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Wu Q, Long Y, Peng X, Song C, Xiao J, Wang X, Liu F, Xie P, Yang J, Shi Z, Hu Z, McCaig C, St Clair D, Lang B, Wu R. Prefrontal cortical dopamine deficit may cause impaired glucose metabolism in schizophrenia. Transl Psychiatry 2024; 14:79. [PMID: 38320995 PMCID: PMC10847097 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-024-02800-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2023] [Revised: 11/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/08/2024] Open
Abstract
The brain neurotramsmitter dopamine may play an important role in modulating systemic glucose homeostasis. In seven hundred and four drug- naïve patients with first-episode schizophrenia, we provide robust evidence of positive associations between negative symptoms of schizophrenia and high fasting blood glucose. We then show that glucose metabolism and negative symptoms are improved when intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) on prefrontal cortex (PFC) is performed in patients with predominantly negative symptoms of schizophrenia. These findings led us to hypothesize that the prefrontal cortical dopamine deficit, which is known to be associated with negative symptoms, may be responsible for abnormal glucose metabolism in schizophrenia. To explore this, we optogenetically and chemogenetically inhibited the ventral tegmental area (VTA)-medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) dopamine projection in mice and found both procedures caused glucose intolerance. Moreover, microinjection of dopamine two receptor (D2R) neuron antagonists into mPFC in mice significantly impaired glucose tolerance. Finally, a transgenic mouse model of psychosis named Disc1tr exhibited depressive-like symptoms, impaired glucose homeostasis, and compared to wild type littermates reduced D2R expression in prefrontal cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiongqiong Wu
- National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, and Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
- Affiliated Mental Health Centre & Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310013, China
| | - Yujun Long
- National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, and Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Xingjie Peng
- National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, and Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Chuhan Song
- National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, and Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Jingmei Xiao
- National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, and Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Xiaoyi Wang
- National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, and Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Furu Liu
- National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, and Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Peng Xie
- National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, and Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Jinqing Yang
- National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, and Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Zhe Shi
- Key Laboratory for Quality Evaluation of Bulk Herbs of Hunan Province, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Zhonghua Hu
- Hunan Key Laboratory of Molecular Precision Medicine, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410008, China
| | - Colin McCaig
- School of Medical Sciences, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, UK
| | - David St Clair
- School of Medical Sciences, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, UK
| | - Bing Lang
- National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, and Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China
| | - Renrong Wu
- National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, and Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China.
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Yang X, Song Y, Zou Y, Li Y, Zeng J. Neural correlates of prediction error in patients with schizophrenia: evidence from an fMRI meta-analysis. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhad471. [PMID: 38061699 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Revised: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Abnormal processes of learning from prediction errors, i.e. the discrepancies between expectations and outcomes, are thought to underlie motivational impairments in schizophrenia. Although dopaminergic abnormalities in the mesocorticolimbic reward circuit have been found in patients with schizophrenia, the pathway through which prediction error signals are processed in schizophrenia has yet to be elucidated. To determine the neural correlates of prediction error processing in schizophrenia, we conducted a meta-analysis of whole-brain neuroimaging studies that investigated prediction error signal processing in schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. A total of 14 studies (324 schizophrenia patients and 348 healthy controls) using the reinforcement learning paradigm were included. Our meta-analysis showed that, relative to healthy controls, schizophrenia patients showed increased activity in the precentral gyrus and middle frontal gyrus and reduced activity in the mesolimbic circuit, including the striatum, thalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, anterior cingulate cortex, insula, superior temporal gyrus, and cerebellum, when processing prediction errors. We also found hyperactivity in frontal areas and hypoactivity in mesolimbic areas when encoding prediction error signals in schizophrenia patients, potentially indicating abnormal dopamine signaling of reward prediction error and suggesting failure to represent the value of alternative responses during prediction error learning and decision making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xun Yang
- School of Public Policy and Administration, Chongqing University, No. 174, Shazhengjie, Shapingba, Chongqing, China
| | - Yuan Song
- School of Public Policy and Administration, Chongqing University, No. 174, Shazhengjie, Shapingba, Chongqing, China
| | - Yuhan Zou
- School of Economics and Business Administration, Chongqing University, No. 174, Shazhengjie, Shapingba, Chongqing, China
| | - Yilin Li
- Psychology and Neuroscience Department, University of St Andrews, Forbes 1 DRA, Buchanan Garden, St Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom
| | - Jianguang Zeng
- School of Economics and Business Administration, Chongqing University, No. 174, Shazhengjie, Shapingba, Chongqing, China
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Wang X, Zhang Y, Huang J, Wang Y, Niu Y, Lui SSY, Hui L, Chan RCK. Revisiting reward impairments in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis for neuroimaging findings. Psychol Med 2023; 53:7189-7202. [PMID: 36994747 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291723000703] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/31/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Abnormal reward functioning is central to anhedonia and amotivation symptoms of schizophrenia (SCZ). Reward processing encompasses a series of psychological components. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the brain dysfunction related to reward processing of individuals with SCZ spectrum disorders and risks, covering multiple reward components. METHODS After a systematic literature search, 37 neuroimaging studies were identified and divided into four groups based on their target psychology components (i.e. reward anticipation, reward consumption, reward learning, effort computation). Whole-brain Seed-based d Mapping (SDM) meta-analyses were conducted for all included studies and each component. RESULTS The meta-analysis for all reward-related studies revealed reduced functional activation across the SCZ spectrum in the striatum, orbital frontal cortex, cingulate cortex, and cerebellar areas. Meanwhile, distinct abnormal patterns were found for reward anticipation (decreased activation of the cingulate cortex and striatum), reward consumption (decreased activation of cerebellum IV/V areas, insula and inferior frontal gyri), and reward learning processing (decreased activation of the striatum, thalamus, cerebellar Crus I, cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and parietal and occipital areas). Lastly, our qualitative review suggested that decreased activation of the ventral striatum and anterior cingulate cortex was also involved in effort computation. CONCLUSIONS These results provide deep insights on the component-based neuro-psychopathological mechanisms for anhedonia and amotivation symptoms of the SCZ spectrum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuan Wang
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yinghao Zhang
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Jia Huang
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yi Wang
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yanzhe Niu
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, USA
| | - Simon S Y Lui
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Li Hui
- Research Center of Biological Psychiatry, Suzhou Guangji Hospital, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
| | - Raymond C K Chan
- Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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Hackett J, Nadkarni V, Singh RS, Carthy CL, Antigua S, Hall BS, Rajadhyaksha AM. Repeat investigation during social preference behavior is suppressed in male mice with prefrontal cortex cacna1c (Ca v1.2)-deficiency through the dysregulation of neural dynamics. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.06.24.546368. [PMID: 37425963 PMCID: PMC10326975 DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.24.546368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/11/2023]
Abstract
Impairments in social behavior are observed in a range of neuropsychiatric disorders and several lines of evidence have demonstrated that dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a central role in social deficits. We have previously shown that loss of neuropsychiatric risk gene Cacna1c that codes for the Cav1.2 isoform of L-type calcium channels (LTCCs) in the PFC result in impaired sociability as tested using the three-chamber social approach test. In this study we aimed to further characterize the nature of the social deficit associated with a reduction in PFC Cav1.2 channels (Cav1.2PFCKO mice) by testing male mice in a range of social and nonsocial tests while examining PFC neural activity using in vivo GCaMP6s fiber photometry. We found that during the first investigation of the social and non-social stimulus in the three-chamber test, both Cav1.2PFCKO male mice and Cav1.2PFCGFP controls spent significantly more time with the social stimulus compared to a non-social object. In contrast, during repeat investigations while Cav1.2PFCWT mice continued to spend more time with the social stimulus, Cav1.2PFCKO mice spent equal amount of time with both social and non-social stimuli. Neural activity recordings paralleled social behavior with increase in PFC population activity in Cav1.2PFCWT mice during first and repeat investigations, which was predictive of social preference behavior. In Cav1.2PFCKO mice, there was an increase in PFC activity during first social investigation but not during repeat investigations. These behavioral and neural differences were not observed during a reciprocal social interaction test nor during a forced alternation novelty test. To evaluate a potential deficit in reward-related processes, we tested mice in a three-chamber test wherein the social stimulus was replaced by food. Behavioral testing revealed that both Cav1.2PFCWT and Cav1.2PFCKO mice showed a preference for food over object with significantly greater preference during repeat investigation. Interestingly, there was no increase in PFC activity when Cav1.2PFCWT or Cav1.2PFCKO first investigated the food however activity significantly increased in Cav1.2PFCWT mice during repeat investigations of the food. This was not observed in Cav1.2PFCKO mice. In summary, a reduction in Cav1.2 channels in the PFC suppresses the development of a sustained social preference in mice that is associated with lack of PFC neuronal population activity that may be related to deficits in social reward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Hackett
- Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | - Viraj Nadkarni
- Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | - Ronak S. Singh
- Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | - Camille L. Carthy
- Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | - Susan Antigua
- Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | - Baila S. Hall
- Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Weill Cornell Medicine Graduate School of Medical Sciences, New York, NY 10065
| | - Anjali M. Rajadhyaksha
- Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
- Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Weill Cornell Medicine Graduate School of Medical Sciences, New York, NY 10065
- Weill Cornell Autism Research Program, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065
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5
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Gibbs-Dean T, Katthagen T, Tsenkova I, Ali R, Liang X, Spencer T, Diederen K. Belief updating in psychosis, depression and anxiety disorders: A systematic review across computational modelling approaches. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 147:105087. [PMID: 36791933 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2023]
Abstract
Alterations in belief updating are proposed to underpin symptoms of psychiatric illness, including psychosis, depression, and anxiety. Key parameters underlying belief updating can be captured using computational modelling techniques, aiding the identification of unique and shared deficits, and improving diagnosis and treatment. We systematically reviewed research that applied computational modelling to probabilistic tasks measuring belief updating in stable and volatile (changing) environments, across clinical and subclinical psychosis (n = 17), anxiety (n = 9), depression (n = 9) and transdiagnostic samples (n = 9). Depression disorders related to abnormal belief updating in response to the valence of rewards, evidenced in both stable and volatile environments. Whereas psychosis and anxiety disorders were associated with difficulties adapting to changing contingencies specifically, indicating an inflexibility and/or insensitivity to environmental volatility. Higher-order learning models revealed additional difficulties in the estimation of overall environmental volatility across psychosis disorders, showing increased updating to irrelevant information. These findings stress the importance of investigating belief updating in transdiagnostic samples, using homogeneous experimental and computational modelling approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toni Gibbs-Dean
- Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.
| | - Teresa Katthagen
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience CCM, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
| | - Iveta Tsenkova
- Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and neuroscience, King's College London, UK
| | - Rubbia Ali
- Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK
| | - Xinyi Liang
- Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK
| | - Thomas Spencer
- Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK
| | - Kelly Diederen
- Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK
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6
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Moran EK, Gold JM, Carter CS, MacDonald AW, Ragland JD, Silverstein SM, Luck SJ, Barch DM. Both unmedicated and medicated individuals with schizophrenia show impairments across a wide array of cognitive and reinforcement learning tasks. Psychol Med 2022; 52:1115-1125. [PMID: 32799938 PMCID: PMC8095353 DOI: 10.1017/s003329172000286x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Schizophrenia is a disorder characterized by pervasive deficits in cognitive functioning. However, few well-powered studies have examined the degree to which cognitive performance is impaired even among individuals with schizophrenia not currently on antipsychotic medications using a wide range of cognitive and reinforcement learning measures derived from cognitive neuroscience. Such research is particularly needed in the domain of reinforcement learning, given the central role of dopamine in reinforcement learning, and the potential impact of antipsychotic medications on dopamine function. METHODS The present study sought to fill this gap by examining healthy controls (N = 75), unmedicated (N = 48) and medicated (N = 148) individuals with schizophrenia. Participants were recruited across five sites as part of the CNTRaCS Consortium to complete tasks assessing processing speed, cognitive control, working memory, verbal learning, relational encoding and retrieval, visual integration and reinforcement learning. RESULTS Individuals with schizophrenia who were not taking antipsychotic medications, as well as those taking antipsychotic medications, showed pervasive deficits across cognitive domains including reinforcement learning, processing speed, cognitive control, working memory, verbal learning and relational encoding and retrieval. Further, we found that chlorpromazine equivalency rates were significantly related to processing speed and working memory, while there were no significant relationships between anticholinergic load and performance on other tasks. CONCLUSIONS These findings add to a body of literature suggesting that cognitive deficits are an enduring aspect of schizophrenia, present in those off antipsychotic medications as well as those taking antipsychotic medications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin K. Moran
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
| | - James M. Gold
- Department of Psychiatry, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | | | | | | | - Steven M. Silverstein
- Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Hospital, Piscataway, NJ
| | - Steven J. Luck
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA
| | - Deanna M. Barch
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
- Department of Radiology, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
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7
