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 - GEN 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 T2 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe 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. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 855 KW - high‐risk drinking KW - interference control KW - Pavlovian‐to‐instrumental transfer Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-569609 SN - 1866-8364 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Friedel, Eva A1 - Sebold, Miriam Hannah A1 - Kuitunen-Paul, Sören A1 - Nebe, Stephan A1 - Veer, Ilya M. A1 - Zimmermann, Ulrich S. A1 - Schlagenhauf, Florian A1 - Smolka, Michael N. A1 - Rapp, Michael Armin A1 - Walter, Henrik A1 - Heinz, Andreas T1 - How Accumulated Real Life Stress Experience and Cognitive Speed Interact on Decision-Making Processes JF - Frontiers in human neuroscienc N2 - Rationale: Advances in neurocomputational modeling suggest that valuation systems for goal-directed (deliberative) on one side, and habitual (automatic) decision-making on the other side may rely on distinct computational strategies for reinforcement learning, namely model-free vs. model-based learning. As a key theoretical difference, the model-based system strongly demands cognitive functions to plan actions prospectively based on an internal cognitive model of the environment, whereas valuation in the model-free system relies on rather simple learning rules from operant conditioning to retrospectively associate actions with their outcomes and is thus cognitively less demanding. Acute stress reactivity is known to impair model-based but not model-free choice behavior, with higher working memory capacity protecting the model-based system from acute stress. However, it is not clear which impact accumulated real life stress has on model-free and model-based decision systems and how this influence interacts with cognitive abilities. Methods: We used a sequential decision-making task distinguishing relative contributions of both learning strategies to choice behavior, the Social Readjustment Rating Scale questionnaire to assess accumulated real life stress, and the Digit Symbol Substitution Test to test cognitive speed in 95 healthy subjects. Results: Individuals reporting high stress exposure who had low cognitive speed showed reduced model-based but increased model-free behavioral control. In contrast, subjects exposed to accumulated real life stress with high cognitive speed displayed increased model-based performance but reduced model-free control. Conclusion: These findings suggest that accumulated real life stress exposure can enhance reliance on cognitive speed for model-based computations, which may ultimately protect the model-based system from the detrimental influences of accumulated real life stress. The combination of accumulated real life stress exposure and slower information processing capacities, however, might favor model-free strategies. Thus, the valence and preference of either system strongly depends on stressful experiences and individual cognitive capacities. KW - chronic stress KW - model-based learning KW - model-free learning KW - decision making KW - cognitive speed KW - real-life events Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00302 SN - 1662-5161 VL - 11 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Obst, Elisabeth A1 - Schad, Daniel A1 - Huys, Quentin J. M. A1 - Sebold, Miriam Hannah A1 - Nebe, Stephan A1 - Sommer, Christian A1 - Smolka, Michael N. A1 - Zimmermann, Ulrich S. T1 - Drunk decisions BT - Alcohol shifts choice from habitual towards goal-directed control in adolescent intermediate-risk drinkers JF - Journal of Psychopharmacology N2 - Background: Studies in humans and animals suggest a shift from goal-directed to habitual decision-making in addiction. We therefore tested whether acute alcohol administration reduces goal-directed and promotes habitual decision-making, and whether these effects are moderated by self-reported drinking problems. Methods: Fifty-three socially drinking males completed the two-step task in a randomised crossover design while receiving an intravenous infusion of ethanol (blood alcohol level=80 mg%), or placebo. To minimise potential bias by long-standing heavy drinking and subsequent neuropsychological impairment, we tested 18- to 19-year-old adolescents. Results: Alcohol administration consistently reduced habitual, model-free decisions, while its effects on goal-directed, model-based behaviour varied as a function of drinking problems measured with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. While adolescents with low risk for drinking problems (scoring <8) exhibited an alcohol-induced numerical reduction in goal-directed choices, intermediate-risk drinkers showed a shift away from habitual towards goal-directed decision-making, such that alcohol possibly even improved their performance. Conclusions: We assume that alcohol disrupted basic cognitive functions underlying habitual and goal-directed decisions in low-risk drinkers, thereby enhancing hasty choices. Further, we speculate that intermediate-risk drinkers benefited from alcohol as a negative reinforcer that reduced unpleasant emotional states, possibly displaying a novel risk factor for drinking in adolescence. KW - Computer-assisted Alcohol Infusion System KW - habitual learning KW - model-free and model-based decision-making KW - two-stage Markov decision task KW - subjective response to ethanol KW - drinking problems KW - real-life drinking behaviour Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881118772454 SN - 0269-8811 SN - 1461-7285 VL - 32 IS - 8 SP - 855 EP - 866 PB - Sage Publ. CY - London ER -