TY  - JOUR
A1  - Chen, Hao
A1  - Nebe, Stephan
A1  - Mojtahedzadeh, Negin
A1  - Kuitunen-Paul, Soren
A1  - Garbusow, Maria
A1  - Schad, Daniel
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
A1  - Huys, Quentin J. M.
A1  - Heinz, Andreas
A1  - Smolka, Michael N.
T1  - Susceptibility to interference between Pavlovian and instrumental control is associated with early hazardous alcohol use
JF  - Addiction biology
N2  - Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) tasks examine the influence of Pavlovian stimuli on ongoing instrumental behaviour. Previous studies reported associations between a strong PIT effect, high-risk drinking and alcohol use disorder. This study investigated whether susceptibility to interference between Pavlovian and instrumental control is linked to risky alcohol use in a community sample of 18-year-old male adults. Participants (N = 191) were instructed to 'collect good shells' and 'leave bad shells' during the presentation of appetitive (monetary reward), aversive (monetary loss) or neutral Pavlovian stimuli. We compared instrumental error rates (ER) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain responses between the congruent and incongruent conditions, as well as among high-risk and low-risk drinking groups. On average, individuals showed a substantial PIT effect, that is, increased ER when Pavlovian cues and instrumental stimuli were in conflict compared with congruent trials. Neural PIT correlates were found in the ventral striatum and the dorsomedial and lateral prefrontal cortices (lPFC). Importantly, high-risk drinking was associated with a stronger behavioural PIT effect, a decreased lPFC response and an increased neural response in the ventral striatum on the trend level. Moreover, high-risk drinkers showed weaker connectivity from the ventral striatum to the lPFC during incongruent trials. Our study links interference during PIT to drinking behaviour in healthy, young adults. High-risk drinkers showed higher susceptibility to Pavlovian cues, especially when they conflicted with instrumental behaviour, indicating lower interference control abilities. Increased activity in the ventral striatum (bottom-up), decreased lPFC response (top-down), and their altered interplay may contribute to poor interference control in the high-risk drinkers.
KW  - high‐risk drinking
KW  - interference control
KW  - Pavlovian‐to‐instrumental transfer
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.12983
SN  - 1355-6215
SN  - 1369-1600
VL  - 26
IS  - 4
SP  - 1
EP  - 14
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Garbusow, Maria
A1  - Nebe, Stephan
A1  - Sommer, Christian
A1  - Kuitunen-Paul, Sören
A1  - Sebold, Miriam Hannah
A1  - Schad, Daniel
A1  - Friedel, Eva
A1  - Veer, Ilya M.
A1  - Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
A1  - Ripke, Stephan
A1  - Walter, Henrik
A1  - Huys, Quentin J. M.
A1  - Schlagenhauf, Florian
A1  - Smolka, Michael N.
A1  - Heinz, Andreas
T1  - Pavlovian-To-Instrumental Transfer and Alcohol Consumption in Young Male Social Drinkers
BT  - Behavioral, Neural and Polygenic Correlates
JF  - Journal of Clinical Medicine
N2  - In animals and humans, behavior can be influenced by irrelevant stimuli, a phenomenon called Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT). In subjects with substance use disorder, PIT is even enhanced with functional activation in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and amygdala. While we observed enhanced behavioral and neural PIT effects in alcohol-dependent subjects, we here aimed to determine whether behavioral PIT is enhanced in young men with high-risk compared to low-risk drinking and subsequently related functional activation in an a-priori region of interest encompassing the NAcc and amygdala and related to polygenic risk for alcohol consumption. A representative sample of 18-year old men (n = 1937) was contacted: 445 were screened, 209 assessed: resulting in 191 valid behavioral, 139 imaging and 157 genetic datasets. None of the subjects fulfilled criteria for alcohol dependence according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV-TextRevision (DSM-IV-TR). We measured how instrumental responding for rewards was influenced by background Pavlovian conditioned stimuli predicting action-independent rewards and losses. Behavioral PIT was enhanced in high-compared to low-risk drinkers (b = 0.09, SE = 0.03, z = 2.7, p < 0.009). Across all subjects, we observed PIT-related neural blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal in the right amygdala (t = 3.25, p(SVC) = 0.04, x = 26, y = -6, z = -12), but not in NAcc. The strength of the behavioral PIT effect was positively correlated with polygenic risk for alcohol consumption (r(s) = 0.17, p = 0.032). We conclude that behavioral PIT and polygenic risk for alcohol consumption might be a biomarker for a subclinical phenotype of risky alcohol consumption, even if no drug-related stimulus is present. The association between behavioral PIT effects and the amygdala might point to habitual processes related to out PIT task. In non-dependent young social drinkers, the amygdala rather than the NAcc is activated during PIT; possible different involvement in association with disease trajectory should be investigated in future studies.