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Cheng X, Wang L, Lv Q, Wu H, Huang X, Yuan J, Sun X, Zhao X, Yan C, Yi Z. Reduced learning bias towards the reward context in medication-naive first-episode schizophrenia patients. BMC Psychiatry 2022; 22:123. [PMID: 35172748 PMCID: PMC8851841 DOI: 10.1186/s12888-021-03682-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Reinforcement learning has been proposed to contribute to the development of amotivation in individuals with schizophrenia (SZ). Accumulating evidence suggests dysfunctional learning in individuals with SZ in Go/NoGo learning and expected value representation. However, previous findings might have been confounded by the effects of antipsychotic exposure. Moreover, reinforcement learning also rely on the learning context. Few studies have examined the learning performance in reward and loss-avoidance context separately in medication-naïve individuals with first-episode SZ. This study aimed to explore the behaviour profile of reinforcement learning performance in medication-naïve individuals with first-episode SZ, including the contextual performance, the Go/NoGo learning and the expected value representation performance. METHODS Twenty-nine medication-naïve individuals with first-episode SZ and 40 healthy controls (HCs) who have no significant difference in age and gender, completed the Gain and Loss Avoidance Task, a reinforcement learning task involving stimulus pairs presented in both the reward and loss-avoidance context. We assessed the group difference in accuracy in the reward and loss-avoidance context, the Go/NoGo learning and the expected value representation. The correlations between learning performance and the negative symptom severity were examined. RESULTS Individuals with SZ showed significantly lower accuracy when learning under the reward than the loss-avoidance context as compared to HCs. The accuracies under the reward context (90%win- 10%win) in the Acquisition phase was significantly and negatively correlated with the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) avolition scores in individuals with SZ. On the other hand, individuals with SZ showed spared ability of Go/NoGo learning and expected value representation. CONCLUSIONS Despite our small sample size and relatively modest findings, our results suggest possible reduced learning bias towards reward context among medication-naïve individuals with first-episode SZ. The reward learning performance was correlated with amotivation symptoms. This finding may facilitate our understanding of the underlying mechanism of negative symptoms. Reinforcement learning performance under the reward context may be important to better predict and prevent the development of schizophrenia patients' negative symptom, especially amotivation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyan Cheng
- grid.16821.3c0000 0004 0368 8293Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 600 South Wanping Road, Shanghai, China ,grid.24516.340000000123704535Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Shanghai Pudong New Area Mental Health Center, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Lingling Wang
- grid.9227.e0000000119573309Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China ,grid.410726.60000 0004 1797 8419Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China ,grid.22069.3f0000 0004 0369 6365Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOE&STCSM), Affiliated Mental Health Center (ECNU), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai, 200062 China
| | - Qinyu Lv
- grid.16821.3c0000 0004 0368 8293Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 600 South Wanping Road, Shanghai, China
| | - Haisu Wu
- grid.16821.3c0000 0004 0368 8293Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 600 South Wanping Road, Shanghai, China
| | - Xinxin Huang
- grid.16821.3c0000 0004 0368 8293Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 600 South Wanping Road, Shanghai, China
| | - Jie Yuan
- grid.24516.340000000123704535Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Shanghai Pudong New Area Mental Health Center, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xirong Sun
- grid.24516.340000000123704535Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Shanghai Pudong New Area Mental Health Center, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xudong Zhao
- grid.24516.340000000123704535Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Shanghai Pudong New Area Mental Health Center, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Chao Yan
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOE&STCSM), Affiliated Mental Health Center (ECNU), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai, 200062, China.
| | - Zhenghui Yi
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 600 South Wanping Road, Shanghai, China.
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8
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Abstract
Anhedonia has long been considered a cardinal symptom of schizophrenia. This symptom is strongly associated with poor functional outcome, and limited treatment options are available. While originally conceptualized as an inability to experience pleasure, recent work has consistently shown that individuals with schizophrenia have an intact capacity to experience pleasure in-the-moment. Adjacent work in basic affective neuroscience has broadened the conceptualization of anhedonia to include not only the capacity to experience pleasure but highlights important temporal affective dynamics and decision-making processes that go awry in schizophrenia. Here we detail these mechanisms for emotional and motivational impairment in people with schizophrenia including: (1) initial response to reward; (2) reward anticipation; (3) reward learning; (4) effort-cost decision-making; (5) working memory and cognitive control. We will review studies that utilized various types of rewards (e.g., monetary, social), in order to draw conclusions regarding whether findings vary by reward type. We will then discuss how modern assessment methods may best incorporate each of the mechanisms, to provide a more fine-grained understanding of anhedonia in individuals with schizophrenia. We will close by providing a discussion of relevant future directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin K Moran
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Adam J Culbreth
- Department of Psychiatry, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Deanna M Barch
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
- Department of Radiology, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
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9
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Reinen JM, Whitton AE, Pizzagalli DA, Slifstein M, Abi-Dargham A, McGrath PJ, Iosifescu DV, Schneier FR. Differential reinforcement learning responses to positive and negative information in unmedicated individuals with depression. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2021; 53:89-100. [PMID: 34517334 PMCID: PMC8633147 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2021.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Revised: 07/23/2021] [Accepted: 08/06/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by behavioral and neural abnormalities in processing both rewarding and aversive stimuli, which may impact motivational and affective symptoms. Learning paradigms have been used to assess reinforcement encoding abnormalities in MDD and their association with dysfunctional incentive-based behavior, but how the valence and context of information modulate this learning is not well understood. To address these gaps, we examined responses to positive and negative reinforcement across multiple temporal phases of information processing. While undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 47 participants (23 unmedicated, predominantly medication-naïve participants with MDD and 24 demographically-matched HC participants) completed a probabilistic, feedback-based reinforcement learning task that allowed us to separate neural activation during motor response (choice) from reinforcement feedback and monetary outcome across two independent conditions: pursuing gains and avoiding losses. In the gain condition, MDD participants showed overall blunted learning responses (prediction error) in the dorsal striatum when receiving monetary outcome, and reduced responses in ventral striatum for positive, but not negative, prediction error. The MDD group showed enhanced sensitivity to negative information, and symptom severity was associated with better behavioral performance in the loss condition. These findings suggest that striatal responses during learning are abnormal in individuals with MDD but vary with the valence of information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenna M Reinen
- IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Computational Biology Center, Yorktown Heights, NY, United States
| | - Alexis E Whitton
- McLean Hospital and Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, United States; Black Dog Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Diego A Pizzagalli
- McLean Hospital and Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, United States
| | - Mark Slifstein
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 69, New York, NY 10032, United States; Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, United States
| | - Anissa Abi-Dargham
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 69, New York, NY 10032, United States; Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, United States
| | - Patrick J McGrath
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, United States
| | - Dan V Iosifescu
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States; Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States; Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United States
| | - Franklin R Schneier
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 69, New York, NY 10032, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, United States.
