Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Department of Psychiatric, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Commun Biol. 2022 Aug 19;5(1):845. doi: 10.1038/s42003-022-03756-4.
The dopaminergic midbrain is associated with reinforcement learning, motivation and decision-making - functions often disturbed in neuropsychiatric disorders. Previous research has shown that dopaminergic midbrain activity can be endogenously modulated via neurofeedback. However, the robustness of endogenous modulation, a requirement for clinical translation, is unclear. Here, we examine whether the activation of particular brain regions associates with successful regulation transfer when feedback is no longer available. Moreover, to elucidate mechanisms underlying effective self-regulation, we study the relation of successful transfer with learning (temporal difference coding) outside the midbrain during neurofeedback training and with individual reward sensitivity in a monetary incentive delay (MID) task. Fifty-nine participants underwent neurofeedback training either in standard (Study 1 N = 15, Study 2 N = 28) or control feedback group (Study 1, N = 16). We find that successful self-regulation is associated with prefrontal reward sensitivity in the MID task (N = 25), with a decreasing relation between prefrontal activity and midbrain learning signals during neurofeedback training and with increased activity within cognitive control areas during transfer. The association between midbrain self-regulation and prefrontal temporal difference and reward sensitivity suggests that reinforcement learning contributes to successful self-regulation. Our findings provide insights in the control of midbrain activity and may facilitate individually tailoring neurofeedback training.
中脑的多巴胺能系统与强化学习、动机和决策有关，这些功能在神经精神疾病中经常受到干扰。以前的研究表明，多巴胺能中脑活动可以通过神经反馈进行内源性调节。然而，对于临床转化来说，内源性调节的稳健性是不清楚的。在这里，我们研究了当反馈不再可用时，特定脑区的激活是否与成功的调节转移相关。此外，为了阐明有效自我调节的机制，我们研究了在神经反馈训练期间，成功转移与中脑外的学习（时间差分编码）的关系，以及在金钱激励延迟（MID）任务中的个体奖励敏感性的关系。59 名参与者接受了神经反馈训练，要么在标准反馈组（研究 1，N=15；研究 2，N=28），要么在对照反馈组（研究 1，N=16）。我们发现，成功的自我调节与 MID 任务中的前额叶奖励敏感性有关（N=25），在神经反馈训练期间，前额叶活动与中脑学习信号之间的关系呈下降趋势，在转移期间，认知控制区域的活动增加。中脑自我调节与前额叶时间差分和奖励敏感性之间的关联表明，强化学习有助于成功的自我调节。我们的发现为中脑活动的控制提供了新的见解，并可能有助于个性化定制神经反馈训练。
