Giersiepen Maren, Schütz-Bosbach Simone, Kaiser Jakob
Ludwig-Maximilians-University, General and Experimental Psychology, Leopoldstr. 13, D-80802 Munich, Germany.
Biol Psychol. 2023 Oct;183:108659. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108659. Epub 2023 Aug 11.
Sense of agency, the feeling of being in control of one's actions and their effects, is particularly relevant during goal-directed actions. During feedback learning, action effects provide information about the best course of action to reinforce positive and prevent negative outcomes. However, it is unclear whether agency experience selectively affects the processing of negative or positive feedback during the performance of goal-directed actions. As an important marker of feedback processing, we examined agency-related changes in midfrontal oscillatory activity in response to performance feedback using electroencephalography. Thirty-three participants completed a reinforcement learning task during which they received positive (monetary gain) or negative (monetary loss) feedback following item choices made either by themselves (free-choice) or by the computer (forced-choice). Independent of choice context, midfrontal theta activity was more enhanced for negative than positive feedback. In addition, free, compared to forced choices increased midfrontal theta power for both gain and loss feedback. These results indicate that freedom of choice in a motivationally salient learning task leads to a general enhancement in the processing of affective action outcomes. Our findings contribute to an understanding of the neuronal mechanisms underlying agency-related changes during action regulation and indicate midfrontal theta activity as a neurophysiological marker important for the monitoring of affective action outcomes, irrespective of feedback valence.
能动感，即对自身行动及其效果的掌控感，在目标导向行动中尤为重要。在反馈学习过程中，行动效果会提供有关最佳行动方案的信息，以强化积极结果并防止消极结果。然而，尚不清楚在目标导向行动的执行过程中，能动体验是否会选择性地影响对负面或正面反馈的处理。作为反馈处理的一个重要标志，我们使用脑电图来研究在对表现反馈做出反应时，额中振荡活动中与能动相关的变化。33名参与者完成了一项强化学习任务，在此过程中，他们在自己做出选择（自由选择）或由计算机做出选择（强制选择）后，收到正面（金钱收益）或负面（金钱损失）反馈。与选择背景无关，负面反馈比正面反馈更能增强额中θ活动。此外，与强制选择相比，自由选择在收益和损失反馈中都增加了额中θ功率。这些结果表明，在具有动机显著性的学习任务中，选择自由会导致对情感行动结果的处理普遍增强。我们的研究结果有助于理解行动调节过程中与能动相关变化的神经机制，并表明额中θ活动是监测情感行动结果的重要神经生理标记，与反馈效价无关。