KW  - Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer
KW  - amygdala
KW  - alcohol
KW  - polygenic risk
KW  - high risk drinkers
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm8081188
SN  - 2077-0383
VL  - 8
IS  - 8
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Garbusow, Maria
A1  - Schad, Daniel
A1  - Sebold, Miriam Hannah
A1  - Friedel, Eva
A1  - Bernhardt, Nadine
A1  - Koch, Stefan P.
A1  - Steinacher, Bruno
A1  - Kathmann, Norbert
A1  - Geurts, Dirk E. M.
A1  - Sommer, Christian
A1  - Mueller, Dirk K.
A1  - Nebe, Stephan
A1  - Paul, Soeren
A1  - Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich
A1  - Zimmermann, Ulrich S.
A1  - Walter, Henrik
A1  - Smolka, Michael N.
A1  - Sterzer, Philipp
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
A1  - Huys, Quentin J. M.
A1  - Schlagenhauf, Florian
A1  - Heinz, Andreas
T1  - Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer effects in the nucleus accumbens relate to relapse in alcohol dependence
JF  - Addiction biology
N2  - In detoxified alcohol-dependent patients, alcohol-related stimuli can promote relapse. However, to date, the mechanisms by which contextual stimuli promote relapse have not been elucidated in detail. One hypothesis is that such contextual stimuli directly stimulate the motivation to drink via associated brain regions like the ventral striatum and thus promote alcohol seeking, intake and relapse. Pavlovian-to-Instrumental-Transfer (PIT) may be one of those behavioral phenomena contributing to relapse, capturing how Pavlovian conditioned (contextual) cues determine instrumental behavior (e.g. alcohol seeking and intake). We used a PIT paradigm during functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the effects of classically conditioned Pavlovian stimuli on instrumental choices in n=31 detoxified patients diagnosed with alcohol dependence and n=24 healthy controls matched for age and gender. Patients were followed up over a period of 3 months. We observed that (1) there was a significant behavioral PIT effect for all participants, which was significantly more pronounced in alcohol-dependent patients; (2) PIT was significantly associated with blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) in subsequent relapsers only; and (3) PIT-related NAcc activation was associated with, and predictive of, critical outcomes (amount of alcohol intake and relapse during a 3 months follow-up period) in alcohol-dependent patients. These observations show for the first time that PIT-related BOLD signals, as a measure of the influence of Pavlovian cues on instrumental behavior, predict alcohol intake and relapse in alcohol dependence.
KW  - human Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer
KW  - nucleus accumbens
KW  - relapse in alcohol use disorder
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.12243
SN  - 1355-6215
SN  - 1369-1600
VL  - 21
SP  - 719
EP  - 731
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Garbusow, Maria
A1  - Schad, Daniel
A1  - Sommer, Christian
A1  - Juenger, Elisabeth
A1  - Sebold, Miriam Hannah
A1  - Friedel, Eva
A1  - Wendt, Jean
A1  - Kathmann, Norbert
A1  - Schlagenhauf, Florian
A1  - Zimmermann, Ulrich S.
A1  - Heinz, Andreas
A1  - Huys, Quentin J. M.
