-down processes to draw mental state inferences--are most ready for translational work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin N Ochsner
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA.
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