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10
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Suzuki S, Yamashita Y, Katahira K. Psychiatric symptoms influence reward-seeking and loss-avoidance decision-making through common and distinct computational processes. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2021; 75:277-285. [PMID: 34151477 PMCID: PMC8457174 DOI: 10.1111/pcn.13279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 06/07/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
AIM Psychiatric symptoms are often accompanied by impairments in decision-making to attain rewards and avoid losses. However, due to the complex nature of mental disorders (e.g., high comorbidity), symptoms that are specifically associated with deficits in decision-making remain unidentified. Furthermore, the influence of psychiatric symptoms on computations underpinning reward-seeking and loss-avoidance decision-making remains elusive. Here, we aim to address these issues by leveraging a large-scale online experiment and computational modeling. METHODS In the online experiment, we recruited 1900 non-diagnostic participants from the general population. They performed either a reward-seeking or loss-avoidance decision-making task, and subsequently completed questionnaires about psychiatric symptoms. RESULTS We found that one trans-diagnostic dimension of psychiatric symptoms related to compulsive behavior and intrusive thought (CIT) was negatively correlated with overall decision-making performance in both the reward-seeking and loss-avoidance tasks. A deeper analysis further revealed that, in both tasks, the CIT psychiatric dimension was associated with lower preference for the options that recently led to better outcomes (i.e. reward or no-loss). On the other hand, in the reward-seeking task only, the CIT dimension was associated with lower preference for recently unchosen options. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that psychiatric symptoms influence the two types of decision-making, reward-seeking and loss-avoidance, through both common and distinct computational processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shinsuke Suzuki
- Brain, Mind and Markets Laboratory, Department of Finance, Faculty of Business and EconomicsThe University of MelbourneMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
- Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary SciencesTohoku UniversitySendaiJapan
| | - Yuichi Yamashita
- Department of Information MedicineNational Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and PsychiatryTokyoJapan
| | - Kentaro Katahira
- Department of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Graduate School of InformaticsNagoya UniversityNagoyaJapan
- Mental and Physical Functions Modeling Group, Human Informatics and Interaction Research InstituteNational Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)TsukubaJapan
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11
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Reinforcement learning abnormalities in the attenuated psychosis syndrome and first episode psychosis. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2021; 47:11-19. [PMID: 33819817 PMCID: PMC8197752 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2021.03.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2020] [Revised: 03/11/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Prior studies indicate that chronic schizophrenia (SZ) is associated with a specific profile of reinforcement learning abnormalities. These impairments are characterized by: 1) reductions in learning rate, and 2) impaired Go learning and intact NoGo learning. Furthermore, each of these deficits are associated with greater severity of negative symptoms, consistent with theoretical perspectives positing that avolition and anhedonia are associated with impaired value representation. However, it is unclear whether these deficits extend to earlier phases of psychotic illness and when individuals are unmedicated. Two studies were conducted to examine reinforcement learning deficits in earlier phases of psychosis and in high risk patients. In study 1, participants included 35 participants with first episode psychosis (FEP) with limited antipsychotic medication exposure and 25 healthy controls (HC). Study 2 included 17 antipsychotic naïve individuals who were at clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR) (i.e., attenuated psychosis syndrome) and 18 matched healthy controls (HC). In both studies, participants completed the Temporal Utility Integration Task, a measure of probabilistic reinforcement learning that contained Go and NoGo learning blocks. FEP displayed impaired Go and NoGo learning. In contrast, CHR did not display impairments in Go or NoGo learning. Impaired Go learning was not significantly associated with clinical outcomes in the CHR or FEP samples. Findings provide new evidence for areas of spared and impaired reinforcement learning in early phases of psychosis.
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12
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Yaple ZA, Tolomeo S, Yu R. Abnormal prediction error processing in schizophrenia and depression. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:3547-3560. [PMID: 33955106 PMCID: PMC8249895 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2020] [Revised: 04/01/2021] [Accepted: 04/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
To make adaptive decisions under uncertainty, individuals need to actively monitor the discrepancy between expected outcomes and actual outcomes, known as prediction errors. Reward‐based learning deficits have been shown in both depression and schizophrenia patients. For this study, we compiled studies that investigated prediction error processing in depression and schizophrenia patients and performed a series of meta‐analyses. In both groups, positive t‐maps of prediction error tend to yield striatum activity across studies. The analysis of negative t‐maps of prediction error revealed two large clusters within the right superior and inferior frontal lobes in schizophrenia and the medial prefrontal cortex and bilateral insula in depression. The concordant posterior cingulate activity was observed in both patient groups, more prominent in the depression group and absent in the healthy control group. These findings suggest a possible role in dopamine‐rich areas associated with the encoding of prediction errors in depression and schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Serenella Tolomeo
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Rongjun Yu
- Department of Management, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China.,Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China.,Department of Physics, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
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13
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Pratt DN, Barch DM, Carter CS, Gold JM, Ragland JD, Silverstein SM, MacDonald AW. Reliability and Replicability of Implicit and Explicit Reinforcement Learning Paradigms in People With Psychotic Disorders. Schizophr Bull 2021; 47:731-739. [PMID: 33914891 PMCID: PMC8084427 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbaa165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Motivational deficits in people with psychosis may be a result of impairments in reinforcement learning (RL). Therefore, behavioral paradigms that can accurately measure these impairments and their change over time are essential. METHODS We examined the reliability and replicability of 2 RL paradigms (1 implicit and 1 explicit, each with positive and negative reinforcement components) given at 2 time points to healthy controls (n = 75), and people with bipolar disorder (n = 62), schizoaffective disorder (n = 60), and schizophrenia (n = 68). RESULTS Internal consistency was acceptable (mean α = 0.78 ± 0.15), but test-retest reliability was fair to low (mean intraclass correlation = 0.33 ± 0.25) for both implicit and explicit RL. There were no clear effects of practice for these tasks. Largely, performance on these tasks shows intact implicit and impaired explicit RL in psychosis. Symptom presentation did not relate to performance in any robust way. CONCLUSIONS Our findings replicate previous literature showing spared implicit RL and impaired explicit reinforcement in psychosis. This suggests typical basal ganglia dopamine release, but atypical recruitment of the orbitofrontal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices. However, we found that these tasks have only fair to low test-retest reliability and thus may not be useful for assessing change over time in clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle N Pratt
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
| | - Deanna M Barch
- Department of Psychology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
| | - Cameron S Carter
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA
| | - James M Gold
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - John D Ragland
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA
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14
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Wisner KM, Chiappelli J, Savransky A, Fisseha F, Rowland LM, Kochunov P, Hong LE. Cingulum and abnormal psychological stress response in schizophrenia. Brain Imaging Behav 2021; 14:548-561. [PMID: 31123971 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-019-00120-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Stress is implicated in many aspects of schizophrenia, including heightened distress intolerance. We examined how affect and microstructure of major brain tracts involved in regulating affect may contribute to distress intolerance in schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (n = 78) and community controls (n = 95) completed diffusion weighted imaging and performed psychological stress tasks. Subjective affect was collected pre and post stressors. Individuals who did not persist during one or both stress tasks were considered distress intolerant (DI), and otherwise distress tolerant (DT). Fractional anisotropy (FA) of the dorsal cingulum showed a significant diagnosis x DT/DI phenotype interaction (p = 0.003). Post-hoc tests showed dorsal cingulum FA was significantly lower in DI patients compared with DI controls (p < 0.001), but not different between DT groups (p = 0.27). Regarding affect responses to stress, irritability showed the largest stress-related change (p < 0.001), but irritability changes were significantly reduced in DI patients compared to DI controls (p = 0.006). The relationship between irritability change and performance errors also differed among patients (ρ = -0.29, p = 0.011) and controls (ρ = 0.21, p = 0.042). Further modeling highlighted the explanatory power of dorsal cingulum for predicting DI even after performance and irritability were taken into account. Distress intolerance during psychological stress exposure is related to microstructural properties of the dorsal cingulum, a key structure for cognitive control and emotion regulation. In schizophrenia, the affective response to psychological stressors is abnormal, and distress intolerant patients had significantly reduced dorsal cingulum FA compared to distress intolerant controls. The findings provide new insight regarding distress intolerance in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krista M Wisner
- Department of Psychiatry, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, P.O. Box 21247, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA.