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
T1  - Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer in alcohol dependence: a pilot study
JF  - Neuropsychobiology : international journal of experimental and clinical research in biological psychiatry, pharmacopsychiatry, Biological Psychology/Pharmacopsychology and Pharmacoelectroencephalography
N2  - Background: Pavlovian processes are thought to play an important role in the development, maintenance and relapse of alcohol dependence, possibly by influencing and usurping ongoing thought and behavior. The influence of pavlovian stimuli on ongoing behavior is paradigmatically measured by pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) tasks. These involve multiple stages and are complex. Whether increased PIT is involved in human alcohol dependence is uncertain. We therefore aimed to establish and validate a modified PIT paradigm that would be robust, consistent and tolerated by healthy controls as well as by patients suffering from alcohol dependence, and to explore whether alcohol dependence is associated with enhanced PIT. Methods: Thirty-two recently detoxified alcohol-dependent patients and 32 age- and gender-matched healthy controls performed a PIT task with instrumental go/no-go approach behaviors. The task involved both pavlovian stimuli associated with monetary rewards and losses, and images of drinks. Results: Both patients and healthy controls showed a robust and temporally stable PIT effect. Strengths of PIT effects to drug-related and monetary conditioned stimuli were highly correlated. Patients more frequently showed a PIT effect, and the effect was stronger in response to aversively conditioned CSs (conditioned suppression), but there was no group difference in response to appetitive CSs. Conclusion: The implementation of PIT has favorably robust properties in chronic alcohol-dependent patients and in healthy controls. It shows internal consistency between monetary and drug-related cues. The findings support an association of alcohol dependence with an increased propensity towards PIT.
KW  - Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer
KW  - Alcohol dependence
KW  - Human
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1159/000363507
SN  - 0302-282X
SN  - 1423-0224
VL  - 70
IS  - 2
SP  - 111
EP  - 121
PB  - Karger
CY  - Basel
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kuschpel, Maxim S.
A1  - Liu, Shuyan
A1  - Schad, Daniel
A1  - Heinzel, Stephan
A1  - Heinz, Andreas
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
T1  - Differential effects of wakeful rest, music and video game playing on working memory performance in the n-back task
JF  - Frontiers in psychology
N2  - The interruption of learning processes by breaks filled with diverse activities is common in everyday life. We investigated the effects of active computer gaming and passive relaxation (rest and music) breaks on working memory performance. Young adults were exposed to breaks involving (i) eyes-open resting, (ii) listening to music and (iii) playing the video game “Angry Birds” before performing the n-back working memory task. Based on linear mixed-effects modeling, we found that playing the “Angry Birds” video game during a short learning break led to a decline in task performance over the course of the task as compared to eyes-open resting and listening to music, although overall task performance was not impaired. This effect was associated with high levels of daily mind wandering and low self-reported ability to concentrate. These findings indicate that video games can negatively affect working memory performance over time when played in between learning tasks. We suggest further investigation of these effects because of their relevance to everyday activity.
KW  - break interventions
KW  - computer games
KW  - mozart effect
KW  - working memory
KW  - attention
KW  - cognitive resources
KW  - mind wandering
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01683
SN  - 1664-1078
IS  - 6
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY  - Lausanne
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Liu, Shuyan
A1  - Kuschpel, Maxim S.
A1  - Schad, Daniel
A1  - Heinz, Andreas
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
T1  - Differential Effects of Music and Video Gaming During Breaks on Auditory and Visual Learning
JF  - Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking
N2  - The interruption of learning processes by breaks filled with diverse activities is common in everyday life. This study investigated the effects of active computer gaming and passive relaxation (rest and music) breaks on auditory versus visual memory performance. Young adults were exposed to breaks involving (a) open eyes resting, (b) listening to music, and (c) playing a video game, immediately after memorizing auditory versus visual stimuli. To assess learning performance, words were recalled directly after the break (an 8:30 minute delay) and were recalled and recognized again after 7 days. Based on linear mixed-effects modeling, it was found that playing the Angry Birds video game during a short learning break impaired long-term retrieval in auditory learning but enhanced long-term retrieval in visual learning compared with the music and rest conditions. These differential effects of video games on visual versus auditory learning suggest specific interference of common break activities on learning.
