Computational modelling of reinforcement learning and functional neuroimaging of probabilistic reversal for dissociating compulsive behaviours in gambling and cocaine use disorders

Bibliographic Details
Title: Computational modelling of reinforcement learning and functional neuroimaging of probabilistic reversal for dissociating compulsive behaviours in gambling and cocaine use disorders
Authors: Katharina Zühlsdorff, Juan Verdejo-Román, Luke Clark, Natalia Albein-Urios, Carles Soriano-Mas, Rudolf N. Cardinal, Trevor W. Robbins, Jeffrey W. Dalley, Antonio Verdejo-García, Jonathan W. Kanen
Source: BJPsych Open, Vol 10 (2024)
Publisher Information: Cambridge University Press, 2024.
Publication Year: 2024
Collection: LCC:Psychiatry
Subject Terms: Cocaine use disorder, gambling disorder, reinforcement learning, prediction error, expected value, Psychiatry, RC435-571
More Details: Background Individuals with cocaine use disorder or gambling disorder demonstrate impairments in cognitive flexibility: the ability to adapt to changes in the environment. Flexibility is commonly assessed in a laboratory setting using probabilistic reversal learning, which involves reinforcement learning, the process by which feedback from the environment is used to adjust behavior. Aims It is poorly understood whether impairments in flexibility differ between individuals with cocaine use and gambling disorders, and how this is instantiated by the brain. We applied computational modelling methods to gain a deeper mechanistic explanation of the latent processes underlying cognitive flexibility across two disorders of compulsivity. Method We present a re-analysis of probabilistic reversal data from individuals with either gambling disorder (n = 18) or cocaine use disorder (n = 20) and control participants (n = 18), using a hierarchical Bayesian approach. Furthermore, we relate behavioural findings to their underlying neural substrates through an analysis of task-based functional magnetic resonanceimaging (fMRI) data. Results We observed lower ‘stimulus stickiness’ in gambling disorder, and report differences in tracking expected values in individuals with gambling disorder compared to controls, with greater activity during reward expected value tracking in the cingulate gyrus and amygdala. In cocaine use disorder, we observed lower responses to positive punishment prediction errors and greater activity following negative punishment prediction errors in the superior frontal gyrus compared to controls. Conclusions Using a computational approach, we show that individuals with gambling disorder and cocaine use disorder differed in their perseverative tendencies and in how they tracked value neurally, which has implications for psychiatric classification.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2056-4724
Relation: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472423006117/type/journal_article; https://doaj.org/toc/2056-4724
DOI: 10.1192/bjo.2023.611
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/f7034e70efe3417a95e07f4d68a79c04
Accession Number: edsdoj.f7034e70efe3417a95e07f4d68a79c04
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:20564724
DOI:10.1192/bjo.2023.611
Published in:BJPsych Open
Language:English