| | - Joshua Chiappelli
- Department of Psychiatry, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, P.O. Box 21247, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA
| | - Anya Savransky
- Department of Psychiatry, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, P.O. Box 21247, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA
| | - Feven Fisseha
- Department of Psychiatry, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, P.O. Box 21247, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA
| | - Laura M Rowland
- Department of Psychiatry, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, P.O. Box 21247, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA
| | - Peter Kochunov
- Department of Psychiatry, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, P.O. Box 21247, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA
| | - L Elliot Hong
- Department of Psychiatry, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, P.O. Box 21247, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA
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15
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Bègue I, Kaiser S, Kirschner M. Pathophysiology of negative symptom dimensions of schizophrenia – Current developments and implications for treatment. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 116:74-88. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2020] [Revised: 04/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/02/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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16
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Learning and Motivation for Rewards in Schizophrenia: Implications for Behavioral Rehabilitation. Curr Behav Neurosci Rep 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s40473-020-00210-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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17
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Katthagen T, Kaminski J, Heinz A, Buchert R, Schlagenhauf F. Striatal Dopamine and Reward Prediction Error Signaling in Unmedicated Schizophrenia Patients. Schizophr Bull 2020; 46:1535-1546. [PMID: 32318717 PMCID: PMC7751190 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbaa055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Increased striatal dopamine synthesis capacity has consistently been reported in patients with schizophrenia. However, the mechanism translating this into behavior and symptoms remains unclear. It has been proposed that heightened striatal dopamine may blunt dopaminergic reward prediction error signaling during reinforcement learning. In this study, we investigated striatal dopamine synthesis capacity, reward prediction errors, and their association in unmedicated schizophrenia patients (n = 19) and healthy controls (n = 23). They took part in FDOPA-PET and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning, where they performed a reversal-learning paradigm. The groups were compared regarding dopamine synthesis capacity (Kicer), fMRI neural prediction error signals, and the correlation of both. Patients did not differ from controls with respect to striatal Kicer. Taking into account, comorbid alcohol abuse revealed that patients without such abuse showed elevated Kicer in the associative striatum, while those with abuse did not differ from controls. Comparing all patients to controls, patients performed worse during reversal learning and displayed reduced prediction error signaling in the ventral striatum. In controls, Kicer in the limbic striatum correlated with higher reward prediction error signaling, while there was no significant association in patients. Kicer in the associative striatum correlated with higher positive symptoms and blunted reward prediction error signaling was associated with negative symptoms. Our results suggest a dissociation between striatal subregions and symptom domains, with elevated dopamine synthesis capacity in the associative striatum contributing to positive symptoms while blunted prediction error signaling in the ventral striatum related to negative symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Katthagen
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany,To whom correspondence should be addressed; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Charité Mitte, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany; tel: +49-(0)-30-450-517389, fax: +49-(0)-30-450-517962, e-mail:
| | - Jakob Kaminski
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany,Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany,Max-Planck-Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Andreas Heinz
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany,Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany,Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Ralph Buchert
- Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Florian Schlagenhauf
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany,Max-Planck-Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany,Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany
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18
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Deserno L, Boehme R, Mathys C, Katthagen T, Kaminski J, Stephan KE, Heinz A, Schlagenhauf F. Volatility Estimates Increase Choice Switching and Relate to Prefrontal Activity in Schizophrenia. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2020; 5:173-183. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2019.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2019] [Revised: 09/11/2019] [Accepted: 10/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
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19
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Motivational deficits in schizophrenia relate to abnormalities in cortical learning rate signals. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2019; 18:1338-1351. [PMID: 30276616 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-018-0643-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Individuals from across the psychosis spectrum display impairments in reinforcement learning. In some individuals, these deficits may result from aberrations in reward prediction error (RPE) signaling, conveyed by dopaminergic projections to the ventral striatum (VS). However, there is mounting evidence that VS RPE signals are relatively intact in medicated people with schizophrenia (PSZ). We hypothesized that, in PSZ, reinforcement learning deficits often are not related to RPE signaling per se but rather their impact on learning and behavior (i.e., learning rate modulation), due to dysfunction in anterior cingulate and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). Twenty-six PSZ and 23 healthy volunteers completed a probabilistic reinforcement learning paradigm with occasional, sudden, shifts in contingencies. Using computational modeling, we found evidence of an impairment in trial-wise learning rate modulation (α) in PSZ before and after a reinforcement contingency shift, expressed most in PSZ with more severe motivational deficits. In a subsample of 22 PSZ and 22 healthy volunteers, we found little evidence for between-group differences in VS RPE and dmPFC learning rate signals, as measured with fMRI. However, a follow-up psychophysiological interaction analysis revealed decreased dmPFC-VS connectivity concurrent with learning rate modulation, most prominently in individuals with the most severe motivational deficits. These findings point to an impairment in learning rate modulation in PSZ, leading to a reduced ability to adjust task behavior in response to unexpected outcomes. At the level of the brain, learning rate modulation deficits may be associated with decreased involvement of the dmPFC within a greater RL network.