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2015.0140
SN  - 2152-2715
SN  - 2152-2723
VL  - 18
IS  - 11
SP  - 647
EP  - 653
PB  - Liebert
CY  - New Rochelle
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Liu, Shuyan
A1  - Schad, Daniel
A1  - Kuschpel, Maxim S.
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
A1  - Heinz, Andreas
T1  - Music and Video Gaming during Breaks
BT  - Influence on Habitual versus Goal-Directed Decision Making
JF  - PLoS one
N2  - Different systems for habitual versus goal-directed control are thought to underlie human decision-making. Working memory is known to shape these decision-making systems and
their interplay, and is known to support goal-directed decision making even under stress. Here, we investigated if and how decision systems are differentially influenced by breaks filled with diverse everyday life activities known to modulate working memory performance. We used a within-subject design where young adults listened to music and played a video game during breaks interleaved with trials of a sequential two-step Markov decision task, designed to assess habitual as well as goal-directed decision making. Based on a neurocomputational model of task performance, we observed that for individuals with a rather limited
working memory capacity video gaming as compared to music reduced reliance on the goal-directed decision-making system, while a rather large working memory capacity prevented such a decline. Our findings suggest differential effects of everyday activities on key decision-making processes.
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Games
KW  - Working memory
KW  - Video games
KW  - Cognition
KW  - Cognitive impairment
KW  - Music cognition
KW  - Learning
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0150165
SN  - 1932-6203
VL  - 11
IS  - 3
SP  - 1
EP  - 12
PB  - Public Library of Science
CY  - Lawrence, Kan.
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Nebe, Stephan
A1  - Kroemer, Nils B.
A1  - Schad, Daniel
A1  - Bernhardt, Nadine
A1  - Sebold, Miriam Hannah
A1  - Mueller, Dirk K.
A1  - Scholl, Lucie
A1  - Kuitunen-Paul, Sören
A1  - Heinz, Andreas
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
A1  - Huys, Quentin J. M.
A1  - Smolka, Michael N.
T1  - No association of goal-directed and habitual control with alcohol consumption in young adults
JF  - Addiction biology
N2  - Alcohol dependence is a mental disorder that has been associated with an imbalance in behavioral control favoring model-free habitual over model-based goal-directed strategies. It is as yet unknown, however, whether such an imbalance reflects a predisposing vulnerability or results as a consequence of repeated and/or excessive alcohol exposure. We, therefore, examined the association of alcohol consumption with model-based goal-directed and model-free habitual control in 188 18-year-old social drinkers in a two-step sequential decision-making task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging before prolonged alcohol misuse could have led to severe neurobiological adaptations. Behaviorally, participants showed a mixture of model-free and model-based decision-making as observed previously. Measures of impulsivity were positively related to alcohol consumption. In contrast, neither model-free nor model-based decision weights nor the trade-off between them were associated with alcohol consumption. There were also no significant associations between alcohol consumption and neural correlates of model-free or model-based decision quantities in either ventral striatum or ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Exploratory whole-brain functional magnetic resonance imaging analyses with a lenient threshold revealed early onset of drinking to be associated with an enhanced representation of model-free reward prediction errors in the posterior putamen. These results suggest that an imbalance between model-based goal-directed and model-free habitual control might rather not be a trait marker of alcohol intake per se.
KW  - alcohol
KW  - goal-directed
KW  - reinforcement learning
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.12490
SN  - 1355-6215
SN  - 1369-1600
VL  - 23
IS  - 1
SP  - 379
EP  - 393
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schad, Daniel
A1  - Garbusow, Maria
A1  - Friedel, Eva
A1  - Sommer, Christian
A1  - Sebold, Miriam Hannah
A1  - Hägele, Claudia
A1  - Bernhardt, Nadine
A1  - Nebe, Stephan
A1  - Kuitunen-Paul, Sören
A1  - Liu, Shuyan
A1  - Eichmann, Uta
A1  - Beck, Anne
A1  - Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich
A1  - Walter, Henrik
A1  - Sterzer, Philipp
A1  - Zimmermann, Ulrich S.
A1  - Smolka, Michael N.
