Kirschner Hans, Molla Hanna M, Nassar Matthew R, de Wit Harriet, Ullsperger Markus
Institute of Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, United States.
Elife. 2025 Jul 21;13:RP101413. doi: 10.7554/eLife.101413.
The ability to calibrate learning according to new information is a fundamental component of an organism's ability to adapt to changing conditions. Yet, the exact neural mechanisms guiding dynamic learning rate adjustments remain unclear. Catecholamines appear to play a critical role in adjusting the degree to which we use new information over time, but individuals vary widely in the manner in which they adjust to changes. Here, we studied the effects of a low dose of methamphetamine (MA), and individual differences in these effects, on probabilistic reversal learning dynamics in a within-subject, double-blind, randomized design. Participants first completed a reversal learning task during a drug-free baseline session to provide a measure of baseline performance. Then they completed the task during two sessions, one with MA (20 mg oral) and one with placebo (PL). First, we showed that, relative to PL, MA modulates the ability to dynamically adjust learning from prediction errors. Second, this effect was more pronounced in participants who performed moderately low at baseline. These results present novel evidence for the involvement of catecholaminergic transmission on learning flexibility and highlights that baseline performance modulates the effect of the drug.
根据新信息校准学习的能力是生物体适应不断变化的环境的能力的一个基本组成部分。然而，指导动态学习率调整的确切神经机制仍不清楚。儿茶酚胺似乎在随着时间推移我们利用新信息的程度调整中起着关键作用，但个体在适应变化的方式上差异很大。在这里，我们采用受试者内双盲随机设计，研究了低剂量甲基苯丙胺（MA）及其个体差异对概率性反转学习动态的影响。参与者首先在无药物的基线阶段完成一项反转学习任务，以提供基线表现的测量指标。然后他们在两个阶段完成该任务，一个阶段服用MA（口服20毫克），另一个阶段服用安慰剂（PL）。首先，我们表明，相对于PL，MA调节从预测误差中动态调整学习的能力。其次，这种效应在基线表现中等偏低的参与者中更为明显。这些结果为儿茶酚胺能传递参与学习灵活性提供了新证据，并强调基线表现调节药物的作用。