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20
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Striatum-related functional activation during reward- versus punishment-based learning in psychosis risk. Neuropsychopharmacology 2019; 44:1967-1974. [PMID: 31272104 PMCID: PMC6784983 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-019-0455-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2019] [Revised: 06/24/2019] [Accepted: 06/25/2019] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Psychosis is strongly related to increased striatal dopamine. However, the neural consequences of increased striatal dopamine in psychosis risk are still not fully understood. Consistent with an increase in striatal dopamine, in previous research, psychosis risk has been associated with neural EEG evidence of a greater response to unexpected reward than unexpected punishment feedback on a reversal-learning task. However, previous research has not directly examined whether psychosis risk is associated with altered striatal activation when receiving unexpected feedback on this task. There were two groups of participants: an antipsychotic medication-naive psychosis risk group (n = 21) who had both (a) extreme levels of self-reported psychotic-like beliefs and experiences and (b) interview-rated current-attenuated psychotic symptoms; and a comparison group (n = 20) who had average levels of self-reported psychotic-like beliefs and experiences. Participants completed a reversal-leaning task during fMRI scanning. As expected, in both ROI and whole-brain analyses, the psychosis risk group exhibited greater striatal activation (for whole-brain analyses, the peak was located in the right caudate) to unexpected reward than unexpected punishment feedback relative to the comparison group. These results indicate that psychosis risk is associated with a relatively increased neural sensitivity to unexpected reward than unexpected punishment outcomes and appears consistent with increased striatal dopamine. The results may help us better understand and detect striatal dysfunction in psychosis risk.
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21
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Moran EK, Culbreth AJ, Kandala S, Barch DM. From neuroimaging to daily functioning: A multimethod analysis of reward anticipation in people with schizophrenia. JOURNAL OF ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY 2019; 128:723-734. [PMID: 31464449 DOI: 10.1037/abn0000461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Negative symptoms are a core clinical feature of schizophrenia that are only marginally responsive to current treatments. Recent work suggests that deficits in reinforcement learning and anticipatory responses to reward may be two mechanisms that help explain impairments in motivation in those with schizophrenia. The present study utilized a reinforcement-learning paradigm, which allowed us to examine both reward anticipation and reinforcement learning. Twenty-eight people with schizophrenia and 30 healthy controls completed a reinforcement-learning task while undergoing functional MRI. Participants with schizophrenia also completed a weeklong ecological momentary assessment protocol reporting anticipated motivation and pleasure in their daily activities. Unexpectedly, we found no significant group differences in performance or neural response in reinforcement learning. However, we found that poorer reward learning was associated with greater clinician ratings of negative symptoms and daily reports of anticipatory motivation and pleasure negative symptoms. In regards to anticipatory responses, we found that people with schizophrenia showed blunted activation in the anterior cingulate, insula, caudate, and putamen while anticipating reward. Further, blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response in reward related regions during anticipation of reward was significantly related to both clinician-rated motivation and pleasure deficits as well as daily reports of motivation and pleasure. Our results provide further evidence of deficits during reward anticipation in individuals with schizophrenia, particularly for those with severe negative symptoms, and some evidence for worse reward learning among those with greater negative symptoms. Moreover, our findings suggest that these deficits show important relationships with emotional and motivational functioning in everyday life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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22
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Lee J, Jimenez AM, Reavis EA, Horan WP, Wynn JK, Green MF. Reduced Neural Sensitivity to Social vs Nonsocial Reward in Schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull 2019; 45:620-628. [PMID: 30189096 PMCID: PMC6483569 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sby109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Human beings find social stimuli rewarding, which is thought to facilitate efficient social functioning. Although reward processing has been extensively studied in schizophrenia, a few studies have examined neural processes specifically involved in social reward processing. This study examined neural sensitivity to social and nonsocial rewards in schizophrenia. METHODS Twenty-seven patients with schizophrenia and 25 community controls completed a One-Armed Bandit Task, an implicit reinforcement learning task, in the scanner. There were 2 conditions with an identical trial structure, one with social rewards and the other with nonsocial rewards. The data were analyzed using a region of interest (ROI) approach, focusing on the ventral striatum, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex. RESULTS Across all 3 ROIs, patients showed reduced activation for social rewards compared to controls. However, the 2 groups showed comparable levels of activation for nonsocial rewards. Within the patient group, levels of neural activation in these ROIs during the social reward condition were associated with better performance. CONCLUSIONS This study found reduced neural sensitivity in patients with schizophrenia in key reward-processing regions for social but not for nonsocial rewards. These findings suggest a relatively specific social reward-processing deficit in schizophrenia during an implicit reinforcement learning task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junghee Lee
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA,Desert Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA,To whom correspondence should be addressed; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, 760 Westwood Plaza, Room 27-460, Los Angeles, CA 90211, USA; tel: 310-794-9010, fax: 310-268-4056, e-mail:
| | - Amy M Jimenez
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA,Desert Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Eric A Reavis
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA,Desert Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA
| | - William P Horan
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA,Desert Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Jonathan K Wynn
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA,Desert Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Michael F Green
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA,Desert Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA
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23
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Schneier FR, Slifstein M, Whitton AE, Pizzagalli DA, Reinen J, McGrath PJ, Iosifescu DV, Abi-Dargham A. Dopamine Release in Antidepressant-Naive Major Depressive Disorder: A Multimodal [ 11C]-(+)-PHNO Positron Emission Tomography and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study. Biol Psychiatry 2018; 84:563-573. [PMID: 30041971 PMCID: PMC6347467 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2018] [Revised: 05/02/2018] [Accepted: 05/15/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mesolimbic dopamine system dysfunction is believed to contribute to major depressive disorder (MDD), but molecular neuroimaging of striatal dopamine neurotransmission has yielded mixed results, possibly owing to limited sensitivity of antagonist radioligands used with positron emission tomography to assess dopamine release capacity. This study used an agonist radioligand with agonist challenge to assess dopamine release capacity and D2/D3 receptor availability in MDD. METHODS Twenty-six treatment-naive adults with MDD and 26 healthy comparison participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during a probabilistic reinforcement task, and positron emission tomography with the D3-preferring ligand [11C]-(+)-PHNO, before and after oral dextroamphetamine. MDD participants then received pramipexole treatment for 6 weeks. RESULTS MDD participants had trend-level greater dopamine release capacity in the ventral striatum, as measured by percent change in baseline binding potential relative to nondisplaceable compartment (ΔBPND) (-34% vs. -30%; p = .072, d = 0.58) but no difference in D2/D3 receptor availability (BPND). Striatal and extrastriatal BPND and percent change in baseline BPND were not significantly associated with blood oxygen level-dependent response to reward prediction error in the ventral striatum, severity of depression and anhedonia, or antidepressant response to pramipexole (response rate = 72.7%). CONCLUSIONS [11C]-(+)-PHNO demonstrated high sensitivity to displacement by amphetamine-induced dopamine release, but dopamine release capacity and D2/D3 availability were not associated with ventral striatal activation to reward prediction error or clinical features, in this study powered to detect large effects. While a preponderance of indirect evidence implicates dopaminergic dysfunction in MDD, these findings suggest that presynaptic dopamine dysregulation may not be a feature of MDD or a prerequisite for treatment response to dopamine agonists.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franklin R Schneier
- Division of Clinical Therapeutics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York.