A1  - Schlagenhauf, Florian
A1  - Huys, Quentin J. M.
A1  - Heinz, Andreas
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
T1  - Neural correlates of instrumental responding in the context of alcohol-related cues index disorder severity and relapse risk
JF  - European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience : official organ of the German Society for Biological Psychiatry
N2  - The influence of Pavlovian conditioned stimuli on ongoing behavior may contribute to explaining how alcohol cues stimulate drug seeking and intake. Using a Pavlovian-instrumental transfer task, we investigated the effects of alcohol-related cues on approach behavior (i.e., instrumental response behavior) and its neural correlates, and related both to the relapse after detoxification in alcohol-dependent patients. Thirty-one recently detoxified alcohol-dependent patients and 24 healthy controls underwent instrumental training, where approach or non-approach towards initially neutral stimuli was reinforced by monetary incentives. Approach behavior was tested during extinction with either alcohol-related or neutral stimuli (as Pavlovian cues) presented in the background during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Patients were subsequently followed up for 6 months. We observed that alcohol-related background stimuli inhibited the approach behavior in detoxified alcohol-dependent patients (t = -3.86, p < .001), but not in healthy controls (t = -0.92, p = .36). This behavioral inhibition was associated with neural activation in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) (t((30)) = 2.06, p < .05). Interestingly, both the effects were only present in subsequent abstainers, but not relapsers and in those with mild but not severe dependence. Our data show that alcohol-related cues can acquire inhibitory behavioral features typical of aversive stimuli despite being accompanied by a stronger NAcc activation, suggesting salience attribution. The fact that these findings are restricted to abstinence and milder illness suggests that they may be potential resilience factors.
KW  - Alcohol dependence
KW  - Human neuroimaging
KW  - Nucleus accumbens
KW  - Pavlovian-instrumental transfer
KW  - Relapse
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-017-0860-4
SN  - 0940-1334
SN  - 1433-8491
VL  - 269
IS  - 3
SP  - 295
EP  - 308
PB  - Springer
CY  - Heidelberg
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schad, Daniel
A1  - Juenger, Elisabeth
A1  - Sebold, Miriam Hannah
A1  - Garbusow, Maria
A1  - Bernhardt, Nadine
A1  - Javadi, Amir-Homayoun
A1  - Zimmermann, Ulrich S.
A1  - Smolka, Michael N.
A1  - Heinz, Andreas
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
A1  - Huys, Quentin J. M.
T1  - Processing speed enhances model-based over model-free reinforcement learning in the presence of high working memory functioning
JF  - Frontiers in psychology
N2  - Theories of decision-making and its neural substrates have long assumed the existence of two distinct and competing valuation systems, variously described as goal-directed vs. habitual, or, more recently and based on statistical arguments, as model-free vs. model-based reinforcement-learning. Though both have been shown to control choices, the cognitive abilities associated with these systems are under ongoing investigation. Here we examine the link to cognitive abilities, and find that individual differences in processing speed covary with a shift from model-free to model-based choice control in the presence of above-average working memory function. This suggests shared cognitive and neural processes; provides a bridge between literatures on intelligence and valuation; and may guide the development of process models of different valuation components. Furthermore, it provides a rationale for individual differences in the tendency to deploy valuation systems, which may be important for understanding the manifold neuropsychiatric diseases associated with malfunctions of valuation.
KW  - decision-making
KW  - reward
KW  - cognitive abilities
KW  - model-based and model-free learning
KW  - fluid intelligence
KW  - habitual and goal-directed system
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01450
SN  - 1664-1078
VL  - 5
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY  - Lausanne
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Sebold, Miriam Hannah
A1  - Deserno, Lorenz
A1  - Nebe, Stefan
A1  - Schad, Daniel
A1  - Garbusow, Maria
A1  - Haegele, Claudia
A1  - Keller, Juergen
A1  - Juenger, Elisabeth
A1  - Kathmann, Norbert
A1  - Smolka, Michael N.
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
A1  - Schlagenhauf, Florian
A1  - Heinz, Andreas
A1  - Huys, Quentin J. M.
