Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Sci Rep. 2023 Sep 22;13(1):15858. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-42628-7.
Turner syndrome is a genetic condition caused by a complete or partial loss of one of the X chromosomes. Previous studies indicate that Turner syndrome is associated with challenges in social skills, but the underlying mechanisms remain largely unexplored. A possible mechanism is a reduced social influence on learning. The current study examined the impact of social and non-social feedback on learning in women with Turner syndrome (n = 35) and a sex- and age-matched control group (n = 37). Participants were instructed to earn points by repeatedly choosing between two stimuli with unequal probabilities of resulting in a reward. Mastering the task therefore required participants to learn through feedback which of the two stimuli was more likely to be rewarded. Data were analyzed using computational modeling and analyses of choice behavior. Social feedback led to a more explorative choice behavior in the control group, resulting in reduced learning compared to non-social feedback. No effects of social feedback on learning were found in Turner syndrome. The current study thus indicates that women with Turner syndrome may be less sensitive to social influences on reinforcement learning, than the general population.
特纳综合征是一种由 X 染色体完全或部分缺失引起的遗传疾病。先前的研究表明，特纳综合征与社交技能挑战有关，但潜在机制在很大程度上仍未得到探索。一种可能的机制是社交对学习的影响降低。本研究考察了社会反馈和非社会反馈对特纳综合征女性（n=35）和年龄、性别匹配的对照组女性（n=37）学习的影响。参与者被指示通过反复在两个具有不同奖励概率的刺激物之间进行选择来赚取积分。因此，掌握任务需要参与者通过反馈来学习哪种刺激物更有可能获得奖励。使用计算建模和选择行为分析对数据进行了分析。社会反馈导致对照组更具探索性的选择行为，与非社会反馈相比，学习减少。在特纳综合征中未发现社会反馈对学习的影响。因此，本研究表明，特纳综合征女性对强化学习中社会影响的敏感性可能低于一般人群。