| | - Mark Slifstein
- Division of Translational Imaging, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York
| | - Alexis E Whitton
- Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Diego A Pizzagalli
- Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research, McLean Hospital, Belmont; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Jenna Reinen
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York; Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Patrick J McGrath
- Division of Clinical Therapeutics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York
| | - Dan V Iosifescu
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Anissa Abi-Dargham
- Division of Translational Imaging, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York
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Vanes LD, Mouchlianitis E, Collier T, Averbeck BB, Shergill SS. Differential neural reward mechanisms in treatment-responsive and treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Psychol Med 2018; 48:2418-2427. [PMID: 29439750 PMCID: PMC6704377 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291718000041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The significant proportion of schizophrenia patients refractory to treatment, primarily directed at the dopamine system, suggests that multiple mechanisms may underlie psychotic symptoms. Reinforcement learning tasks have been employed in schizophrenia to assess dopaminergic functioning and reward processing, but these have not directly compared groups of treatment-refractory and non-refractory patients. METHODS In the current functional magnetic resonance imaging study, 21 patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS), 21 patients with non-treatment-resistant schizophrenia (NTR), and 24 healthy controls (HC) performed a probabilistic reinforcement learning task, utilizing emotionally valenced face stimuli which elicit a social bias toward happy faces. Behavior was characterized with a reinforcement learning model. Trial-wise reward prediction error (RPE)-related neural activation and the differential impact of emotional bias on these reward signals were compared between groups. RESULTS Patients showed impaired reinforcement learning relative to controls, while all groups demonstrated an emotional bias favoring happy faces. The pattern of RPE signaling was similar in the HC and TRS groups, whereas NTR patients showed significant attenuation of RPE-related activation in striatal, thalamic, precentral, parietal, and cerebellar regions. TRS patients, but not NTR patients, showed a positive relationship between emotional bias and RPE signal during negative feedback in bilateral thalamus and caudate. CONCLUSION TRS can be dissociated from NTR on the basis of a different neural mechanism underlying reinforcement learning. The data support the hypothesis that a favorable response to antipsychotic treatment is contingent on dopaminergic dysfunction, characterized by aberrant RPE signaling, whereas treatment resistance may be characterized by an abnormality of a non-dopaminergic mechanism - a glutamatergic mechanism would be a possible candidate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucy D Vanes
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience,de Crespigny Park,London, SE5 8AF,UK
| | - Elias Mouchlianitis
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience,de Crespigny Park,London, SE5 8AF,UK
| | - Tracy Collier
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience,de Crespigny Park,London, SE5 8AF,UK
| | - Bruno B Averbeck
- Unit on Learning and Decision Making, Laboratory of Neuropsychology,NIMH,NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892,USA
| | - Sukhi S Shergill
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience,de Crespigny Park,London, SE5 8AF,UK
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25
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Abnormal reward prediction-error signalling in antipsychotic naive individuals with first-episode psychosis or clinical risk for psychosis. Neuropsychopharmacology 2018; 43:1691-1699. [PMID: 29748629 PMCID: PMC6006166 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-018-0056-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2017] [Revised: 03/12/2018] [Accepted: 03/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Ongoing research suggests preliminary, though not entirely consistent, evidence of neural abnormalities in signalling prediction errors in schizophrenia. Supporting theories suggest mechanistic links between the disruption of these processes and the generation of psychotic symptoms. However, it is unknown at what stage in the pathogenesis of psychosis these impairments in prediction-error signalling develop. One major confound in prior studies is the use of medicated patients with strongly varying disease durations. Our study aims to investigate the involvement of the meso-cortico-striatal circuitry during reward prediction-error signalling in earliest stages of psychosis. We studied patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) and help-seeking individuals at-risk for psychosis due to sub-threshold prodromal psychotic symptoms. Patients with either FEP (n = 14), or at-risk for developing psychosis (n = 30), and healthy volunteers (n = 39) performed a reinforcement learning task during fMRI scanning. ANOVA revealed significant (p < 0.05 family-wise error corrected) prediction-error signalling differences between groups in the dopaminergic midbrain and right middle frontal gyrus (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, DLPFC). FEP patients showed disrupted reward prediction-error signalling compared to controls in both regions. At-risk patients showed intermediate activation in the midbrain that significantly differed from controls and from FEP patients, but DLPFC activation that did not differ from controls. Our study confirms that FEP patients have abnormal meso-cortical signalling of reward-prediction errors, whereas reward-prediction-error dysfunction in the at-risk patients appears to show a more nuanced pattern of activation with a degree of midbrain impairment but preserved cortical function.
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26
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Hernaus D, Gold JM, Waltz JA, Frank MJ. Impaired Expected Value Computations Coupled With Overreliance on Stimulus-Response Learning in Schizophrenia. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2018; 3:916-926. [PMID: 29735404 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2018.03.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2017] [Revised: 03/20/2018] [Accepted: 03/20/2018] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND While many have emphasized impaired reward prediction error signaling in schizophrenia, multiple studies suggest that some decision-making deficits may arise from overreliance on stimulus-response systems together with a compromised ability to represent expected value. Guided by computational frameworks, we formulated and tested two scenarios in which maladaptive representations of expected value should be most evident, thereby delineating conditions that may evoke decision-making impairments in schizophrenia. METHODS In a modified reinforcement learning paradigm, 42 medicated people with schizophrenia and 36 healthy volunteers learned to select the most frequently rewarded option in a 75-25 pair: once when presented with a more deterministic (90-10) pair and once when presented with a more probabilistic (60-40) pair. Novel and old combinations of choice options were presented in a subsequent transfer phase. Computational modeling was employed to elucidate contributions from stimulus-response systems (actor-critic) and expected value (Q-learning). RESULTS People with schizophrenia showed robust performance impairments with increasing value difference between two competing options, which strongly correlated with decreased contributions from expected value-based learning (Q-learning). Moreover, a subtle yet consistent contextual choice bias for the probabilistic 75 option was present in people with schizophrenia, which could be accounted for by a context-dependent reward prediction error in the actor-critic. CONCLUSIONS We provide evidence that decision-making impairments in schizophrenia increase monotonically with demands placed on expected value computations. A contextual choice bias is consistent with overreliance on stimulus-response learning, which may signify a deficit secondary to the maladaptive representation of expected value. These results shed new light on conditions under which decision-making impairments may arise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dennis Hernaus
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
| | - James M Gold
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - James A Waltz
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Michael J Frank
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences and Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
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27