T1  - Model-based and model-free decisions in alcohol dependence
JF  - Neuropsychobiology : international journal of experimental and clinical research in biological psychiatry, pharmacopsychiatry, Biological Psychology/Pharmacopsychology and Pharmacoelectroencephalography
N2  - Background: Human and animal work suggests a shift from goal-directed to habitual decision-making in addiction. However, the evidence for this in human alcohol dependence is as yet inconclusive. Methods: Twenty-six healthy controls and 26 recently detoxified alcohol-dependent patients underwent behavioral testing with a 2-step task designed to disentangle goal-directed and habitual response patterns. Results: Alcohol-dependent patients showed less evidence of goal-directed choices than healthy controls, particularly after losses. There was no difference in the strength of the habitual component. The group differences did not survive controlling for performance on the Digit Symbol Substitution Task. Conclusion: Chronic alcohol use appears to selectively impair goal-directed function, rather than promoting habitual responding. It appears to do so particularly after nonrewards, and this may be mediated by the effects of alcohol on more general cognitive functions subserved by the prefrontal cortex.
KW  - Alcohol dependence
KW  - Decision-making
KW  - Reinforcement learning
KW  - Dopamine
KW  - Computational psychiatry
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1159/000362840
SN  - 0302-282X
SN  - 1423-0224
VL  - 70
IS  - 2
SP  - 122
EP  - 131
PB  - Karger
CY  - Basel
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Sebold, Miriam Hannah
A1  - Garbusow, Maria
A1  - Jetzschmann, P.
A1  - Schad, Daniel
A1  - Nebe, S.
A1  - Schlagenhauf, Florian
A1  - Heinz, A.
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
A1  - Romanczuk-Seiferth, Nina
T1  - Reward and avoidance learning in the context of aversive environments and possible implications for depressive symptoms
JF  - Psychopharmacology
N2  - Background Aversive stimuli in the environment influence human actions. This includes valence-dependent influences on action selection, e.g., increased avoidance but decreased approach behavior. However, it is yet unclear how aversive stimuli interact with complex learning and decision-making in the reward and avoidance domain. Moreover, the underlying computational mechanisms of these decision-making biases are unknown. Methods To elucidate these mechanisms, 54 healthy young male subjects performed a two-step sequential decision-making task, which allows to computationally model different aspects of learning, e.g., model-free, habitual, and model-based, goal-directed learning. We used a within-subject design, crossing task valence (reward vs. punishment learning) with emotional context (aversive vs. neutral background stimuli). We analyzed choice data, applied a computational model, and performed simulations. Results Whereas model-based learning was not affected, aversive stimuli interacted with model-free learning in a way that depended on task valence. Thus, aversive stimuli increased model-free avoidance learning but decreased model-free reward learning. The computational model confirmed this effect: the parameter lambda that indicates the influence of reward prediction errors on decision values was increased in the punishment condition but decreased in the reward condition when aversive stimuli were present. Further, by using the inferred computational parameters to simulate choice data, our effects were captured. Exploratory analyses revealed that the observed biases were associated with subclinical depressive symptoms. Conclusion Our data show that aversive environmental stimuli affect complex learning and decision-making, which depends on task valence. Further, we provide a model of the underlying computations of this affective modulation. Finally, our finding of increased decision-making biases in subjects reporting subclinical depressive symptoms matches recent reports of amplified Pavlovian influences on action selection in depression and suggests a potential vulnerability factor for mood disorders. We discuss our findings in the light of the involvement of the neuromodulators serotonin and dopamine.
KW  - Reward learning
KW  - Avoidance learning
KW  - Reinforcement learning
KW  - Computational psychiatry
KW  - Decision-making
KW  - Affective modulation
KW  - Depression symptoms
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-019-05299-9
SN  - 0033-3158
SN  - 1432-2072
VL  - 236
IS  - 8
SP  - 2437
EP  - 2449
PB  - Springer
CY  - New York
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Sebold, Miriam Hannah
A1  - Nebe, Stephan
A1  - Garbusow, Maria
A1  - Guggenmos, Matthias
A1  - Schad, Daniel
A1  - Beck, Anne
A1  - Kuitunen-Paul, Sören
A1  - Sommer, Christian
A1  - Frank, Robin
A1  - Neu, Peter
A1  - Zimmermann, Ulrich S.