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Chase HW, Loriemi P, Wensing T, Eickhoff SB, Nickl-Jockschat T. Meta-analytic evidence for altered mesolimbic responses to reward in schizophrenia. Hum Brain Mapp 2018; 39:2917-2928. [PMID: 29573046 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2017] [Revised: 01/25/2018] [Accepted: 03/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Dysfunction of reward-related neural circuitry in schizophrenia (SCZ) has been widely reported, and may provide insight into the motivational and cognitive disturbances that characterize the disorder. Although previous meta-analyses of reward learning paradigms in SCZ have been performed, a meta-analysis of whole-brain coordinate maps in SCZ alone has not been conducted. In this study, we performed an activation likelihood estimate (ALE) meta-analysis, and performed a follow-up analysis of functional connectivity and functional decoding of identified regions. We report several salient findings that extend prior work in this area. First, an alteration in reward-related activation was observed in the right ventral striatum, but this was not solely driven by hypoactivation in the SCZ group compared to healthy controls. Second, the region was characterized by functional connectivity primarily with the lateral prefrontal cortex and pre-supplementary motor area (preSMA), as well as subcortical regions such as the thalamus which show structural deficits in SCZ. Finally, although the meta-analysis showed no regions outside the ventral striatum to be significantly altered, regions with higher functional connectivity with the ventral striatum showed a greater number of subthreshold foci. Together, these findings confirm the alteration of ventral striatal function in SCZ, but suggest that a network-based approach may assist future analysis of the functional underpinnings of the disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henry W Chase
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Polina Loriemi
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.,Juelich Aachen Research Alliance - Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, Germany
| | - Tobias Wensing
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.,Juelich Aachen Research Alliance - Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, Germany
| | - Simon B Eickhoff
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behaviour (INM-7), Research Center Jülich, Jülich, Germany.,Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Thomas Nickl-Jockschat
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.,Juelich Aachen Research Alliance - Translational Brain Medicine, Aachen, Germany.,Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
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28
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Humpston CS, Evans LH, Teufel C, Ihssen N, Linden DE. Evidence of absence: no relationship between behaviourally measured prediction error response and schizotypy. Cogn Neuropsychiatry 2017; 22:373-390. [PMID: 28697644 PMCID: PMC5646181 DOI: 10.1080/13546805.2017.1348289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The predictive processing framework has attracted much interest in the field of schizophrenia research in recent years, with an increasing number of studies also carried out in healthy individuals with nonclinical psychosis-like experiences. The current research adopted a continuum approach to psychosis and aimed to investigate different types of prediction error responses in relation to psychometrically defined schizotypy. METHODS One hundred and two healthy volunteers underwent a battery of behavioural tasks including (a) a force-matching task, (b) a Kamin blocking task, and (c) a reversal learning task together with three questionnaires measuring domains of schizotypy from different approaches. RESULTS Neither frequentist nor Bayesian statistical methods supported the notion that alterations in prediction error responses were related to schizotypal traits in any of the three tasks. CONCLUSIONS These null results suggest that deficits in predictive processing associated with clinical states of psychosis are not always present in healthy individuals with schizotypal traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clara S. Humpston
- CUBRIC, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK, Clara S. Humpston
| | - Lisa H. Evans
- CUBRIC, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | | | - Niklas Ihssen
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - David E. J. Linden
- CUBRIC, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK,School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
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29
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Waltz JA, Xu Z, Brown EC, Ruiz RR, Frank MJ, Gold JM. Motivational Deficits in Schizophrenia Are Associated With Reduced Differentiation Between Gain and Loss-Avoidance Feedback in the Striatum. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2017; 3:239-247. [PMID: 29486865 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2017.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2017] [Revised: 07/20/2017] [Accepted: 07/23/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The current study was designed to test the hypothesis that motivational deficits in schizophrenia (SZ) are tied to a reduced ability to differentially signal gains and instances of loss-avoidance in the brain, leading to reduced ability to form adaptive representations of expected value. METHODS We administered a reinforcement learning paradigm to 27 medicated SZ patients and 27 control subjects in which participants learned three probabilistic discriminations. In regions of interest in reward networks identified a priori, we examined contrasts between trial types with different expected values (e.g., expected gain-nonmonetary) and between outcomes with the same prediction error valence but different experienced values (e.g., gain-loss-avoidance outcome, miss-loss outcome). RESULTS Both whole-brain and region of interest analyses revealed that SZ patients showed reduced differentiation between gain and loss-avoidance outcomes in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and bilateral anterior insula. That is, SZ patients showed reduced contrasts between positive prediction errors of different objective values in these areas. In addition, we observed significant correlations between gain-loss-avoidance outcome contrasts in the ventral striatum and ratings for avolition/anhedonia and between expected gain-nonmonetary contrasts in the ventral striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. CONCLUSIONS These results provide further evidence for intact prediction error signaling in medicated SZ patients, especially with regard to loss-avoidance. By contrast, components of frontostriatal circuits appear to show reduced sensitivity to the absolute valence of expected and experienced outcomes, suggesting a mechanism by which motivational deficits may emerge.
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Affiliation(s)
- James A Waltz
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
| | - Ziye Xu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Elliot C Brown
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Rebecca R Ruiz
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Michael J Frank
- Department of Psychiatry and Brown Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
| | - James M Gold
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
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30
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Culbreth AJ, Westbrook A, Xu Z, Barch DM, Waltz JA. Intact Ventral Striatal Prediction Error Signaling in Medicated Schizophrenia Patients. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2016; 1:474-483. [PMID: 28239676 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2016.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Midbrain dopaminergic neurons code a computational quantity, reward prediction error (RPE), which has been causally related to learning. Recently, this insight has been leveraged to link phenomenological and biological levels of understanding in psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia. However, results have been mixed, possibly due to small sample sizes. Here we present results from two studies with relatively large Ns to assess VS RPE in schizophrenia. METHODS In the current study we analyzed data from two independent studies, involving a total of 87 chronic medicated schizophrenia patients and 61 controls. Subjects completed a probabilistic reinforcement-learning task in conjunction with fMRI scanning. We fit each participant's choice behavior to a Q-learning model and derived trial-wise RPEs. We then modeled BOLD signal data with parametric regressor functions using these values to determine whether patient and control groups differed in prediction-error-related BOLD signal modulations. RESULTS Both groups demonstrated robust VS RPE BOLD activations. Interestingly, these BOLD activation patterns did not differ between groups in either study. This was true when we included all participants in the analysis, as well as when we excluded participants whose data was not sufficiently fit by the models. CONCLUSIONS These data demonstrate the utility of computational methods in isolating/testing underlying mechanisms of interest in psychiatric disorders. Importantly, similar VS RPE signal encoding across groups suggests that this mechanism does not drive task deficits in these patients. Deficits may instead stem from aberrant prefrontal/parietal circuits associated with maintenance and selection of goal-relevant information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam J Culbreth
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in Saint Louis
| | - Andrew Westbrook
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in Saint Louis
| | - Ziye Xu
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Maryland Psychiatric Research Center
| | - Deanna M Barch
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in Saint Louis; Department of Psychiatry & Radiology, Washington University in Saint Louis
| | - James A Waltz
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Maryland Psychiatric Research Center
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