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
A1  - Smolka, Michael N.
A1  - Huys, Quentin J. M.
A1  - Schlagenhauf, Florian
A1  - Heinz, Andreas
T1  - When Habits Are Dangerous: Alcohol Expectancies and Habitual Decision Making Predict Relapse in Alcohol Dependence
JF  - Biological psychiatry : a journal of psychiatric neuroscience and therapeutics ; a publication of the Society of Biological Psychiatry
N2  - BACKGROUND: Addiction is supposedly characterized by a shift from goal-directed to habitual decision making, thus facilitating automatic drug intake. The two-step task allows distinguishing between these mechanisms by computationally modeling goal-directed and habitual behavior as model-based and model-free control. In addicted patients, decision making may also strongly depend upon drug-associated expectations. Therefore, we investigated model-based versus model-free decision making and its neural correlates as well as alcohol expectancies in alcohol-dependent patients and healthy controls and assessed treatment outcome in patients. METHODS: Ninety detoxified, medication-free, alcohol-dependent patients and 96 age-and gender-matched control subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during the two-step task. Alcohol expectancies were measured with the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire. Over a follow-up period of 48 weeks, 37 patients remained abstinent and 53 patients relapsed as indicated by the Alcohol Timeline Followback method. RESULTS: Patients who relapsed displayed reduced medial prefrontal cortex activation during model-based decision making. Furthermore, high alcohol expectancies were associated with low model-based control in relapsers, while the opposite was observed in abstainers and healthy control subjects. However, reduced model-based control per se was not associated with subsequent relapse. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that poor treatment outcome in alcohol dependence does not simply result from a shift from model-based to model-free control but is instead dependent on the interaction between high drug expectancies and low model-based decision making. Reduced model-based medial prefrontal cortex signatures in those who relapse point to a neural correlate of relapse risk. These observations suggest that therapeutic interventions should target subjective alcohol expectancies.
KW  - Alcohol dependence
KW  - Alcohol expectancy
KW  - Goal-directed control
KW  - Medial prefrontal cortex
KW  - Reinforcement learning
KW  - Treatment outcome
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2017.04.019
SN  - 0006-3223
SN  - 1873-2402
VL  - 82
SP  - 847
EP  - 856
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - New York
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Sebold, Miriam Hannah
A1  - Schad, Daniel
A1  - Nebe, Stephan
A1  - Garbusow, Maria
A1  - Juenger, Elisabeth
A1  - Kroemer, Nils B.
A1  - Kathmann, Norbert
A1  - Zimmermann, Ulrich S.
A1  - Smolka, Michael N.
A1  - Rapp, Michael Armin
A1  - Heinz, Andreas
A1  - Huys, Quentin J. M.
T1  - Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer Effects Rely Less on Model-based Reinforcement Learning
JF  - Journal of cognitive neuroscience
N2  - Behavioral choice can be characterized along two axes. One axis distinguishes reflexive, model-free systems that slowly accumulate values through experience and a model-based system that uses knowledge to reason prospectively. The second axis distinguishes Pavlovian valuation of stimuli from instrumental valuation of actions or stimulus–action pairs. This results in four values and many possible interactions between them, with important consequences for accounts of individual variation. We here explored whether individual variation along one axis was related to individual variation along the other. Specifically, we asked whether individuals' balance between model-based and model-free learning was related to their tendency to show Pavlovian interferences with instrumental decisions. In two independent samples with a total of 243 participants, Pavlovian–instrumental transfer effects were negatively correlated with the strength of model-based reasoning in a two-step task. This suggests a potential common underlying substrate predisposing individuals to both have strong Pavlovian interference and be less model-based and provides a framework within which to interpret the observation of both effects in addiction.
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_00945
SN  - 0898-929X
SN  - 1530-8898
VL  - 28
SP  - 985
EP  - 995
PB  - MIT Press
CY  - Cambridge
ER  -